Nutrition Expert Panel

Julian Mellentin is the founder of New Nutrition Business, a company dedicated to providing strategic and marketing insights to the global health and nutrition business since 1995.

New Nutrition Business has offices in London, Scotland, France, USA and affiliates in South Korea and Japan.  They work with a range of customers, from global players to start-ups, from grower groups to scientific research organisations.

Julian Mellentin is one of the few world experts in the business of food, nutrition and health.  A brand marketer in his past life, Julian is co-author of The Functional Foods Revolution, the first-ever book on the business of functional foods, and The Food & Health Marketing Handbook.

A graduate of Oxford University, he began his career as a marketer at Unilever and has since lived and worked in most countries in Europe, as well as in Hong Kong and New Zealand.

Dr Manny Noakes has a PhD in nutrition as well as having trained as a dietitian in her earlier years. She is more recently a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Noakes is a former Director and Senior Principal Research Scientist, Nutrition and Health at CSIRO, Australia. She currently runs her own nutrition consultancy and is also a non-executive Director for Meat and Livestock Australia. She has over 30 years’ experience in many fields of nutrition and health and has undertaken numerous clinical dietary intervention trials in weight management, functional foods and cardiovascular health with a focus on higher protein dietary patterns. She has also undertaken research on the environmental dimensions of dietary patterns. Dr Noakes has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications which have been cited more than 9000 times and has an H index of 52.

Prof Noakes is the recipient of three CSIRO Medals, is a Distinguished Alumni of Flinders University, holds a research excellence award from the University of Adelaide and is a recipient of the Zonta Club Woman of International Achievement award.

Nikki is a highly experienced nutrition advisor, researcher and media commentator who has positively influenced the health of thousands of New Zealanders for nearly 30 years.

She is the founder and director of Nikki Hart Nutrition Ltd and provides a bespoke nutritional advisory service that is grounded in evidence-based science.

She achieved her Human Nutrition & Post-graduate Degree in Dietetics at The University of Otago and then went on to achieve first class honors at Massey University for her Master’s Degree thesis in Nutritional Science and Hydration. This led to Nikki working with many high performance athletes and she continues to care for athletes at overseas universities on sports scholarships as well as many recreational and elite athletes here in NZ.

Nikki is also a member of UNA NZ and is helping advise businesses on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) specifically Goal 2 – Zero Hunger and Goal 12 Responsible Production and Consumption.