Keynote

Henric Molin a chemist by education and flavourist by heart. Often described as a “perfectionist geek”, in a good way of course. This is of course also his biggest strength, always obsessed with getting the exact wanted results, best raw materials – picked by himself if possible, best yields and casks that have been made of wood grown in the right places down to the coordinates.

Henric was born into the hospitality industry the first pioneering work was done within the wine segment late 80’s. In 1998 Henric and his wife Anja founded Backafallsbyn on the island of Hven located in the strait of Oresund between Denmark and Sweden. That eventually gave birth to Spirit of Hven a company that not only distills its own organic products but also holds its own laboratory.

In the laboratory Henric does not just improve his own products he also consults the spirits industry globally, creates recipes for others and has dedicated the last 20 years to the science of creating scent and taste components for foodstuffs and foremost beverages.

Main work area the last 10 years have focused on creation, production and valuation of spirits. This incorporates developing new recipes and concepts that align trends with viable USP’s and feasible production models. Among the clients are found some of the highest valuated and appraised brands in the world.

Scott Allen is Managing Director at Allen Associates (HPE) Ltd, a market leading chemical and process engineering design consultancy based in Stirling.

A Chemical and Process Engineering graduate of the University of Strathclyde, Scott started his career with a global engineering firm and then a leading food ingredients company before joining Allen Associates in 2001. He took on the role of MD in 2006.

During his time at the company Scott has built the business into the largest Scottish based chemical and process engineering design consultancy serving the distilled spirits industry. The company predominantly works in the Scotch whisky industry but also works with other distilled spirits including gin, rum and vodka, both in the UK and internationally, and clients range from small craft distillers to multi-national corporations.

In 2015 Scott was awarded a Fellowship of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and in 2017 he was appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Chemical & Process Engineering.