Conference Day One
Tuesday, February 25

7:30 am Check-In & Light Breakfast

8:25 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

  • Adam Leman Principal Scientist, Fermentation, The Good Food Institute

Evaluating Shifts in the Private & Public Investment Landscape

8:30 am Securing Private & Public Investment to Support Protein Innovation & Scale-Up

Synopsis

  • Overcoming funding challenges and tackling regulatory and legislative hurdles
  • Uncovering how food innovators are navigating a changing landscape
  • Sharing key lessons learned

9:00 am Panel Discussion: Reflecting on the Investment Changes Since 2022 – What Does the Future Hold?

Synopsis

  • Evaluating how founders can approach building a profitable business in an evolved investment landscape
  • Discussing avenues to receive non-dilutive capital
  • Comparing business models against other upcoming tech, and evaluating similarities and differences
  • What are the problems that the tech can realistically solve that isn’t over-promising?

10:00 am Scaling Alternative Proteins Successfully: Lessons, Pitfalls, & Best Practices

Synopsis

  • Navigating the expansion journey from R&D to commercialization
  • Applying lessons from biofuels to strengthen alternative protein growth
  • Implementing the FEL process to de-risk and accelerate scale-up

10:15 am Morning Break & Speed Networking

Spotlighting Scalable Strain Development & Successful Upscaled Fermentation

Synopsis

Chair: Stephane MacMillan

11:15 am Optimizing Target Molecule Selection & Production for Use in Diversified Products

Synopsis

  • Ensuring target molecule selection is achievable through fermentation at scale
  • Discussing how to predict the functionality of the protein ingredient in R&D
  • Evaluating next-generation screening methods to identify modifications to improve protein expression

11:45 am Technology & Process Optimization to Maximize High Quality Protein Ingredient Yields

Synopsis

  • Setting up effective monitoring and feedback loops to adjust the fermentation environment
  • Removing waste by-products to ensure the health of the host organism
  • Minimizing changes in temperature, shear force, pH, and dissolved oxygen to improve stability at scale

12:15 pm Unlocking Data-Driven Protein Production Towards Improvements in Efficiency, Yield, & Cost Reduction at Scale

Synopsis

  • Sharing the density, pH, temperature, and time-of-flight measurements captured by our continuous monitoring sensors during bioprocessing
  • Demonstrating the application of this data to precision fermentation to improve batch consistency, detect deviations, and tune process parameters
  • Case study: sharing an example of how real-time data improved fermentation outcomes in brewing, and the potential for direct applicability to fermentation-derived proteins

12:25 pm Networking Lunch Break

Developing Best-in-Class Product Formulations to Delight Consumers

Synopsis

Chair: Stephane MacMillan

1:30 pm Key Considerations for Successfully Developing Alternative Dairy Products

Synopsis

  • Aligning expectations of consumers, suppliers and manufacturers
  • Key steps for developing successful food applications
  • Successfully navigating product scale up

2:00 pm Maintaining the Taste & Functionality of Alternative Protein Ingredients in Product Processing

Synopsis

  • Ensuring product manufacturing techniques are mindful of the protein specifications
  • Avoiding compromising on the final product quality given protein instability
  • Designing workflows to detect and mitigate aberrant proteins

2:30 pm Marrying Protein Ingredient Selection with End Product Application to Accelerate Commercialization

Synopsis

  • Identifying key protein properties that lend themselves to specific applications
  • Aligning ingredient value proposition with the target market
  • Ensuring cross-functional collaboration between R&D and application teams
  • How to position applications to consumers

3:00 pm Afternoon Networking Break

Advancing Commercially Successful Strategic Partnerships

Synopsis

Chair: Adam Leman

3:45 pm Panel Discussion: Innovating the Next Generation – CPG & Ingredient Provider Evaluation of Alternative Proteins

  • Leon Zhou Technology Partnership Manager, Roquette America Inc
  • Bill Dong Investor, Schreiber Foods
  • Allyson Fish President, Chief Commercial Officer, Precision Fermentation, ADM

Synopsis

  • Articulating how CPGs and ingredient providers view fermentation-derived proteins in their long-term sustainability goals
  • Discussing the key criteria to hit to get a viable product to consumers by bringing together the ecosystem in a way to de-risk the technology
  • Quantifying the level of importance of alternative proteins to CPGs and ingredient providers, and what are the different types of proteins of interest

4:30 pm Collaborating with Diverse Customers: Lessons Learned from CPG & Ingredient Provider Partnerships

  • Bryan Tracy Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Superbrewed Food

Synopsis

  • Presenting the journey of operating with as B2B innovator and forming long-term joint development agreements
  • Collaborating strategically with diverse partners to fulfil the potential of alternative protein ingredients
  • Positioning an ingredient to be relevant to CPGs and ingredient providers

5:00 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

  • Adam Leman Principal Scientist, Fermentation, The Good Food Institute

5:15 pm End of Conference Day One