Fermentation technology has ancient roots, but its contemporary applications are numerous and growing. Beyond what’s considered traditional fermentation—which helps create products like kimchi and kombucha—other types are being used to create alt-dairy and alt-meat products. Professional organizations are actively helping educate on these technologies to bring greater awareness and spark innovation in our industry. Learn more about why all types of fermentation matter and how they’re being utilized to craft groundbreaking fermented food products.
Come learn more about:
• The differences and utility of the three types of fermentation.
• How precision fermentation and biomass fermentation are being used and their greater impact on food and beverage products.
• The role fermentation will play in the growth of the food and beverage market.
• Burgeoning technologies implementing fermentation.
- 9-9:05 – Introductions
- 9:05-9:25 – Will Cowling of FMCG Gurus will present market data and consumer research surrounding fermentation and its acceptance in the marketplace.
- 9:30-9:50 – Adam Leman of GFI will discuss different types of fermentation and how each is positioned to transform the food industry, as well as new technologies being introduced.
- 9:50-10:15 – Ty Wagoner of Perfect Day on development of nondairy protein replacement and precision fermentation opportunities and challenges.
- 10:15-10:35 – Monica Bhatia of EQUII on precision and biomass fermentations, ingredient formulation, sustainability and more.
- 10:35-10:55 – Doni Curkendall of The Better Meat Co. on creating a whole food via biomass fermentation, addressing scale-up and production needs in the fermentation world right now, hybridizing meat products and cost.
- 10:55-11:05 – break
- 11:05-11:45 – Panel discussion with all speakers moderated by Heather Carter.
- 11:45-12 p.m. – Audience Q&A.
In partnership with:
Date & Time
Wednesday October 25th, 2023 9:00am PDT
End Date & Time
Wednesday October 25th, 2023 12:00pm PDT
Location
Islander Ballroom H
| MODERATOR |
 Audarshia TownsendContent Director, Food & Beverage Insider, Informa Markets A lifelong Chicagoan, Audarshia Townsend is a veteran food and beverage journalist who serves as the content director for Food & Beverage Insider. She also appears regularly on local and national media outlets to discuss food and beverage |
| Sandy Almendarez VP of Content, Informa Sandy Almendarez, vice president, content, Informa, is a skilled strategic content leader with nearly 20 years’ experience in developing and executing compelling, relevant content for targeted markets. She leads the content team for Informa Market’s SupplySide, serving the healthy, sustainable, conscientious consumer packaged goods industry. Her leadership spans community, editorial, content marketing and conference programing for the health and nutrition industry. In the past, she’s led content that helped prisoners, African American businesses and jazz enthusiasts. She an advocate for diversity and inclusion of women, people of color and LBGTQ individuals in business. |
| SPEAKERS |
 Will CowlingMaketing Manager, FMCG Gurus As the Senior Strategic Marketing Manager, Will Cowling is responsible for managing the development, implementation, and evaluation of integrated brand and marketing initiatives to achieve the growth and revenue goals of the business. Wil brings new ideas and concepts forward to develop innovative and effective solutions to business and marketing challenges whilst helping to grow the brand through building strategic partnerships and client relations across the globe. |
 Adam LemanLead Scientist, Good Food Institute Adam is a Lead Scientist, Fermentation at GFI and is focused on the development of biomass fermentation and precision fermentation biotechnology for food protein. He earned a Ph.D. from Drexel University in Molecular Biology. Adam’s postdoctoral studies concentrated on fungal and systems biology. During his time in biotech, Adam focused on strain and process improvement in fermentation through data analysis and modeling. |
 Doni CurkendallEVP, The Better Meat Co. Doni oversees manufacturing operations at The Better Meat Co., where they use the power of fermentation to create delicious mycoprotein ingredients that can be used in various plant-based or hybrid applications. Doni has an MBA from Sacramento State University. |
 Ty WagonerSenior Scientist, Perfect Day Dr. Ty Wagoner leads Ingredient Innovation at Perfect Day to showcase how precision fermentation-derived proteins function in different food systems. His team also works with food companies large and small to create a pipeline of functional ingredients to help customers unlock new applications. Ty received his Ph.D. in Food Science from North Carolina State University and has more than a decade of experience with protein functionality in food systems. He is passionate about leveraging food science and technology towards a more sustainable tomorrow. |
 Monica BhatiaCo-Founder and Co-CEO, EQUII Monica Bhatia is the co-founder and co-CEO of EQUII and an experienced biotechnology executive with 15 years of expertise in scaling fermentation-enabled products from lab to market. Her prior work involved developing commercially viable processes for manufacturing sustainable biofuels, chemicals, food oils and proteins at companies like Solazyme, Geltor, Codexis and REG. Fueled by her vision of a healthier and more sustainable world through food, Monica co-founded EQUII in 2021 to create a high protein flour that can elevate everyday pantry essentials into a source of complete proteins and balanced nutrition. Monica holds a Bachelors and Masters in Biochemical Engineering from India and a PhD in Biochemistry from University of South Carolina. |
Category Education Sessions