SPAIN FOOD NATION SUMMIT USA 2026

September 15 2026

Advisory Council Members

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council members

Opportunities in the U.S. Hispanic Food & Beverage Market

Luke Abbott	Founder and CEO of Vdriven, Former President of KeHE Monterrey Provision, and Jimbo’s Naturally
Karla Terán	VP of Strategic Research and Cross-Cultural Insights Expert at Culturati Research & Consulting
Sergio Chahin	Senior Director of Strategy of Centurion Restaurant Group
Martha Cisneros	Founder of Wine Divaa
Jennifer Cox	Licensing Manager (José Andrés) of Gourmet Foods International
Roger Arechiga	Category Director of Northgate
Valerie Pimpinelli	General Manager and Buyer at Flatiron Wines & Spirits

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council members

Understanding U.S. Zillennials: Emerging Trends Shaping the Beverage Industry

Luke Abbott	Founder and CEO of Vdriven, Former President of KeHE Monterrey Provision, and Jimbo’s Naturally
Isha Patel	Co-Founder and CEO of Kale
Sergio Chahin	Senior Director of Strategy of Centurion Restaurant Group
Victor Ordóñez	National Sales and Marketing Manager of Jorge Ordóñez Selections
Koryn Ternes	US Consulting Lead of IWSR
Gretchen Thomas	Founder and Creative Strategist of Crafted Culture Studio
Valerie Pimpinelli	General Manager and Buyer at Flatiron Wines & Spirits

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council Members

Opportunities in the U.S. Hispanic Food & Beverage Market

Luke Abbott (Round table Moderator)

Founder and CEO of Vdriven, Former President of KeHE Monterrey Provision, and Jimbo’s Naturally

Luke is a serial entrepreneur, consultant and leading voice of innovation in the food industry. As the former President of Monterey Provision, a national food distributor, he scaled the company’s revenue from $32 million to over $250 million while successfully launching three startups. At Vdriven, he brings his deep expertise and industry connections to help emerging brands scale and succeed and advise consulting clients on a range of topics in the natural and specialty food industry.

Karla Terán

VP of Strategic Research and Cross-Cultural Insights Expert at Culturati Research & Consulting

Karla Terán brings 20+ years of experience in market research and has provided brands and organizations across industries with actionable business strategies. She specializes in Hispanic consumer research with expertise spanning the full research lifecycle, including cultural segmentation, consumer behavior, brand strategy, and innovation through a cross-cultural consumer lens. Throughout her career, Karla has overseen numerous studies focused on understanding the evolving needs, motivations, and purchasing behaviors of multicultural consumers, helping organizations develop more relevant products, communications, and growth strategies.

Sergio Chahin

Senior Director of Strategy of Centurion Restaurant Group

Sergio has 10+ years of experience at Centurion Restaurant Group, where he has scaled the business from 4 to 14+ locations across the US. Centurion is the parent company of Bulla Gastrobar, which serves foods and wines of Spain across 8 locations in Florida and Texas. Sergio has served cross-functional leadership roles in strategy, business development, operations, real-estate, analytics, and training. Today, he leads Marketing, Purchasing, Analytics, and Business Development initiatives across the organization. He collaborates with the executive leadership teams to drive innovation, profitability, and scalable growth strategies across multiple restaurant concepts and markets.

Martha Cisneros

Founder of Wine Divaa

Martha Cisneros is a New York-based author, writer, engineer and wine educator who explores the intersections of culture, technology, and migration. A technical project manager with over 15 years of experience and a Master’s in Information Science, she is also a recognized Sherry Specialist and DO Cava Educator. Martha is the founder of the Latinas Wine Club and was a 2026 Fellow at the Meadowood Napa Valley Wine Writers’ Symposium. Her upcoming book, Seis cuentos fermentados en el exilio, captures the nuances of the immigrant experience through the metaphor of fermentation.

Jennifer Cox

Licensing Manager (José Andrés) of Gourmet International Foods

Jennifer brings more than 10 years of experience in the food industry. She manages GFI’s role as the US vendor of José Andres line of packaged foods in the US, which include conservas and other specialties from Spain. Starting her career in catering, she eventually held management roles such as Service Manager and Deli Cheese Manager at Central Market H-E-B as well as Business Development Manager at Daymon Worldwide. Jennifer is also a Certified Cheese Professional (ACS CPP), Certified Cheese Sensory Evaluator (ACS CCSE), and Certified Salumiere Professional (IDDBA CSP).

Roger Arechiga

Category Director of Northgate

Roger brings over 20 years of experience in the food retail industry. He oversees the Dairy and Deli Frozen Category at Northgate, an Hispanic-focused retail grocer operating more than 40 locations across southern California. Prior to Northgate, he started his career at Bristol Farms as Grocery Manager, advancing to Category Manager until his eventual promotion to Director of Grocery.

Valerie Pimpinelli

General Manager and Buyer at Flatiron Wines & Spirits

Valerie entered the world of wine retail nearly 10 years ago at Flatiron Wines & Spirits, a Manhattan shop that focuses on excellently priced spirits and terroir wines and has been regarded as Top New Wine Destination in the US by Food and Wine Magazine. Valerie manages a team of 25+ and buys wines from the Iberian peninsula, southern France, Greece, and beyond, as well as spirits. She was previously assistant store manager at Whisk, a kitchen supply store in Brooklyn, where she developed retail skills that allow her to now guide Flatiron customers to their next spirit or wine experience. She is a contributor to Flatiron’s blog, with articles such as, “Another Terrific Vintage at Legendary López de Heredia: 2012 Tondonia” and “Thanksgiving Picks from the NY Times’ Eric Asimov.”

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council Members

Understanding U.S. Zillennials: Emerging Trends Shaping the Beverage Industry

Luke Abbott (Round table Moderator)

Founder and CEO of Vdriven, Former President of KeHE Monterrey Provision, and Jimbo’s Naturally

Isha Patel

Co-Founder and CEO of Kale

Isha’s work at Kale has reshaped the traditional influencer marketing model by enabling brands to turn their everyday savvy superfans into content creators, instead of paying for big influencers. Under Isha’s leadership, her team has secured an impressive list of household-name customers, including Sephora, Unilever, OLIPOP, Notion, Cava, Anthropologie, Cinnabon, Chili’s, Urban Outfitters, DoorDash, and dozens more. At Kale, Isha and her team are on a mission to empower all creators to transform their social value into economic value, no matter the size of their following.

Sergio Chahin

Senior Director of Strategy of Centurion Restaurant Group

Victor Ordóñez

National Sales and Marketing Manager of Jorge Ordóñez Selections, Founder and Partner of Quadram Wine Co.

Jorge Ordóñez Selections is one of the leading importers of Spanish wines to the United States. Víctor and his sister Mónica run Quadrum Wine, the highest selling Spanish 3L boxed wine in the US. Both are also deeply involved in Grupo Bodegas Jorge Ordóñez, the family-owned group of five estate wineries producing fine, estate-grown wines across six DOs that the Ordóñez family pioneered in the export market. Within the family business, Víctor oversees national wholesaler management and sales, national and key account sales, portfolio management, product development, and daily operations. He and Mónica are passionate about championing four generations of family history in Spanish wine and their father's pioneering work in the US, while introducing their company and portfolio to a new generation of American wine consumers.

Koryn Ternes

US Consulting Director of IWSR

Koryn leads IWSR consulting across the US and Americas markets. She brings extensive strategic insights experience across beverage, alcohol, CPG, and consumer sectors, with expertise in translating market, consumer, and competitive dynamics into actionable growth strategy. Prior to IWSR, Koryn held senior strategy and insights roles at Uber and Drizly, where she advised leading beverage alcohol and CPG partners on brand, innovation, media, ecommerce, and growth strategy. Earlier in her career, Koryn held consulting and analytics roles at Nielsen and Analytic Partners. She recently served on IWSR’s team preparing the ICEX-commissioned research report on Understanding Beverage Consumption Preferences and Marketing Strategies for Generation Z And Young Millennials in the United States.

Gretchen Thomas [ bio to be approved by panelist ]

Founder and Creative Strategist of Crafted Culture Studio

Gretchen previously oversaw the largest Spanish wine programs in the US at Barcelona Wine Bar, which received the Best Organic Wine List in the World award from World of Fine Wine Magazine. She previously served as the Wine and Spirits Director of Barteca Restaurant Group, the parent company of Barcelona Wine Bar and Bartaco. She co-created the brand Conserva, an e-commerce site that is a retail and online lifestyle extension of Barcelona Wine Bar. She holds several wine certifications, such as Spanish Wine Educator, which allowed her to develop curriculum and teach classes.

Valerie Pimpinelli

General Manager and Buyer at Flatiron Wines & Spirits

Where we are

Trade Commission of Spain in New York (Embassy of Spain)

405 Lexington Ave, 47th Floor (New York, NY 10174)

(+1) 212-661-4959 / (+34) 91-732-4135

nuevayork@comercio.mineco.es

Advisory Council Members

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council members

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council members

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council Members

Spain Food Nation - Advisory Council Members

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