drs. GML (Gemma) Tacken

Gemma Tacken Msc is a senior market researcher & marketing expert at Wageningen Economic Research, with 22 years’ experience nationally and internationally. Her expertise is consumer behaviour issues related to animal products: dairy, eggs, meat and (farmed) fish. In her long career she worked for private companies and policy makers related to food chains.

Originally she worked a lot for food companies and (local) governments in the Netherlands and Europe, but she is involved more often in food security projects outside Europe the last couple of years. In these projects consumer behaviour and preferences are an important input for societal food safety improvement, market development and chain professionalization. E.g. in China Gemma works on several market development projects for dairy and pig meat. In Indonesia she worked in a large new market development project for poultry meat.

As senior market researcher her role in food projects in Europe, Asia and Africa is often project leader and/or work package leader.

Gemma originally studied Business Economics with the specialisation marketing and market research at Maastricht University and she followed the MBA course Food & Agribusiness at Wageningen University (with summer schools at Purdue University and MAPP, Aarhus).