Explore the 2025 Agenda

• What are the challenges in classifying what is considered to be Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs), and where are the gaps of scientific knowledge?
• Where has progress been made to pragmatically assess the levels and impacts of UPFs?
• How can AI and other digital tools be implemented to better understand UPFs, as well as positively change product design to reduce consumer concern and improve nutritional profiles?
• What innovations are enabling the removal, reduction and inclusion of ingredients to improve nutrition and simplify back of pack labels?
• What are the challenges linked to shelf-life and sustainability that come with the UPFs debate, and where is the meet in the middle to ensure stable, clean-label products?

• How will the changes in the US and the FDA impact the approach of regulators around the world? What will others replicate or do differently?
• What global initiatives and mechanisms have been implemented to fast-track regulatory frameworks for novel foods and ingredients, helping to navigate regulatory uncertainty?
• As pressure mounts for healthier food and ingredients, what’s needed to ensure classifications, definitions and health claims are based in science and evidence?

• As the fermentation market evolves, how has the range of ingredients and products created through fermentation expanded, and which hold the greatest potential for commercialisation?
• What role can fermentation technologies play in reducing reliance on additives and contribute to the move away from UPFs?
• What range of ingredients and technologies are able to preserve taste, whilst improving health impact and nutritional profile?
• As scale up and manufacturing capacity remains a challenge, what progress has been made in terms of cost reduction and reaching scaling milestones?
• How can academia play a key role in the scaling bioprocesses and facility creation? What is needed moving forward to ensure that industry and academia collaborate?

As consumers look to food and diet to positively influence and control health, the importance of functional food and ingredients grows.

Hear from a range of speakers, diving deep into core trends and key need states being addressed by new processes, ingredients and products. What breakthroughs are being achieved, where are the knowledge gaps, and challenges in delivering tangible health benefits?

• What does the future of food innovation look like in an era shaped by AI, data, and advanced modelling? How are these technologies redefining how we grow, produce, and consume food?
• Why has AI adoption in the food sector lagged behind other industries and what are the barriers impeding implementation?
• In a competitive food ecosystem, how can companies collect and share data in ways that benefit the whole system?
• How can the perception of AI be shifted from a competitive threat to a collaborative tool?
• AI is often associated with cost savings, what does this actually look like in practice and where are examples?

• After two days of high-level discussions on the main stage and through networking, our closing panel will talk through learnings, goals and next steps for the food sector to ensure innovation continues to thrive.
• What advances are crucial in order for innovation to thrive in a hyper-cautious capital environment, and to what extent is progress stalled by risk-aversion?
• Whether public-private, academic-industry or corporate-start-up, which collaborations need strengthening in order for the food sector to innovate at the pace needed to address key challenges?
• What do innovators need to prioritise to ensure they position themselves for success and longevity in the food sector?