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Food is being optimised to perfection: faster, cheaper, healthier. But that’s not what makes people come back. Food is emotion, culture, and identity. As the system becomes more engineered, how do we define real success and design food people choose on repeat?
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Why we mustn’t forget food’s role as an emotional anchor.
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Fast forward to 2046: imagine a food system rebuilt around a deeper understanding of why we eat. Behavioural science, cultural insight, and sensory design sit alongside data, technology, and automation. Eating is shaped as much by emotion and experience as it is by health or cost. In this future, success is measured not just by what people should eat, but what they genuinely want to return to. What had to change across R&D, investment, and mindset to unlock this 2046 food system - and what does that mean for how we start building it today?
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Many promising food innovations fail to make the leap from pilot to meaningful commercial impact. The challenge is rarely just technology; success depends on aligning scientific validation, consumer acceptance, regulatory pathways and commercial readiness. So where does innovation get stuck most often? What separates concepts that scale from those that stall? And how can the industry build stronger pathways from breakthrough ideas to products that create measurable value?
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Chefs and innovators showcase how novel ingredients deliver on taste, texture, and functionality in real dishes.
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Meet innovators creating the future of food as they pitch their solutions in biotechnology, fermentation and circular production. Featuring:
Biophelion, Dapibuset, Eclipse Ingredients, Global Sustainable Transformation, MicroLub, Potina, Caffree
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Some foods people can’t live without. From climate volatility to supply shortages and rising costs, the pressure on key ingredients and products has exposed something deeper about how the food system responds to disruption. Whether it’s coffee, dairy, palm oil, eggs and staple categories, why do some categories trigger rapid innovation and investment, while others focus on securing and stabilising supply? Which other ingredients could trigger that same acceleration when pressure hits?
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As demand for next-generation ingredients grows, the challenge is not just discovery – but scaling fast enough to meet demand, while meeting safety and regulatory requirements for market entry. From precision fermentation to novel colourings and additives, innovators are racing to turn breakthrough science into commercial reality. AI is transforming discovery, helping predict functionality, optimise formulations and uncover new ingredient possibilities. But beyond the promise, what does success look like at scale? Which ingredients are proving viable? What can today’s frontrunners teach the next generation of food innovators?
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Canada has built a highly collaborative food innovation ecosystem where start-ups, corporates, researchers, investors and industry partners work together to accelerate commercialisation, reduce risk and bring new solutions to market faster.
This panel explores what makes the Canadian ecosystem unique and why a growing number of international companies are choosing Canada as a place to innovate, collaborate and expand.
Through perspectives from the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN), market intelligence experts and international businesses that have established operations in Canada, the discussion will highlight the partnerships, insights and support systems helping food innovators succeed.
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Unveiling Panvivo GLP1ve, Millbio's new functional bread ingredient designed to support satiety and the GLP-1 pathway, consumer tested with Thimus' sensory neuroscience, proof that healthy bread doesn't have to mean a compromise.
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If 2046 promises food that is functional, personalised, and anchored in culture, reformulation is where that future is won or lost today. How are brands balancing scientific evidence with perception, speed, and reputation risk in a world where products are judged instantly? Where are data and digital tools genuinely accelerating reformulation, and how are CPGs navigating trade-offs between taste, shelf life, functionality, and cost to deliver affordable, nutritious food that is chosen repeatedly?
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Biomanufacturing systems work but scale-up is where the real test begins. As precision fermentation moves beyond pilots to commercialisation, Europe faces a decisive moment: can it build the infrastructure, capital models, and market pathways needed to compete globally? What is actually holding scale back - and what needs to shift now to ensure Europe stays at the forefront of next‑gen ingredient production? Will policy interventions like the EU Biotech Act meaningfully tilt investment and scale-up in Europe’s favour?
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Food might be designed using data and science, but it still has to be made in the real world. Supply chains and factories are getting faster, smarter, and more connected - using automation to keep up with changing ingredients and rising expectations. But as products become more complex, can production keep up without compromising on taste, quality or safety? And as more decisions are made by machines, what role do people still play in making sure the food we buy is something we trust and want to come back to?
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Meet innovators creating the future of food as they pitch solutions designed to make innovation faster, smarter and more evidence-driven.
Featuring: Biosense Solutions, CERTI, Quartz Labs, Comet Clinical, Snap2Cook, Digitaste
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As scrutiny rises from investors and CPGs, the rules of progress are shifting from vision to viability. In this high-energy session, Series A+ innovators put their businesses to the test, demonstrating how they perform against real-world constraints: cost, procurement, regulation, manufacturability, and ultimately, revenue. Through fast-paced pitches and live Q&A, what really separates traction from hype: validated demand, viable pricing, regulatory readiness, or truly adaptive commercialisation strategies? And in today’s volatile environment, which businesses are built to survive, not just impress?
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Snacking is where food innovation moves fastest – driven by mood, moment, and immediate reward. In this fast‑paced mini hackathon, teams will come together to rapidly ideate the next generation of snack concepts. The brief: pick a snacking opportunity and develop a compelling NPD concept that responds to how, why, and when people snack today.
Kick off: After helping build Tony's Chocolonely, Teun van de Keuken returns with Dirty Tony's, a bold new snack inspired by Korean noodle and extreme flavours. Teun will share how he conceived, developed and launched the product, including the surprises along the way. Delegates will then sample Dirty Tony's and break into teams for the NPD Snackathon challenge.
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In this rapid-fire case study series, CPGs and start-ups take the stage in pairs to unpack what it really takes to move from pitch to partnership, and from innovation to scale. Each joint conversation breaks down a real-world collaboration: what tipped the balance, where friction nearly killed the deal, and how performance, pricing, risk and organisational fit were resolved in practice. Offering a grounded look behind the deal, this session reveals what works, what stalls, and what both sides wish they had known earlier.
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There’s one ingredient that all foodtech has in common: cash. While food innovation has never been more ambitious, it comes at a cost. From new ingredients and biomanufacturing platforms to reformulation strategies and food chain automation, building next-gen food businesses requires capital that doesn’t always fit traditional VC models. So where is liquidity really coming from? How can we stack capital intelligently?
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Over drinks our teams take to the stage to pitch their idea to the crowd. Who has the GOAT snack and the cleverest prompt? We’ll let democracy decide as the crowd crowns its winners. Join us in the main arena for networking drinks and continue the day’s conversations in a relaxed setting. Unwind with crafted non- and low- alcoholic cocktails powered by botanicals, novel ingredients, and flavour innovations.
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Join fellow delegates for a relaxed morning run through Greenwich before the agenda gets underway. A chance to shake off jet lag, spark informal conversations and start the day energised, present and ready to engage. Open to all.
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As food, supplements, and healthcare converge, nutrition is evolving beyond sustenance toward supporting long-term health and wellbeing. From product development and scientific validation to retail and consumer engagement, companies are exploring how to deliver solutions that are both effective and widely adopted. As demand for functionality grows, so does the need for food to feel good. How are organisations navigating this shift? And what does it take to design products and strategies that deliver value across health, business, and consumer expectations?
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Consumers seek to eat healthier yet purchasing decisions are often driven by habit, convenience, price, and perception. As nutrition moves up the agenda, retailers are playing an increasingly influential role in guiding purchasing choices. How are they supporting consumers in making the healthier choice the easier choice?
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As GLP‑1 treatments evolve and usage becomes more sustained - particularly through pill formats - appetite patterns are shifting permanently. Consumers are eating less, choosing differently, and becoming more selective about what food is worth eating at all. For CPGs, this changes the game. As portions shrink, the pressure on every bite increases. Food has to work harder, nutritionally and emotionally. So, what now earns a place in the basket? From protein to fibre, how should brands rethink formulation and portioning as consumer demand fundamentally resets?
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Featuring: Aelius Biotech, Enbiosis, Klura Labs
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Chefs and innovators showcase how novel ingredients deliver on taste, texture, and functionality in real dishes – connecting formulation science with on-plate performance and everyday eating occasions
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What do consumers mean when they say they want to age well? Drawing on new global consumer research, this presentation reveals the health priorities influencing purchasing decisions, the interventions consumers believe matter most, and where the biggest opportunities lie for brands looking to turn longer lives into healthier ones.
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The focus is shifting from simply living longer to living better, creating new opportunities for product innovation around consumers’ healthspan. As food takes on a more functional role in healthy ageing, it still needs to deliver experiences people want to come back to. How do nutrafoods and food’s vibe shift translate into reformulation strategy and new product development in this space?
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Meet early-stage companies operating at the convergence of food, supplements, and medicine. Hear what it takes to make health-driven innovation real, credible and scalable.
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From wearables to AI health coaches, technology is giving consumers new ways to understand how food affects their health. As nutrition becomes more personalised, measurable and integrated into broader health ecosystems, how are brands adapting? What role will food and supplements play alongside emerging health technologies, and what ultimately drives long-term engagement and repeat behaviour?
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Simpler to reformulate and faster to scale, drinks often lead functional innovation. They are one of the fastest-moving formats in nutrition. As consumers increasingly seek products that support energy, wellbeing and performance, what can beverages tell us about where consumer demand is heading next? What do beverages reveal about what people want from food, and what lessons should shape wider portfolio decisions?
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In a system moving this fast, standing still means falling behind. The question now is what happens when we are back in the office on Monday morning. How will the insights from the past two days translate into action – to deliver food that people truly want to come back to? Which assumptions need to be challenged, which priorities must be reset, and which decisions can no longer be delayed?
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