Façonner l’avenir de l’alimentation : biotechnologie, nutrition durable et souveraineté alimentaire

Companies from the agrifood and nutrition sectors play a vital role in our food systems: they must ensure high-quality, tasty, and competitive production whilst meeting consumer demands, all under constant pressure from costs and disruptions in global value chains.

Biotechnology, as a key enabling technology, can stimulate and accelerate innovation in the agrifood and nutrition sectors to address these challenges and help companies become more sustainable and resilient.

For the past two years, Innov’Alliance has been involved in the European project Biotech4Food, which aims to facilitate investment to promote, adopt, and implement biotechnologies in the agri-food and nutraceutical sectors. In this framework, Innov’Alliance will host a project delegation for a study visit, bringing together innovation clusters, agri-food technology & transfer centres, and companies from five European countries.

In this context, Innov’Alliance is launching the symposium :

   “Shaping the Future of Food: Biotechnology for Sustainable Nutrition and Sovereign Food Systems”, on April 22^nd, in the premises of the Conseil régional Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in Clermont-Ferrand

Come and discover regional stakeholders and expertise, exchange ideas with members of the European delegation, discover financing opportunities, find your future collaboration partner to develop innovations that contribute to more sustainable, local, and resilient food and nutrition.

The programme of the morning symposium:

9:30 –10:00 : Sign-in and Welcome

10:00 – 10:15 : Welcome and Presentation of the European project Biotech4Food

• Sara Botti | European Projects Manager at Innov’Alliance (French innovation cluster for bio-based and natural products)
• Betty Milano | Coordinator of the Biotech4Food project, European Affairs Officer at Wagralim (Walloon agrifood innovation cluster, Belgium)

10:15 – 10:30: Agrifood biotechnology ecosystems in Europe and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: comparison of expertise

• Solen Webb | Biotech4Food Project Officer at Innov’Alliance

10:30 – 11:00: Roundtable N°1 – Rethinking Food with Biotechnology: innovation, consumer demand and paths to sustainable nutrition

This first roundtable explores innovations which are already transforming our current food systems and practices. This round table brings together innovators, scientists, and industry stakeholders to explore how biotechnology is already transforming our diets — from reducing food waste and improving nutritional quality to rethinking production processes. The discussion will also tackle a key question: can new biotech-based foods meet modern sustainability challenges while respecting traditional culinary cultures and consumer values?

Keynote speakers:

• Céline Gryson, PhD | Managing Director at Nutrifizz
• Francesco Fenga | CEO of Fenga Food Innovation, President of the Professional Order of Food Technologists of Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche and Umbria (Italy)
• Claire Mermet | Director of Operations & Head of Network Development at Innov’Alliance

Facilitator: Natanael Viñegra de la Torre, PhD | EU R&D Project Manager at the National Center for Food Technology and Safety in Spain

11:00 – 11:30: Roundtable N°2 – Building Food Sovereignty with Biotechnology

This second roundtable aims to highlight the role that biotechnology plays in reinforcing the sovereignty of food systems, in improving their resilience and in the consolidation of their local roots. Keynote speakers will share insights into the role of public actors in supporting multi-actor projects in the sector, and how these projects serve as levers for territorial development.

Keynote speakers:

• Virginie Huguet | Head of R&D at COCONT
• TBC | Incubator Programme at Clermont Auvergne Innovation
• Khadidja Romari | CEO of the Biotech Open Platform (BIOP)

Facilitator: Sara Botti | Innov’Alliance

11:30 – 11:45: Funding & collaboration opportunities for agri-food innovators: GRAPPA open call for innovation projects and the European network “Ingredients for the Bioeconomy”

• Sara Botti | Innov’Alliance
• Célia Gavaud | Head of International Department at The Agrifood Clust-ER (Italian agri-food innovator cluster)

11:45 – 12:00: Conclusion and closing remarks

12:00 – 13:30: Networking buffet

This event aimed at stakeholders in the regional agrifood, nutrition and biotechnology innovation ecosystem:

• Industrial players and start-ups in agrifood, nutrition, biotechnology, and service providers
• Universities, institutes, research centres and laboratories
• Public and institutional stakeholders, and representatives from the non-profit sector engaged in the circular economy and sustainable agriculture

Event is free, upon registration (places are limited)

This event will be held in English, and is hosted in the context of the Clermont Innovation Week 2026. Discover the programme of the CIW on its page here: https://www.clermontinnovationweek.eu/ 

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