Brussels 17-18 April

Conference "Perspectives for FOOD 2030"

organised by the Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission

The goal of the conference was to appraise how the food industry and consumer demand may develop during the next 25 years and what implications this may have for food, agriculture, fisheries and biotechnology research.

During the conference the most important questions were: How will the supermarket of the future look? What will the consumer want on his plate? Which technologies will emerge? But also people following the discussion via web-streaming were invited to send their questions to the Conference.

The Conference was divided into four main sessions: Trends and Outlook in World Economics, Culture and Food; Drivers of Food demand and of the Market Today and Tomorrow; New Technologies for Food Production; Future Perceptions of Food. Many major European and worldwide actors from the fields of food technology, retail, consumer science/behaviour, economy, etc. took part in the conference to compile visions of the future.
The major topic of the Conference were the various and increasingly important changes that the European food industry will have to face. A good understanding of the triggers of future changes and their potential impact on major European sectors becomes more and more important as globalisation brings new tasks and threats for Europe. Food is the largest manufacturing sector in Europe, so it will have to face many crucial changes. Major fields of changes are demographics (ageing, migration), diseases (increased diet-related diseases, cognitive decline, obesity, allergy), lifestyles (occupation, quality of life), sectoral competition (competitive agricultural products) etc.

In addition, consumers increasingly demand for healthy and ethically produced food, as well as for environmental protection and sustainability. Personalised nutrition and risk reduction for individuals are becoming more and more important.

The results of the Conference will be published soon.

Read more: http://www.ec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2007/food2030/index_en.htm