1st International Food Innovation Conference

The past decades in food production have seen a move in one direction only: towards a growing worldwide entanglement along the nutrition value chain. But this chain is being challenged – by changing consumer demands, by new technologies and, lately, by the pandemic.

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the multiple facets of sustainability, from ethical standards to responsible manufacturing, and are demanding more control over the provenance of the products they buy. At the same time, climate change, shrinking farmland and a growing world population are putting pressure on traditional methods of food production and distribution.

When it comes to meeting the challenge of feeding nine billion people while preserving the natural environment, innovation will be key. Already, startups and established companies alike are implementing novel ways to produce, process, distribute and recycle our daily bread. Plant-based meat has made its way onto supermarket shelves. Thanks to significant investment, scientists in laboratories around the world are recreating our nutrition, from dairy to meat. Is cellular agriculture the future of food?

At the conference on 29 June 2021, the theme of which is Farms, Labs and Beyond: Fixing a Broken Food System, we will introduce you to cutting-edge research, revolutionary new business models and smart thinkers, presenting the latest in food innovation.

A hybrid event
This conference can be booked as a livestream event with online-networking or as an in-person event, circumstances permitting. If registrations to attend on-site exceed the number of participants allowed, we will consider registrations for on-site participation in the order in which they are received.

Special offer
We are offering a two-for-one deal for the livestream of the event: register two participants now and the second person attends for free.

Speakers include:

• Paul Shapiro (US), author of the bestseller "Clean Meat", a four-time TEDx speaker, and CEO of The Better Meat Co.
• Lord Adair Turner (GB), chairman of the British Energy Transitions Commission and Senior Fellow of the Institute for New Economic Thinking
• Sjaak Wolfert (NL), theme ambassador for Digital Innovation in Agri-Food at Wageningen University & Research
• Chris Smaje (GB), author of the book "A Small Farm Future" and board member of the Ecological Land Co-op
• Emma Slack (CH), Professor of Food Immunology at ETH Zurich
• Martin Zehnder (CH), Category Manager Meat, Migros
• Costa Yiannoulis (GB), co-founder and managing partner at CPT Capital, a start-up investor
• Przemek Obloj (CH), managing partner at impact investor Blue Horizon
• David Bosshart (CH), executive advisor of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute
• Founders of leading start-ups that are disrupting agriculture with cell-based products

The list of speakers and contributing start-ups can be found on our website, together with the full programme.