Track I: Consumer & Market Trends
- Linking the R&D Process and Consumer Acceptance
Dr. Ian Noble, VP R&D - Mondelēz International
Explore how Mondelēz bridges research and development with real consumer acceptance, revealing the strategies and thinking that connect innovation processes to products people actually want.
- Decoding Desire: Data, Emotion, and the Dairy-Free Evolution - Dr. Caroline Cotto, NECTAR at Food System Innovations (FSI)
Taste is now the turning point for dairy-free adoption—and the data proves it. In this session, Caroline Cotto will unveil key findings from NECTAR’s Taste of the Industry 2026 report, and reveal the more than two dozen dairy-free products that are meeting consumer taste expectations against dairy benchmarks. Cotto will also share where R&D must go next: significant opportunities remain in cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. This presentation explores what “taste parity” really means, why it matters emotionally to consumers, and how emerging AI tools are enabling cleaner, better-tasting dairy-free innovation.
- Building a Highway to Scale - Matching Innovation, Investment and Consumer Needs - Kim Anders Odhner, Unovis Asset Management & Ferry Kamp, Remagine Food
