Food Technology Professionals Platform

Bridges to innovation

Accelerating innovation, business & personal development
When you:

are passionate about innovation and improvement of food & life
want to grow your entrepreneurial skills for your innovation and project management roles
desire to develop a larger European food network across industries and food value chains
thrive on challenges, like to inspire and create business concepts
like to future proof and challenge your views
are younger than 40 years

Then you are in the right place! The Food Technology Platform is for food professionals and experts who share your passions and ambitions.

The mission of the Food Technology Platform and Bridge2Food is to accelerate innovation, to inspire and connect professionals within Europe we want to address several issues, such as food & health, sustainability and food security.

We aim to achieve this mission via intensive, hands-on platform meetings (2 per year) and via an active and vibrant community. Run by professionals, who initiate and catalyze possibilities to innovate, bridge and inspire those with a desire to make a difference. Expert coaches from different backgrounds, job functions and nationalities stimulate and facilitate progress. Food professionals (younger than 40 years) will prepare themselves for a next step in their careers, together with key thought leaders, entrepreneurs, experienced industry coaches and other food technology professionals. This exclusive, long term platform facilitates professionals in becoming true intrapreneurs, who will be able to create win-win situations in their organizations.

To guarantee success, the Food Technology Platform will be exclusive to 60 attendees from various industries, with only a few participants from every industry being able to join. The number of 'seats' available per industry is therefore limited.

The Food Technology Platforms of Bridge2Food for Professionals and Leaders, are supported by the many different food manufacturers, ingredient companies, technology providers and also research institutes from various European countries, such as:

The Food Technology Platform enables to:

`Source-in` innovation-wise hands-on and get creative ideas
Future proofing by working with thought leaders, entrepreneurs and coaches on future foods, sustainability and food processing concepts
Develop a multidisciplinary European food network of 60+ professionals in 1 year

'Sourcing-in'
Innovation in the food and agricultural industries is becoming more and more important. Companies often use systems like the Stage Gate process to organize and monitor the flow of projects. But what about the skills of the people working on innovation? How apt are they to `source in` ideas? How much experience does your company have in developing relationships in different parts of the value chain or in other food industries? Moreover, many food companies would like their employees to develop more entrepreneurial skills, being able to learn, manage and develop 'outside in'. This includes understanding market/consumer trends and how to translate these into business opportunities.

The Food Technology Platform can serve in many ways to accelerate the development and success of your innovation. The combination of getting inspiration from thought leaders and entrepreneurs and working on innovation cases with the help of the great Business Generation Model and input from food industry colleagues in different industries, from other value chains, and different countries and nationalities is unique in Europe. The Platformers will be able to ´future proof´ trends and will create ideas.

Future proofing with entrepreneurs
Successful entrepreneurs have a long term vision on how to serve customers and society on challenges like future health & nutrition, sustainability and future food production. Benig confronted with these ideas and visions is inspirational. It will enlarge the scope and add new view points to the current position of the company and to professional development. Broadening the scope from a technological viewpoint towards a wider perspective is key for many food technologists, who will continue their careers in a business, marketing or development role. An important condition for this professional development is building an international multidisciplinary network and acquire hands-on business tools.


Claire Nuttall	Bernd Mintjes	Cindy Gerhardt	David Welsby	Gerard Klein Essink
Thrive Innovation & Brand Agency	Maxwell Strategy & Investment Group	DSM Food Specialties	Dupont Solae	Bridge2Food

Developing a multidisciplinary food network in Europe
How much time does it take to develop an international food network? When managers look back at their careers and network development, they realize that it took them 10-20 years to do so. What if we can accelerate this process and give food professionals in 1 year time 60 new industry contacts from industries and nationalities across Europe? How much easier and faster will innovation go, when you have a friend in another country, who can offer you access & insights in national or regional R&D networks, innovative companies, processing and machinery companies? It is the ambition of Bridge2Food to achieve this result with and for the Platformers

Topics & Set-up
The Professionals Platform is all about broadening the scope and getting inspiration for new ideas and innovation.

Each Platform meeting will focus on the following topics:

Future Foods: Consumer, Health & Nutrition
Sustainability: Impact on R&D & Business
Future food processing: New technologies

Each topic will consist of:

Key-note presentation of an industry thought leader: Which trends, developments and challenges are we facing?
Case study of an entrepreneur: How have we put these challenges into a business opportunity?
Using the Business Model Generation method to relate the business case of the entrepreneur to future trends and developments as pictured by the thought leader and the experiences of the food technology professionals
Groups working on the business cases of the entrepreneurs, facilitated by coaches (in break-out groups of 10-15 professionals)
Presentations of each Working Group of different Business Model Generation (BMG) Factors
Plenary discussion

The Platform dinner in the evening of day 1 will give professionals the opportunity to relax and to get to know each other. For the detailed program of the 1st meeting click here.

Outcomes & Benefits
Joining the Platform for Food Technology Professionals has substantial benefits. Participating professionals will:

Gain insights in trends, customers and business opportunities in the food market and learn how to translate these into opportunities for their own company

Build win–win business opportunities together with entrepreneurs

Learn how to build solid business cases

Strenghten their network with 60 food technology professionals from Europe, entrepreneurs, coaches, thought leaders and businesses

Be inspired by new perspectives on their own personal and professional development

These results will be achieved via:

2 Platform Meetings per year of 2 days each

12 key note presentations of thought leaders and entrepreneurs

10 in-depth business case studies by food technology experts, entrepreneurs and thought leaders

5 experienced coaches facilitating challenging assignments and discussions

20 hours of profound discussions

4 networking lunches & 2 dinners

Additional benefits include:

Access to network of entrepreneurs, thought leaders and coaches

Incorporation in The International Food Business Network of Bridge2FoodTarget Groups

Are you a Platformer?
The Professionals Platform is meant for professionals younger than 40 years, and who have obtained a minimum of 5 years of food industry experience at a multinational, an SME or a research institution. The experience can be in the areas of Research & Development, Application, Technology, Quality, Processing, Health, Nutrition & Regulatory or New Business Development.

These enthusiastic Professionals want to further broaden their scope, develop their business skills, and grow their international network working in:

Food Manufacturers: Dairy & Dairy-Free, Beverages & Drinks, Bakery, Confectionery & Snacks, Ready Meals & Convenience, Meat, Fish & Meat-free, Health Foods & Supplements ...
Food Ingredients: Proteins, Hydrocolloids, Oils & Fats, Vitamins, Health ingredients ...
Food Processing: Packaging, Research Institutes, Analytical and other Supply Industries ...
Research institutes

There are only a few places available per industry, in order to maximize the multidisciplinary platform character. So secure your participation by registering here