Technologists, Food Executives, Entrepreneurs, and Designers, Came Together
to Shape the Future of Food
St. Helena, CA – More than 350 guests—food industry leaders; academics
and innovators in R&D, technology, and consumer package goods; marketers;
and others in related fields—filled The Culinary Institute of America at
Greystone on November 6–8 for the second annual reThink
Food conference. Presented as a joint collaboration between the CIA and the MIT Media Lab,
reThink Food has become a hub for thought leadership and innovation about the
future of food.
Facing breakthroughs in technology, demands for
transparency, and multi-directional trajectories within the food business,
attendees found layers of answers to their current business preoccupations in
the three-day program from the 40+ expert presenters. “By bringing together
these sectors—food and technology—that rarely interact on a positive or
personal level,” said Greg Drescher,
vice president of industry leadership at the CIA, “we are able to
see the future of food in a new light. And by also including design, behavior,
and investing components, we can be assured that entrepreneurs, chefs, farmers,
start-ups, and innovative larger companies who are disrupting current business
practices and re-inventing our industry can build rich, collaborative networks
that span the entire supply chain.”
Highlights of the conference included:
- A conversation between John Markoff of The New York Times and Randy Kosimar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, about what big brands
can learn from artisanal companies and the connections between food and
technology;
- A lively dialogue between a scientist (Ali Bouzari of Pilot R+D)
and chefs (Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions)
about
flavor perception and the food experience;
- An ideation session during which attendees broke into
groups to brainstorm designing foods of tomorrow, getting big ideas off the
ground, creating trust with consumers, and connecting our health to what we
eat.
Presenters left the audience with thought-provoking sound
bites, such as:
- Will Rosenzweig (dean, The Food
Business School): If you are an entrepreneur, you are a pathological optimist
at heart.
- Andrew Hesse (distinguished
researcher, Autodesk): I want to turn GMOs into OMGs.
- Mark Bomford (director,
Sustainable Food Program at Yale University): Kelp may be to 2015 what insects
were to 2013.
- Jeff Dunn (CEO, Campbell Fresh): The future is about more
than intersection of food and tech, it’s about who we
are and what we value.
Another timely issue was a look at the ever-growing
personalization of healthcare, particularly when it comes to technology-driven
opportunities, including many different wearables.
Dr. Molly Maloof, scientist Ian Peikon,
Nathan Price of Arivale, and Shireen Yates of 6SensorLabs explored innovations in digitalized healthcare and how
those innovations allow food to be an ever-growing aspect of disease prevention
and maintaining wellness.
"This year's reThink Food conference brought to the
forefront just how complex the issues around food for the 21st century have
become,” said Caleb Harper, principal investigator and director of OpenAG.
“We're seeing explosive advances in synthetic biology, new foods, logistics,
and farming practices. But how do we cultivate public trust and increase
transparency for the new systems being built? Lots of ‘food for thought’ for
next year.”
The webcast of all general sessions from reThink Food can be
seen on the reThink
Food website under the multi-media tab. Information about next year’s
conference, which will take place at CIA at Greystone November 4–6, 2016, will
be available on re-thinkfood.org in January.
reThink Food is made possible, in part, by the generous
contributions of our sponsors. They include our platinum sponsor IDEO; silver
sponsors Chobani, National Pork Board, Target, and US
Foods; copper sponsors Gardein, Unilever Food
Solutions, and Vitamix; and our webcast sponsors
Rich’s, Unilever Food Solutions, US Foods, and 6Sensor Labs.
Photo Captions and Hi-Res Images:
Photo 1: At the
reThink Food conference, Stephanie Strom of The
New York Times, far right, moderated a panel called “Follow the Money” that
featured, left to right, Will Rosenzweig (The Food
Business School), Rob Hurlbut (Equilibrium Capital),
and Christine Day (Luvo). The discussion focused on
what investors look for in food innovation companies and how that will impact
the future of food. (Photo credit: Kristen
Loken/CIA)
View hi-res image >
Photo 2: Lynda
Deakin, a partner at IDEO, and other members of her team lead ideation sessions
to help attendees at reThink Food brainstorm on a variety of themes—from
promoting plant-based menus to minimizing food waste to the overlap between
food and healthcare. (Photo credit: Kristen
Loken/CIA)
View hi-res image >
Photo 3: The 350
who attended reThink Food appreciated the many opportunities to network with
people from disciplines that don’t usually mix. The audience included
innovators and executives from the food industry and technology, restaurants
and academia, and scientific research and marketing. (Photo credit: Kristen Loken/CIA)
View hi-res image >
Media Contact:
Jan Smyth
Marketing Manager
845451-1457
j_smyth@culinary.edu
About The Culinary Institute of America:
Founded in 1946, The Culinary
Institute of America is the world’s premier culinary college. Dedicated to
driving leadership development for the foodservice and hospitality industry,
the independent, not-for-profit CIA offers associate degrees in culinary arts
and baking and pastry arts; bachelor’s degree majors in management, culinary
science, and applied food studies; and executive education through its Food
Business School. Its conferences and consulting services have made the CIA the
think tank of the food industry in the areas of health & wellness,
sustainability, world cuisines & cultures, and professional excellence
& innovation. The college also offers certificate programs and courses for
professionals and enthusiasts. Its worldwide network of 48,000 alumni includes
leaders in every area of foodservice and hospitality. The CIA has campuses in
New York, California, Texas, and Singapore.
About the MIT Media Lab:
Actively promoting a unique,
antidisciplinary culture, the MIT Media Lab goes beyond known boundaries and
disciplines, encouraging the most unconventional mixing and matching of
seemingly disparate research areas. It creates disruptive technologies that
happen at the edges, pioneering such areas as wearable computing, tangible
interfaces, and affective computing. Today, faculty members, research staff,
and students at the Lab work in more than 25 research groups on more than 350
projects, from digital approaches for treating neurological disorders, to a stackable,
electric car for sustainable cities, to advanced imaging technologies that can
“see around a corner.” The Lab is committed to looking beyond the obvious to
ask the questions not yet asked whose answers could radically improve the way
people live, learn, express themselves, work, and play. For more information,
visit media.mit.edu.
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