2nd International Food Innovation Conference
Forward to Fermentation: Brewing the Future of Food, 15 June 2022
Speakers
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Parag Khanna
Singapore
Global strategy advisor and best-selling author. Khanna is founder and managing partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario based strategic advisory firm. His latest book, “Move: The Forces Uprooting Us”, previews how climate change-driven migration will change the world map.
Merlin Sheldrake
Great Britain
Biologist and author of "Entangled Life". He received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Sheldrake is a research associate of the Vrije University Amsterdam. He works with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), and sits on the advisory board of the Fungi Foundation.
Ferdinand von Meyenn
Switzerland
Professor of Nutrition and Epigenetics at ETH Zurich. The von Meyenn Lab aims to gain insights into the complex relationship between nutrition, metabolism and the epigenome. The hope is that their findings will contribute to the development of novel strategies to combat obesity and metabolic disease.
Björn Witte
Switzerland
Managing Partner & CEO, Blue Horizon. The company invests in a new sustainable food system, with an end-to-end approach that extends beyond alternative proteins – starting with better crop practices right through to sustainable packaging and smarter distribution. Witte is Blue Horizons strategic thinker and deal maker with a strong background in transforming the food industries as an entrepreneur in international markets.
Jason White
Denmark
Director of Fermentation at the three-Michelin-star restaurant Noma in Copenhagen. In 2021 the Noma topped the “The World's Best 50 Restaurants” for the fifth time. White is focusing on innovative product development in fermentation, foraging and flavor development.
Website
Ihab Leheta
Canada
Former Vice President International Business Development, Beyond Meat. Leheta is a pioneer in the plant-based movement with over 25 years of experience. In 2019, Beyond Meat became the world’s first vegan meal alternative company to list on the US stock Market. Leheta is a graduate from McGill University in Montreal and a recipient of the prestigious Merit Award at Campbell Soup.
Website
Matthew Robin
Switzerland
CEO of ELSA-Mifroma, a group of six food companies in Migros Industry. Robin has pioneered Migros strategy, investments and activities in the cultured meat area. Educated in England as a chemical engineer, he pursued a career in Switzerland and the USA in the pharmaceutical manufacturing and medtech area, before moving to the food sector.
Jevan Nagarajah
Great Britain
Co-founder and CEO, Better Dairy. Better Dairy utilizes precision fermentation for products that are molecularly identical to traditional dairy whilst removing animals entirely from the equation.
Fabiano Orelli
Switzerland
Research assistant at the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office in Bern. Orelli is also a lecturer at ETH Zurich on legislation relating to genetically modified organisms (GMO).
Benjamin Smith
Singapore
Director, Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH) – a joint initiative between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the Singapore Food Agency and the Nanyang Technical University Singapore. Smith is also the lead for the Human Safety Platform at A*STAR’s Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI).
Sirkka Hammer
Austria
Founder of the Wiener Miso. Hammer founded the manufactory in 2019 when she returned to her hometown from Asia after more than ten years. The Wiener Miso produces spice pastes and sauces based on traditionally Japanese-made ferments. Hammer works closely with top chefs from Austria such as Paul Ivić.
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Ezio Bertorelli
Denmark
Co-founder and co-owner of the fermentation shop Meta in Copenhagen. Bertorelli is a chef specialized in fermentation research. Prior, he did several internships in Michelin-starred restaurants, including at the Noma Fermentation Lab. As Executive Chef at La Petite Table in Paris, he was responsible for the catering for fashion brands like Chanel, Dior and others.
Website
Fabio Campanile
Switzerland
Head Science & Technology, Givaudan. Campanile joined Quest International in the Netherlands as R&D manager in 2000. The company was acquired by Givaudan in 2007. Campanile has had several roles in R&D and headed the department of Flavour Creation and Application.
Website
Orit Ronen-Bernstein
Switzerland
Orit Ronen-Bernstein is a trusted pathfinder and “bridge builder” connecting companies headquartered in Switzerland with the world. Her speciality is not just connecting companies but the right people – their visions, minds and hearts. She has an established network and her door-opening impact gives her access to many decision makers, especially in the food area.
Christine Schäfer
Switzerland
Christine Schäfer is a researcher and speaker at the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. She analyses social, economic and technological trends, with a focus on food, consumption and retail.
Lukas Jezler
Switzerland
CEO of the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for consumption, economic and social studies, Rüschlikon/Zurich.
Pioneers in fermentation
Gerit Tolborg
Denmark
CEO and co-founder of Chromologics. In 2016, Tolborg co-founded the startup Chromologics, based on her discovery of a novel group of fungal pigments with commercial potential as food colors.
Johnny Drain
Great Britain
Co-founder and CTO of WNWN Food Labs. Drain has a Ph.D. in materials science from Oxford University. He is a leading expert in fermentation. His food tech company WNWN Food Labs creates a dairy-free, cacao-free formula for chocolate which involves no child labour, no deforestation, 80 per cent less carbon emissions, no palm oil and no added sugar.
Yonatan Golan
Israel
Co-founder and CEO, Brevel. Golan has been leading Brevel's growth from a small startup to a global player in the microalgae industry. Brevel enables sustainable and affordable production of microalgae as an ingredient for food and other industries.
Anastasia Krivoruchko
Sweden
Co-founder and CEO of Melt&Marble. Krivoruchko holds a PhD in Biology and worked at Chalmers University of Technology on a variety of microbial engineering projects. Melt&Marble is a spinout from Chalmers. The company uses precision fermentation to produce sustainable “animal-like” fats for plant-based foods.
Isabella Iglesias-Musachio
Germany
Founder and CEO, Bosque Foods. Bosque Foods is pioneering the alternative protein movement in Europe, leveraging fermentation to create the next generation of whole-cut meat alternatives, grown naturally from mycelium.
Paulo Teixeira
Sweden
Chief Innovation Officer at Mycorena. Teixeira holds a PhD in precision fermentation and has been a key member in the founding of Mycorena. The food tech start-up developed a proprietary process based on fungi biotechnology to create vegan protein for food products in the most resource-efficient and sustainable way.
Bryan Tracy
USA
Co-founder and CEO, SuperBrewed Food. The startup ferments microbes to create a vegan protein powder that can be used as a key ingredient in plant-based dairy products. They use a low-cost anaerobic environment to grow its bacteria, which is the same process that beer breweries use.
Pioneers in fermentation (video messages)
Moderator
Florian Inhauser
Switzerland
Journalist and moderator. Florian Inhauser presents the main newscast at Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, SRF and he is also the anchor of the foreign news magazine «#SRFglobal». With a master in history and anglistics he speaks English fluently. He has also an excellent reputation as an international correspondent, covering conflicts and crises around the globe.
Partner
The conference programme is co-designed in partnership with Orit Ronen GmbH.
Supporter
Network Partners
Media Partners
About the International Food Innovation Conference
The International Food Innovation Conference is a yearly gathering on the future of nutrition. It covers technological and societal changes in the ecosystem of food. It aims to put current trends into a high-level context and to develop long-term perspectives for all stakeholders involved.
Under the overarching theme "Building a Sustainable Food System", the full day conference brings together thought leaders, key players and startups. Participants are decision-makers from food and related industries, entrepreneurs, academia and journalists from Swiss and European quality media.
Previous conferences
Advisory Board
Urs Niggli
Former Director General of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick, Switzerland. Niggli is a Swiss agricultural scientist and pioneer of organic agriculture. Under his 30 year leadership, FiBL has developed into one of the world's leading research institutes. He is also the founder of agroecology.science, a consulting company for sustainability and organic farming.
Matthew Robin
CEO of ELSA-Mifroma, a group of six food companies in Migros Industry. Robin has pioneered Migros strategy, investments and activities in the cultured meat area. Educated in England as a chemical engineer, he pursued a career in Switzerland and the USA in the pharmaceutical manufacturing and medtech area, before moving to the food sector.
Lee Howell
Executive Director, Villars Institute. Howell was the Managing Director at the World Economic Forum (WEF) responsible for its Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland from 2009 until 2021 and the Editor-in-Chief of its Global Risks Report (2012 & 2013). He is also a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Geneva's School of Economics and Management (GSEM) and a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen’s CEMS program.
Björn Witte
Managing Partner & CEO, Blue Horizon. The company invests in a new sustainable food system, with an end-to-end approach that extends beyond alternative proteins – starting with better crop practices right through to sustainable packaging and smarter distribution. Witte is Blue Horizons strategic thinker and deal maker with a strong background in transforming the food industries as an entrepreneur in international markets.