The event, which will comprise a top line-up of speakers addressing key industry issues, is being staged following the success of the inaugural event, held in March this year. Topics on the agenda include innovation, sustainability, the development of alternative food sources and changing consumer buying patterns.
Organised by the publisher of FoodManufacture.co.uk and Food Manufacture, William Reed Business Media, the event promises a diet rich in inspiration and insight for research and development, marketing and business strategy leaders from across the global food development industry.
‘Even bigger audience’
“More than 130 food industry decision makers from 30 countries attended Food Vision 2013,” said Vision events director Christina Wood. “We expect to attract an even bigger audience this year, drawn by an interactive programme that combines insightful presentations from industry leaders with the opportunity to network in confidence and at the highest level in the industry.”
The programme for 2014 has been informed by feedback and recommendations from the 2013 audience as well as input from the editorial teams on FoodManufacture.co.uk’s sister online publications FoodNavigator and NutraIngredients.
Presenters will speak on a wealth of subjects, ranging from the future for insect consumption as a protein replacement and advice on how to reach consumers, to product and marketing innovation. They include: Professor Mark Post, creator of the world’s first beef burger made from bovine skeletal muscle stem cells, and Professor Arnold van Huis, a world expert on the use of insects as food.
Also taking part will be nutritionist Jenny Westerkamp who is a social media expert and author of 'You Are What You Retweet: 140 social media rules to live by'.
‘Supermarket Superstars’
Others on the programme include: cognitive neuroscientist Charles Spence, head of sensory marketing at J Walter Thomson and of Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory; Chris Cornyn, a mentor on US Lifetime TV’s ‘Supermarket Superstars’ and founder of food and drink agency, Dine; and Kevin Klock, chief executive of turnaround soft drinks business TalkingRain, whose SparklingICE brand has grown from $10M to $350M in three years.
“We’ve created a programme that encourages food businesses to look to the future; a future that will be defined both by consumers’ appetite for responsible innovation and by the pressures placed on food resources by a rapidly growing and increasingly affluent world population,” said Stephen Daniells, senior editor of FoodNavigator USA and editorial consultant to Vision Events. “We will examine and debate the factors that will determine commercial success in a fast changing consumer environment.”
Representing the food industry and speaking at the event will be Unilever's consumer engagement centre lead Phil Hood and Waitrose’s director, quality and technical David Croft.
Food Vision 2014 will be held from March 31 to April 2 in the five star Martinez Hotel, Cannes. For further information visit: www.foodvisionevent.com.