Sonae debates the future of food

Sonae MC brought together national and international specialists in the food area from various institutions such as the European Commission, universities and research centres to discuss the main challenges and opportunities about the future of food and contribute towards developing collaborative food research, development and innovation projects.

The ‘Future of Food – Envisioning our Food Systems’ event, which was organised in partnership with Vision 2020, Business France, ICEX Spain and the UK's Science and Innovation Network, was held at the Sonae Learning Centre in Maia on 28 and 29 June.

Here are some of the main insights of the event.

Globally, we now face huge challenges that demand the transformation of our food systems;

The future of the food system involves strengthening the collaboration between the various players along the entire value chain (from the producer to the consumer);

Applied scientific research and the real challenges in such diverse areas such as food science, packaging, consumer behaviour, valuing waste and by-products or the design of new logistics models that are more efficient and sustainable are opening the way to new solutions.

The new technologies (image recognition, machine learning and so on), allied with a strong research base will help to bolster the principles of quality and safety, helping with product traceability and their characteristics along the value chain;

We must find the mechanisms that let us involve the consumers in co-creating this food future;

The food retail chains play an extremely important role in transforming the food systems because of the role they play close to the final consumer with a great impact on the logistics chain and a growing influence in the development of own brand products.

The event culminated in a dinner made with products at the end of their shelf life by Chef Rui Paula, who was recently awarded a Michelin star and who is well-known for his struggle against food waste.

See http://www.futureoffoodsonae.pt/ for further details.