Meet the EIT Food team

Get to know the faces behind EIT Food. We are a pan-European organisation with colleagues spread throughout our 5 regional offices.

We are very passionate about changing the food system through our work and each of us brings our own perspective to the table; be that expertise in Entrepreneurship, in Innovation, in Education, Public Engagement or in Operations. So, you can either find us working hard within our regional teams or, within these exciting areas!

Find an EIT Food contact in your region

Management team

Dr. Andy Zynga CEO

Charlotte Knowles COO

Dr. Paola Giavedoni Innovation

Benoit Buntinx Business Creation

Saskia Nuijten Communication

Dr. Maarten van der Kamp Education

Regional Directors

Dr. Martine van Veelen Director EIT Food West

Dr. Georg Schirrmacher Director EIT Food Central

Andrew Carlin Director EIT Food North-West

Begoña Pérez-Villarreal Director EIT Food South

Marja-Liisa Meurice Director EIT Food North-East

Supervisory board

Jo Van Biesbroeck Chairperson of the Supervisory Board

Margaret Bath

Prof. Jan Delcour

Prof. Thomas Hofmann

Dr. Martin Jager

David Shem Tov

Andrew Thomas

Bogdan Tyrybon

EIT Food: when, what and why

EIT food is a pan-European partnership. We encourage development of solutions to the biggest societal challenges, accelerate innovation, create jobs and increase Europe’s competitiveness.

View all locations on a map

Regions and locations

EIT Food has been set up with headquarters in Leuven/Belgium and 5 regional centers across Europe to stimulate innovation, talent development and consumer involvement.

Your local EIT Food

Regional Innovation Scheme

The Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) team focuses on boosting the ability to innovate of countries and regions in Europe that are considered "modest" and "moderate" in terms of innovation in the agrifood sector according to the European Innovation Scoreboard.