Future Food-Tech Chicago - 2026 Agenda

• With APAC, Middle East, and EU industrial policies driving new patterns in investment, how should founders and CPG innovators navigate cross-border capital, structure partnerships? What evidence do international investors require, market traction, regulatory readiness, manufacturing scale?
• Which regions are seeing meaningful inflows into foodtech and ingredients, and why? What industrial policies, incentives or funding programs are driving these flows?
• How do differences in regional regulation, infrastructure, and scaling timelines affect deal structuring, partnership models, and production decisions?
• How do multinationals differentiate between “global partnership potential” and a regional niche? What structures optimize cross-border co-investment, licencing or offtake agreements?
• What are common mistakes U.S. founder make when raising capital internationally? How can founders better align their strategy to international investor expectations?

A focused exploration of how a startup technology successfully integrates into a CPG product, covering the problem solved, performance metrics, cost impact, and lessons learned for scale. No theory, just what worked and why.

This showcase features start-ups developing technologies with real potential to influence future ingredient systems. Founders will pitch their technology to a judging panel followed by a Q&A that unpacks their science, scalability strategy, and path to market.

• Market Intelligence & Consumer Insight: How can AI tools predict emerging trends in consumer preference, functional demand, and ingredient adoption? Which data sources and modelling approaches are proving commercially actionable?
• Ingredient Performance & Biotech: How is AI being used in fermentation, precision nutrition, or hybrid ingredient design to optimize yield, cost, or sensory performance?
• Formulation Optimization: How can AI accelerate formulation cycles, e.g. predicting stability, flavor pairing, or nutrient synergy? Are there success stories where AI helped reduce trial-and-error, cost, or time-to-market?

• As wellness trends, GLP-1 adoption, and shifting consumer expectations reshape retail and foodservice, what evidence and formulation performance do manufacturers and ingredient suppliers need to deliver to earn real adoption and repeat sales?
• Which product and delivery formats are demonstrating growth across retail, foodservice, and health-focused channels? Where is innovation translating into measurable sales impact?
• How are wellness trends, GLP-1 adoption, and changing appetite patterns reshaping decision-making at retail and operator level?
• What drives repeat purchase – taste, functionality, format convenience, or brand credibility? How do retailers and operators evaluate whether a next-gen ingredient or product has sustainable appeal?
• What must manufacturers and ingredient suppliers demonstrate in formulation, supply reliability, regulatory compliance, or consumer data before novel ingredients earns national adoption?

Join collaborative roundtable discussions designed to spark creative problem-solving around the food sector’s most pressing issues. Each roundtable discussion group is hosted by an expert on a specific challenge offering you a valuable opportunity to network, exchange point of views, and leave with fresh ideas to advance your work.

• How can hybrid formulations help brand build long‑term supply resilience while preserving flavor, texture and consumer trust?
• Which advances in fermentation, cell-cultured systems, and upcycled inputs are enabling consistent scalable quality comparable to natural ingredients?
• What infrastructure, partnerships, and certifications must alternative suppliers secure to integrate reliably into confectionery, beverage, and packaged goods portfolios?
• How can brands gauge consumer acceptance of hybrids and craft a narrative that positions these products as a desirable upgrade, not a compromise?

• As functional beverages evolve beyond novelty, which ingredients, delivery formats, and personalization strategies are driving real consumer adoption? How are brands balancing efficacy, taste, and clean label constraints?
• From gut health to cognition, satiety, metabolic support, and hydration, which functional beverage segments are demonstrating real growth and adoption?
• Which delivery systems (RTD drinks, powders, shots, or hybrid formats) are proving most effective at meeting both efficacy and scalability requirements?
• Which ingredients, adaptogens, nootropics, probiotics, botanicals, biofermented compounds, are delivering measurable consumer impact and commercial traction?
• How are brands reconciling high-functionality claims with sugar reduction, clean-label demands, and regulatory scrutiny?
• How can AI, personalization platforms, and biotech-derived ingredients accelerate innovation while maintaining feasibility at scale?

• As gut health, satiety, and sugar reduction converge, how is fiber re-emerging as a multifunctional ingredient across formulation, texture, and metabolic positioning?
• With consumers consistently under-consuming fiber, how can brands turn this nutritional deficit into scalable opportunity, and which formats (snacks, beverages, dairy, QSR) are most viable for meaningful inclusion levels?
• How are new fiber systems addressing historical barriers around taste, texture, tolerance, and dose limitations?
• How do upcycled fiber streams create both sustainability advantage and cost opportunity, and could this reshape sourcing strategies?
• As QSR operators acknowledge fiber deficits across menus, where are the real innovation opportunities, and what operational barriers still limit adoption at scale?

• As consumers shift from calorie-focused to function-first eating, how should food and ingredient portfolios be redesigned to prioritize satiety, protein efficiency, metabolic support, and digestibility?
• How are GLP-1 adoption, appetite compression, UPF scrutiny, and regulatory pressure collectively reshaping product sizing, formulation strategy, and nutrient density targets?
• What does delivering nutrient density and muscle preservation in smaller formats mean for ingredient systems, processing constraints, and cost structures?
• What does “nutrient-first design” actually look like across formulation, manufacturing, labeling, and claims strategy, and where are companies getting it right?

• As the protein category recalibrates, which segments are demonstrating sustained commercial traction, and where has demand structurally weakened?
• Where do formulators still face unmet challenges (in texture, emulsification, nutrition density, or stability), and who is meaningfully addressing them?
• With price volatility across traditional animal proteins, how are CPGs evaluating animal-free dairy and alternative eggs as long-term portfolio hedges rather than short-term disruption bets?
• Which next-generation protein formats (blended, hybrid, functional ingredients vs. finished analogues) are closest to solving real manufacturing constraints?
• As consolidation accelerates, where is capital flowing today, infrastructure, B2B ingredients, enabling technologies, and what does that signal about the sector’s next phase?

• What commercial and strategic signals matter most when assessing technology readiness and market pull?
• What bottlenecks prevent corporates from leaning in, and what must founders demonstrate to move from conversation to commitment?
• In today’s environment, when does a minority investment make sense, and when does a full acquisition become strategically compelling?
• When a direct investment isn’t the right fit, how can corporates still enable scale through partnerships, offtake agreements, validation, or supply integration?

As investor scrutiny tightens and procurement teams demand proof over promise, what evidence truly defines commercial readiness? In this fast-paced session, selected innovators present their technology and the commercial foundations behind it. Each business model pitch is followed by focused Q&A examining the proof points that determine scale: validated demand, manufacturability, regulatory clearance, pricing logic, and early revenue traction.

In this fast-paced case study, innovators share the real drivers behind their evolving cost curves – from early pilot inefficiencies to current commercial performance.  

They will outline:

• Original cost per kg and the operational bottlenecks that constrained scale.
• Current cost position and the breakthroughs that shifted unit economics.
• The specific process, yield, or capacity levers that delivered step-change reductions.
• What still stands in the way of price parity or margin expansion.

Gain a grounded view of how fast cost curves are truly moving, and what that means for procurement decisions, long-term contracts, and realistic price trajectories.

• In which ingredient category does precision fermentation have genuine commercial pull today, and where are buyers actively engaging?
• Where can precision fermentation deliver more cheaply, consistently, or sustainably versus conventional supply chains, and where does it still struggle? How should innovators structure portfolios and pricing to meet procurement expectations?
• What have early market entrants learned about pilots, offtake agreements, CapEx timelines, and the path from validation to recurring purchasing?
• As capacity expands, what premium, if any, are corporates realistically willing to pay for supply security claims or performance gains?

• Which regions are scaling commercial biomanufacturing fastest, and how is that reshaping global ingredient sourcing strategies?
• As Asia accelerates capacity expansion, what must the U.S. get right to remain a competitive, reliable production base for ingredients?
• Where have suppliers already made meaningful improved cost curves, throughput or consistency, and which process innovations are closing the gap with traditional production systems?
• What do founders and emerging suppliers most often underestimate about CapEx timing, process robustness, and the operational complexity of scaling to food-grade volumes?

• How are federal initiatives such as the Biomanufacturing Excellence Act and related funding programs shaping where and how capacity is being built – and which ingredient segments benefit most?
• Which grants, incentives, or public‑private funding programs are meaningfully unlocking commercial-scale production rather than pilot-stage activity?
• How aligned are federal and state initiatives, and where do differing priorities create opportunity or fragmentation?
• Which U.S. regions are emerging as key production hubs, and what distinguishes them in terms of infrastructure readiness, workforce, utilities, and downstream market access?

• How are CPGs adapting formulations in response to GRAS revisions, dye phaseouts and UPF‑related policy, while meeting “no artificial” consumer expectations?
• Which categories are seeing the fastest demand for clean ingredients, and which companies are developing the next generation high performance solutions?  
• How do formulation teams preserve functionality (stability, taste, shelf life) while phasing out scrutinized or at-risk ingredients?
• Across biomanufacturing, precision fermentation, and AI‑enabled formulation, which technologies are closest to meeting the performance and cost requirements to replace synthetic preservatives and colors?
• How are teams navigating real-world performance gaps, cost pressure and consumer expectations while staying ahead of regulation?

• How are procurement teams prioritizing ingredient innovation while managing supply chain constrains, regenerative agriculture commitments, and evolving market demands?
• What strategies are companies using to reduce exposure to single suppliers or regions (especially in high-risk categories like cocoa and coffee), and how are they managing the risks of industry‑wide transitions?
• Which ingredient categories are seeing accelerated demand, and how are procurement teams deciding where to place multi‑year commitments amid uncertain adoption curves?
• What does it take for emerging ingredient suppliers to meet CPG procurement standards and become trusted, long-term partners?

• Which consumer trends are truly influencing CPG and ingredient company portfolios, and how do you differentiate hype from measurable demand? How should companies prioritize investments to capture emerging growth categories?
• What advances in biomanufacturing, fermentation and processing are creating scalable commercial options, and what metrics or proof points give confidence to commit?
• Which collaborations are accelerating time-to-market, de-risking innovation and enabling scale in ways internal R&D cannot? How do you assess the right partners to create competitive advantage and long-term growth?