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R&D leaders in food are being asked to move faster, differentiate credibly, and navigate increasingly complex risks. The challenge isn't knowing what's possible. It's knowing what to back, when to commit, and how to move forward with confidence when the consequences are high.

Sagentia Innovation partners with ambitious teams at exactly those moments, bringing science, technology and regulatory insight together to create clarity from complexity. Ahead of Future Food-Tech London 2026, where Sagentia joins us as a Gold Partner, we spoke with Jenni Hastings about the challenges she's watching, the mindset shift she believes the sector needs, and the collaborations that will decide what gets built next.

Jenni brings over two decades of innovation experience within multinational food companies, alongside a Master's degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a DPhil in physical chemistry from the University of Oxford. Her expertise spans R&D, regulatory affairs, quality and food safety, and she has supported some of the world's leading food companies in optimising processes, organisational design, strategy and governance.

Q. Which key challenges or opportunities in food-tech are you most focused on right now, and how is your organisation working to address them?

Jenni Hastings: Health and nutrition present significant opportunities for innovative food products. Our work spans nutrition-focused development, including natural and clean-label solutions and evaluating bioactives.

In a volatile world, food tech is critical for building resilient supply chains and adapting to regulation. We focus on areas such as food safety and climate risk prediction, reformulation to remove substances of concern, and identifying future innovation priorities.

Technology itself is rarely the constraint; integration and scaling to meet cost and throughput expectations are the real challenges. We aim to accelerate and de-risk deployment through practical innovation, while using data-driven modelling to optimise formulation and manufacturing.

We also create solutions to sustainability challenges such as improving packaging compliance across regions, upcycling ingredients, and greener manufacturing processes.

Q. What innovations, capabilities, or expertise are you most excited to share with the Future Food-Tech audience this year?

Jenni Hastings: Leaders will need to ensure that their teams can incorporate true future thinking into R&D programmes. Resources will need to be protected to focus on transformative innovation, not just responding to current pressures.

A system- instead of product-centric view will be needed when assessing new technologies. Health, sustainability, resilience, consumers and cost will need to be considered to de-risk innovation at early stages. To support this, AI is going to become the norm, and leaders will need to champion the optimisation of the human-AI partnership.

Priorities will need to move beyond "doing less harm" (e.g. reducing fat, salt, and sugar) to "doing more good" by delivering positive health outcomes.

Q. What mindset or strategic shift do you believe leaders across the food system need to adopt now to deliver meaningful, scalable change?

Jenni Hastings: We're seeing a renewed focus on optimised external ecosystems. It's no longer just knowing the 'right' people, but purpose-led collaborations that offer value beyond just the problem at hand. Organisations will need to partner deeply to co-develop new food-tech, and pre-competitive collaboration will be essential in areas such as food safety, sustainability, and supply resiliency.

Q. Collaboration is central to progress in food-tech. What types of partnerships or conversations do you see as most important to improve the sector?

Jenni Hastings: Unlocking decades of structured R&D data will enable more predictive, insight-driven innovation. We will be applying modelling and simulation to identify key points of intervention, improve understanding of risk, and demonstrate early value.

Targeted use of sensor technology and automation will accelerate the development and optimisation of new manufacturing technologies. Our world-class expertise in sensor technology, system integration, formulation and manufacturing innovation will be key enablers of this transformation.

Incorporating nutritional psychology into early product development and strategic decisions will help teams better anticipate and meet consumer needs. We will support organisations in building enabling ecosystems, aligning structures to deliver value, strengthening internal capabilities, benchmarking against peers, and measuring performance to fully realise these advances.

Jenni's point about pre-competitive collaboration is exactly why Future Food-Tech London exists: the questions facing R&D leaders right now, what to back, how to scale it, and how to deliver measurable health and sustainability outcomes, are too big for any one organisation to answer alone.

Sagentia Innovation joins Future Food-Tech London 2026 as a Gold Partner, and Jenni and the team will be part of the conversation throughout the event.

Early Bird pricing closes on 23 July. Book before then to save on your pass and join global food-tech leaders, investors and innovators in London.