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The summary report of the PFI2 meeting that took place at the NoWFOOD Research Centre
at the University of Chester on 8th August 2016. The 11 research reports are from 5
universities in the UK and France and they provide innovative insights into some of the most
pressing requirements of the food industry.
PRESENTING FOOD INNOVATION
FOR INDUSTRY 2016
INNOVATION REPORTS FROM PFI2, 2016
Presenting Food Innovation for Industry-
PFI2, 2016
At Chester, United Kingdom 8th August 2016
Our food system faces many challenges and this meeting of
undergraduate and postgraduate food science and engineering
students from the UK and France focused on the need to reduce the
environmental impact of food production and to improve nutritional
content of foods.
The challenges stimulate and inspire many innovations across food
supply chains and innovators identify the need to deliver solutions to
manufacturers and retailers. This was evident at PFI2 2016, the result
of a year of discussions between the organisers, Dr Wayne Martindale
(Sheffield Business School), Dr Leo Stevenson (John Moores
University) and Alan Marson (New Food Innovation Ltd). In true
innovative style these were not always formal, sometimes unplanned
and, in the end, they all coalesced at the right time and place. The
event was sponsored by New Food Innovation Ltd and MPC Research
Ltd.
The North West Food Development Research Centre (NoWFOOD) at
the University of Chester was a fitting venue for the event as a centre
of excellence for the food industry. ‘The meeting was initiated by us
realizing many student research projects have a lot to offer industry
and New Food Innovation’s Junior Consultants Programme
complements many undergraduate and postgraduate research’, said
organizer Dr Wayne Martindale, ‘it seemed a loss not to provide the
PFI2 platform to communicate this research at the start of the
innovation cycle’.
We heard from 11 innovators who took centre stage to give 10 minute
‘lightning pitches’ that identified new opportunities to help consumers
access healthy and sustainable food.
‘The goal of PFI2 is to present new ideas that have come from applied
research that provide solutions to many of the challenges people talk
about, indeed, these projects and people will change our industry for
the better and represent a source of talent for the future of our industry.
I have no doubt they will deliver on this’, said Dr Wayne Martindale.
Caroline Wood
Visiting Researcher and reporter for MPC Research, August 2016
2
Contents
Presentation
Page
Joe Havenhand, Sheffield Business School, United Kingdom
A model for sustainable meals- deciding who will use it?
4
Katharina Suessle, Sheffield Business School, United Kingdom
Understanding consumption using social media and fast response
questionnaires- a new way of obtaining consumer insights
5
Drean Wang, Sheffield Business School, United Kingdom
The emerging convenience meal trend in China – consumer insights on this
marketplace
6
Ade Charleine Debeka, International Business, Université Paris Est Créteil,
Paris XII, France
The commercialization and market assessment of algal flour
7
Michael Artemis Mita, Biosciences, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
The Trifecta – digital media and food sustainability
8
Jamie Bridge, Biosciences, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Developing a high protein beverage for the vegan sports market
9
Thomas Lecestre, École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse,
France
The protein hub for businesses and supply chains
10
Marie Chorley, Biosciences, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
A new functional ingredient
11
Victoria Lleret, École nationale supérieure de chimie et de physique de
Bordeaux, France
Improvement of baguette shelf life and nutrition is possible
12
Miléna Boche, École nationale supérieure de chimie et de physique de
Bordeaux, France
Emulsifier replacements for cake and the use of the e-tongue in sensory
assessment
13
Ophélie Duple, École nationale supérieure de chimie et de physique de
Bordeaux, France
Making longer bread shelf-life and reduced fat cakes reality
14
PFI2, 2016- developing a forum to communication innovation 15
Conclusions and recommendations 16
Acknowledgements
17
Joe Havenhand, Sheffield Business School,
United Kingdom
A model for sustainable meals- deciding who will use it?
Joe laid down the vision of providing a sustainability index for British
meals and provided a model for doing this. Many people have tried to
do this, there is a wealth of food-sustainability information available that
is often poorly used and many of us consumers feel that small changes
we might make to the meals will have little impact to ‘big issues’ such
as climate change. Thus, the challenge was all about giving context to
sustainability for consumers and there were many barriers.
What is more, Joe noted much of the prior debate on food sustainability
had focused on agricultural products such as grain and meat, not the
food ingredients we utilise such as flour, oils and butter. The meals we
consume had only just begun to enter the sustainability debate and it
was no wonder consumers feel somewhat ‘left out’ of it.
To solve this, he has pressure tested the ‘6-Function Model’ that has
been developed by Dr Wayne Martindale, by calculating the
sustainability scores for 5 most-popular British meals. These functions
included nitrogen fertiliser and energy inputs required in production,
protein and micronutrient content and the energy used during the
cooking process. Joe has also used data from WRAP to assess how
much food waste each meal typically produces. Together, these
measures give an overall sustainability index that allows the meals to
be ranked according to sustainability.
‘We can also use the model to produce focused sustainability
statements’, said Joe, ‘this communicates sustainability in a way that
gives the consumer a deeper understanding and the feeling that they
can make a difference’
Joe hopes that his model could be developed to help consumers to
plan more sustainable diets. ‘I hope to put more meals through the
model to produce a robust sustainability index’ he said, ‘this could
inspire consumers to create sustainable outcomes at every meal.’
While the 6fm will tell users what is the most sustainable meal, it will
also show the inevitable trade-offs associated with any sustainability
based decision. These trade off based decisions will not exclude meal
choices but highlight the sustainable use of them in terms of their
nutritional, social and environmental impacts.
‘Retailers and
manufacturers need
to communicate
sustainability
science more
effectively to bring
about dietary
change’
‘how consumers
actually understand
food sustainability is
critical’
‘Here is a
sustainability index
for meals we choose
to eat’
4
Katharina Suessle, Sheffield Business School,
United Kingdom
Understanding consumption using social media and fast response
questionnaires- a new way of obtaining consumer insights
Consumers are aware of a need to reduce their consumption of meat
and sugar-rich snacks, which contribute to obesity. Food manufacturers
are under increasing pressure to supply solutions that deliver these
requirements and the reformulation and manufacturing challenges they
present are far from straightforward.
These are particularly visible in the confectionery and snacking arena
where lifestyle demands make it a popular format and nutritional
demands make it a massive challenge. Understanding consumers in
this environment is critical to marketing success and this is what
Katharina’s research provides.
She has looked at the plant protein opportunities that provide satiating
effects and the potential of using them to reformulate sugar-based
snacks for weight-management and responding to consumer demand.
So far social media has been under-utilised as a tool to identify
opportunities for protein-enriched products to change snack-
consumption behaviours.
This was a focus of Katharina’s work, which used Google Trends to
assess the interest over time of key search terms by internet users.
These on-line analyses were benchmarked with fast response
questionnaires that determined protein snacking trends and aspirations
of consumers.
Her results also showed that consumers associate certain plant-based
foods with high protein contents, these include lentils, nuts and quinoa,
suggesting they have the most potential for reformulations. Although
whey and hemp proteins were also popular search terms, they are the
dominant proteins that have been used in reformulation to date.
‘We can see from the related searches that these are very much
contained within the fitness and bodybuilding market’ said Katharina.
The language associated with protein-based snacks highlights the
barriers they face in changing consumer habits.
’This method will
help manufacturers
to develop products
and marketing
strategies that
consumers relate to’
‘Protein-based
snacks are perceived
as healthy and
unexciting, product
development needs
to reach taste
oriented consumers’
‘the most popular
sweet snacks are
cakes and brownies,
if we reformulate we
would appeal to a
wider market’
5
Drean Wang, Sheffield Business School, United
Kingdom
The emerging convenience meal trend in China – consumer
insights on this marketplace
China is seeing a rapidly growing drive towards convenience foods,
however the ready-meal market there is still developing, with only a
limited choice available.
‘Many Chinese consumers are still unfamiliar with ready meals and
nothing has really been done to investigate their perceptions of these’
said Drean.
To investigate the key factors which influence how Chinese consumers
select convenience foods, Drean designed a questionnaire that was
completed by 177 Chinese based in Shanghai and Beijing, and she
also coordinated a focus group of Chinese consumers who had resided
in the UK for at least half a year.
‘Surprisingly, I found that price was actually the least important factor’
said Drean. ‘The most important was taste, followed by healthiness,
nutrition, convenience, the brand and packaging.’
However, analysing Chinese attitudes towards different product claims
for products revealed that food safety is another primary concern. Not
having food additives was particularly important, with other rapidly
emerging trends including non-GM, local, organic and traceable foods.
Yet many health-related claims, such as foods that are low-fat, high-
fibre or low-sugar, were only found to be of low-medium importance for
Chinese consumers.
According to Drean, it is now time for food manufacturers to ‘take
notice of consumer demand for safe, healthy and tasty food by
enhancing the variety, packaging and appearance of ready meal
products available in China.’
The demand for convenience and the need to make meals in less than
10 minutes was evident from this research. The marketplace was still
developing and there was an indication that the price sensitivity of the
ready meal was changing with higher quality products emerging in
premium price categories. The arena is exciting and there is a clear
opportunity for manufacturers to build-in food safety with other
attributes such as assurance and sustainability. Sustainability
messages would most likely be associated with Corporate Social
Responsibility.
‘This research
shows the Chinese
consumer has high
awareness of health
related to food, and
there is great
potential in
developing
convenient healthy
foods’
‘There a notable
change in price
sensitivity in the
developing
convenience food
marketplace’
6
Ade Charleine Debeka, International Business,
Université Paris Est Créteil, Paris XII, France
The commercialization and market assessment of algal flour
Algal protein is an exciting new development for the food industry,
however as a novel product, it is currently unknown how consumers will
respond to it. Ade has been researching the commercialisation
potential of AlgaVia, an alternative flour produced by Solazyme that is
made from algae.
AlgaVia can be used to reduce the fat content of baked goods, whilst
maintaining a rich texture and taste. Ade’s first task was to develop a
sound understanding of the sweet bakery industry. Using market
sources such as Mintel, Kantar and the British Library, she compiled a
database listing over 180 key players in the industry, including raw
ingredient suppliers and producers, listed by country.
Ade then turned her attention to the key actors and developing trends
within the industry. As she explained, major supermarkets have a
dominant role in the industry especially as many are now often
producers themselves, with their own-brand labels.
This involved analysing the promotional facts used for products, to
understand how AlgaVia could be presented to consumers.
Together, these insights have provided a foundation for the
commercialisation strategy of AlgaVia.
“The next step is to introduce algal flour to potential customers through
exhibitions, meetings, medias and social media” Ade concluded.
‘The database has
details about each
company, including
their turnover and
profit, it is used to
map the landscape
of the sweet bakery
industry for both
producers and
ingredient suppliers.’
‘I have also defined
the emerging trends,
such as new
flavours, ingredients
and marketing
opportunities,
including gluten-
free’’
7
Michael Artemis Mita, Biosciences, University of
Nottingham, United Kingdom
The Trifecta – digital media and food sustainability
Unhealthy diets and obesity are particularly associated with access to
poor dietary knowledge.
Michael has shown that digital space has great potential as an
educational tool for more sustainable lifestyles. “For instance, Ericsson
has predicted that there will be an estimated 6.1 billion smartphone
users by 2020” he said. To reach this audience, Michael is helping Alan
Marson develop the Trifecta project, a digital, social movement that
uses educational yet engaging resources to promote healthy lifestyle
choices and sustainability.
So far Michael’s work has focused on cultivating Trifecta’s online brand
and developing the online resources ahead of the website’s recent
launch. “I am now at the stage of developing prototypes for videos,
games and Apps, besides thinking about how to engage schools” he
said.
In the next phase he hopes to start partnering with celebrities and
YouTube personas to unlock the power of ‘Influencer advertising’,
where products and lifestyles are associated with well-known entities.
‘Working with celebrities and influencers could help to make Trifecta a
combined brand that turns into a legacy’, said Michael.
Although ‘celebrity endorsement’ is sometimes viewed negatively,
Michael envisages that Trifecta will provide a platform to connect
influencers with specialists to ensure that the right information is
promoted.
‘This research
suggests that
consumers who
have knowledge
about food; where it
comes from and the
impacts it has on the
environment, society
and individuals will
use it more
sustainably’’
‘Studies have shown
that people,
especially teenagers,
trust word-of-mouth
more than online
advertisements,
videos or
newspapers’
8
Jamie Bridge, Biosciences, University of
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Developing a high protein beverage for the vegan sports market
Demand for protein continues to rise in the UK, fueled in part by
increasing interest in protein supplementation and meat replacer
products.
Market trends indicate protein supplements are shifting out of the
sports-nutrition market to foods for typical consumers.
However, we are also becoming increasingly aware of the need to
reduce their intake of animal products, creating a market for
supplements based on alternative protein sources.
As such, Jamie is developing ‘Vgain’: a protein-enriched smoothie
‘designed to appeal to the millennial market, specifically sports people
and those following a vegan diet’. To create the formulation, Jamie
experimented with adding different plant-protein powders such as pea,
algae, rice, oat, soy and hemp, to different bases, including orange
juice, soya milk and water. Freeze dried fruit, natural sweeteners and
hydrocolloids have also been tested.
‘We chose soy powder as the main ingredient, mainly on the basis of
sensory testing and taste’ said Jamie. ‘However, we may need to add
to this to make sure it gives a complete amino acid profile and protein
required.’
The smoothie will also be fortified with a range of vitamins and minerals
chosen on the basis of Jamie’s own research into consumer awareness
of micronutrient deficiencies. Other additions, such as chia seeds,
flaxseeds and berry extracts will add flavour and texture. The end
product will provide at least 20g of complete protein per serving and be
gluten-free and sustainable.
‘sales of protein
supplementation
products rose by
17.4% in the UK and
50% of consumers
aged 18-24 say that
they take sports
nutrition drinks even
when they aren’t
working out’’
‘the amino acid
profile of replacers is
critical to the
nutritional claims
made and markets
available’
9
Thomas Lecestre, École Nationale Supérieure
Agronomique de Toulouse, France
The protein hub for businesses and supply chains
The range of protein ingredient sources is becoming ever more diverse;
besides new plant-proteins, novel sources such as algal-protein and
mycoprotein are steadily gaining ground in a market where consumer
understanding is driving demand.
Meanwhile the protein market itself is highly complex, including sectors
for sports nutrition, animal feed, restrictive diets such as intolerances
and vegans, infant formula and supplements for the elderly.
Given this complexity it can be difficult to connect food manufacturers
and consumers with the right protein for their needs. To address this,
Thomas is developing ‘The Protein Hub’: a business-to-business
interface for the protein ingredient market.
The outcome will be a website with information on all protein sources,
and an online portfolio of their manufacturers and retailers. Already
Thomas has formed partnerships with key stakeholder companies
including AlgaVia and the dairy company Fonterra.
So far he has undertaken an extensive literature review to collate the
sources using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to shiow environmental
impacts.
He has also conducted market research to identify the key production
and retail players in the protein market. ‘The next step will be to look for
trends in the protein market so we can promote healthy and
sustainable sources of protein’, Thomas said.
‘We hope to increase
awareness of the
different consumer
markets to broaden
the sources of
protein used in food
products’
‘there is currently a
big knowledge gap
we are filling, about
the impacts of the
processing method
for many of the raw
materials, some of
which are heavily
based on detergents
and chemicals’ 10
Marie Chorley, Biosciences, University of
Nottingham, United Kingdom
A new functional ingredient
Marie is currently working on a project that is covered by confidentiality
agreements. The results are currently in development and if you would
like to know more please contact Alan Marson at New Food Innovation
Ltd
‘I feel very lucky to
be the first person to
work on this’
‘It’s a very innovative
and sustainable
project goal that can
offer solutions to
many of the
challenges the
industry now faces’
11
1
1
Victoria Lleret, École nationale supérieure de
chimie et de physique de Bordeaux, France
Improvement of baguette shelf life and nutrition is possible
According to WRAP, bread is one of the most wasted food products in
the UK. Consequently, there is considerable interest by retailers and
manufacturers for innovative methods that could extend bread shelf-
life.
As part of a larger project aiming to increase the shelf-life of sandwich
baguettes from 3 to 30 hours, Victoria has been investigating the
effects of adding new processes to the manufacturing system. To
ensure the product would be acceptable to consumers, Victoria worked
closely with an industry company to make sure that the baguettes met
their standards.
Microwave methods were unsuitable here as these dried out the
crumb, rather than the crust. But the use of air treatments successfully
doubled the shelf life, leaving a crispy crust without drying out the
crumb.
Earlier work in the project established how modifying the baguette
recipe can increase shelf life; the next stage will be to combine this with
the process steps Victoria has identified.
In another project, Victoria assessed whether fats or emulsifiers can
improve the performance of poor-quality flours with low protein
contents. Typically, these produce loaves that have less moisture and
volume and a worse texture. However, none of the four products
Victoria tested was able to improve the flour so that it was comparable
to a high-quality, high-protein brand.
‘This project has
shown that, for the
moment, it is
impossible to
improve the
performance of
cheaper, poor-
quality flours with fat
or emulsifiers to
match that of high-
quality flours’
‘there are important
process steps that
bakers can use to
extend shelf life of
baguettes and these
have important profit
led outcome’ 12
Miléna Boche, École nationale supérieure de
chimie et de physique de Bordeaux, France
Emulsifier replacements for cake and the use of the e-tongue in
sensory assessment
Part of Milena’s project compared the performance of natural
emulsifiers used in cake recipes. Her results demonstrated that the
baking process has a considerable effect on emulsifier properties.
“For example, some options are very effective at stabilising liquids and
beverages in the lab but produced the worst cake I have ever seen in
the bakery” said Miléna.
In fact, many of the natural emulsifiers Miléna tested made cakes that
were worse than controls containing no emulsifiers. Her research has
identified exceptions to this trend and allowed her to develop a decision
based tool in deciding what emulsifier to use in what situation.
The integration of lab and bakery results was emphasized in an
assessment of sensory methods. Miléna investigated the potential of
an ‘electronic (e)-tongue’ to replace test panels in the food industry.
The taste sensor, constructed from a lipid and polymer membrane, is
capable of detecting all five basic tastes. Electrostatic interactions
between lipids in the sensor and the taste materials produce charges
that are detected by a computer to give a sensor output.
Miléna demonstrated the sensitivity of the tongue by putting English
and French coffee brands under the spotlight. Using the E-tongue,
Miléna showed that the coffees provided to each country have distinct
taste differences, hence the serving sizes are adjusted to give a
consistent flavour. In future work, she plans to investigate what effect
different production techniques have on the overall taste. The e-tongue
may prove useful in benchmarking products in this way.
‘consumers are
demanding clean
label, without
additives so I am
investigating
whether companies
can use natural
ingredients and
obtain the same
functionality and
properties as
existing ingredients’
‘France and the UK
share many of the
same coffee brands
recommending
different serving
sizes that the e-
tongue can
differentiate’
13
Ophélie Duple, École nationale supérieure de
chimie et de physique de Bordeaux, France
Making longer bread shelf-life and reduced fat cakes reality
Ophélie has been working to extend the shelf life of bread, in this case
the sliced loaf.
This has involved both evaluating different sterilisation treatments and
developing a bakery model to improve distribution and avoid waste.
Ophélie found that infra-red (IR) treatment was particularly effective;
this involves briefly heating the bread to a very high temperature.
Crucially this only affects the surface of the bread, avoiding
contamination during the slicing stage.
As this process is so quick – two seconds – it can easily be included in
the production line’ Ophélie said. However, IR treatment means that
the bread is still hot when it is packaged, which may promote
condensation and mould development. As such, Ophélie has been
testing IR in bread production and will soon be evaluating the results.
Meanwhile another part of her project has been assessing the utility of
two novel ingredients in cake baking: algal flour (to reduce fat content)
and a blend of fats that reduce saturates. She will assess how different
proportions of these ingredients affect various parameters in cakes,
including volume, moisture content, firmness and taste.
‘The results should show determine the best recipe according to taste,
nutritional profile and the shelf-life’ Ophélie concluded.
‘We aim to increase
the shelf life of bread
from five to ten days,
while seemigly a
small time frame to
consumers, this will
revolutionise baking
bread and make
bakeries far more
efficient’
‘reducing fat in cake
and maintaining their
sensory scores
provides innovative
recipes for the
bakery retail aisle
where there are
requirements to
reduce fat and sugar’ 14
PFI2, 2016- developing a forum to communication innovation
There were a number of consistent themes that emerged from the event. The first is that consumers
are becoming more aware of and interested in food issues related to health and sustainability. Many
consumers have concerns about the impacts of their diet, but do not feel part of ‘a debate’ and as such
are confused in how to make a difference.
Clear communication campaigns are essential if consumer knowledge about how to make more
sustainable choices is to increase. Sustainability scoring systems, such as that presented by Joe
Havenhand, are likely to play a role in this in the future and it is clear that where products do exist to
enable healthy and sustainable lifestyles, consumers are generally prepared to seek them out. This
was demonstrated by Drean Wang’s research which found that Chinese consumers might spend more
money on convenience food products that match their food safety and nutrition needs. Jamie Bridge’s
project, meanwhile, has found that there is an increasing demand for sustainable protein
supplementation products for mainstream rather than elite-sport consumers.
This indicates a strong market for novel ingredients that can improve the sustainability and health
credentials of food products with the message of ‘replace’, rather than ‘reduce’, particularly if these new
ingredients can let us have our cake and eat it. As such, there is great interest in novel flour products
which can reduce fat content in baked goods, such as the AlgaVia flour introduced by Ade Charleine
Debeka. Concurrently, there is an increasing trend towards foods which only contain ‘natural’ additives,
as consumers become increasingly concerned about food safety. This has opened up active areas of
research into new potential natural additives presented by Marie Chorley and processes that can
extend self-life in a non-chemical way by Ophélie Duple. However, these talks have demonstrated the
importance of evaluating how these ingredients perform in the context of the actual product. Some of
the natural emulsifiers tested by Miléna Boche for instance proved to be unsuitable for making cakes.
Similarly, Victoria Lleret found that some of the processes that could be used to extend the shelf life of
sandwich baguettes resulted in a product which was unacceptable to consumers.
The pitches demonstrated that digital space is an invaluable tool for marketing such products and
ingredients that promote sustainable solutions. As Katharina Suessle showed, Google Trends can be
used effectively to identify consumer demands and hence new market opportunities. However,
marketing strategies can be proactive and well as reactive, as Thomas Leceste and Michael Artemis
Mita alluded through the protein hub and Trifecta projects. Utilising the power of key digital and media
influencers will be important to educate and engage new audiences with sustainable lifestyles and
products. It could be said “If you build it, associate it with a celebrity, then they will come”. Digital space
will also play an increasing role in linking together consumers, manufacturers and retailers to tailor new
food sources into bespoke products for specific markets.
In summary, the future looks set to introduce many innovations to the food industry that can help
consumers realise healthier and more sustainable lifestyles. This requires a sound understanding of
emerging and established markets, and communication strategies that are tailored to consumer
demands. Partnerships will also be crucial – both between researchers and industry, and ingredient
suppliers and producers. In each case, digital space and social medias will likely play an increasingly
important role.
15
Conclusions and recommendations
Consumers are more aware of how food affects their health and the environment. Providing
products which address their desire for sustainable food is a goal we can deliver.
Consumers are often confused by product claims and as such their choices cannot really make
a difference to sustainability issues, providing clear communications can change this.
Digital space is an exciting opportunity both to educate and to identify emerging opportunities.
Developing a thorough understanding of the market for protein products and sources is
essential to develop strategies for commercialising sustainable foods.
Novel ingredients have the potential to replace unhealthy or unsustainable aspects of many
popular foods and encourage sustainable options in food choice.
It is critical to assess ingredient performance in manufacturing arenas and new technologies
can reduce the risk of failure when going from lab to factory.
Incorporating new processes into food production could significantly extend shelf lives and
meet sensory goals allowing manufacturers, retailers and consumers to reduce food waste.
The PFI2 2016, team- (L to R) Caroline Wood, Drean Wang, Michael Artemis Mita, Katharina Suessal,
Joe Havenhand, Marie Chorley, Jamie Bridge, Ade-Charleine Debeka, Alan Marson, Dr Leo
Stevenson, Thomas Lecestre. Victoria Lleret, Miléna Boche, Ophélie Duple and Dr Wayne Martindale
not in photo.
16
Acknowledgements
The success of this meeting is evident from the feedback I have received and all of the people
presenting enjoyed delivering their work to us on the day. It is the talks and speakers that made the
meeting work and they delivered the goal of providing an overview of what specific innovations are
likely to change how we think about foods, manufacturing and retailing. The scale of work spanned the
biochemical to the global movement; and as such, demonstrated the complexity of working with
innovation. What we made clear was that community and networks are key to any success; if we do
not talk and meet, we are likely to fail in reaching markets and consumers. Our aim is experience of
foods should become even better.
As well as the speakers who presented the means of making things better, my two co-organisers in
Alan Marson and Dr Leo Stevenson have been crucial in giving the day authority; and, myself the
resolve to work to delivering it. PFI2 started as an idea to bring together Alan’s Junior Consultant
Programme which has had many successful years of operating now, and the wealth of student
research innovation Leo and myself see year-on-year in our universities. Our goal is simple, to get this
research to market so that it might work and to provide a platform for the innovator at the start of their
career to communicate. Without these goals, innovations will not work and PFI2 2016, is the start of
future meetings that will follow themes.
The production of the communications, which are most critical to future success of innovations would
not have happened without the skills of Caroline Wood, who has been a research reporter at MPC
Research in July and August 2016. Caroline reported on the day and provided the original transcript for
this publication.
The PFI2 2016 event has been sponsored by New Food Innovation Ltd and MPC Research Ltd that
have provided venue and publication services.
We hope to follow with another PFI2 meeting in the near future, and you can contact me through
LinkedIn, Twitter or my blog (www.waynemartindale.com) for further details.
Dr Wayne Martindale
Barnsley, United Kingdom, August 2016
17
