Originally from Oregon, USA, but now calling Whakatū Nelson, New Zealand home, Lauren has spent much of her career finding ways to turn interesting ingredients into delicious drinks. A brewer and winemaker at Brood Fermentation, she's particularly fascinated by the journey from farm to bottle, and all the wonderful, weird and occasionally unpredictable things that happen along the way. One of her latest loves is cider. In 2023, she made her first barrel from apples gathered at a friend's orchard, lovingly picked on a beautiful autumnal day by the many hands of family and friends. What started as a fun experiment has sparked a growing curiosity, and she's looking forward to plenty more apples and experiments on the horizon.

For Lauren, part of the magic of fermented drinks is the way they tell stories of the places and people they come from. She loves how a glass of something delicious can transport you somewhere else in the world. She's also a longtime supporter of Pink Boots Society and the wonderful women who make the fermentation industry such a vibrant and welcoming place.

John Powell is co-founder of Cider Apples New Zealand, which has established one of the world’s largest cider apple breeding programs. John also owns the Cider Collective, a New Zealand based cider training organization. His vision is to help develop a new range of cider apple cultivars that will have a wide range of unique and compelling flavor profiles to excite cider drinkers globally, improve cider orchard productivity & resilience to climate change, reduce the need for chemical sprays, and accelerate growth of the global premium cider market.