Scientific Programme – Food Biotechnology 2026, Sion, Switzerland

Registration & Welcome Coffee

8 September

Sion

8:15 - 9:00

Opening Remarks

8 September

Sion

9:00 - 9:30

Plenary Lecture

8 September

Sion

9:30 - 10:00

Sustainable Food Biotechnology in the 2030 Agenda

Thomas Brück

TUM, Germany

Session 1: Sustainable Food Ingredients through Biotechnological Innovation

8 September

Sion

10:00 - 11:15

Engineering sustainable vanilla alternatives

Andrew Lamm

University of Technology, Jamaica

Next-Generation Plant-Derived Encapsulation Systems for Oxidation-Sensitive Lipids

Lucia Witasari

Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

Session 2: Fermentation and Upcycling in Food Systems

8 September

Sion

11:15 - 12:30

TBD

Kim Mishra

HES-SO Valais / Planted Foods AG, Switzerland

Yeast Cell Factories for the Production of Cocoa and Palm Oil Substitutes

Mahmoud Masri

GST, Germany

Lunch Break + Poster Viewing (Part I) – “La Ruche” HES-SO

8 September

Sion

12:30 - 14:00

Session 3: Microbiome-Active Foods and Health Functionality

8 September

Sion

14:00 - 15:15

Prebiotic Fibers in Plant-Based Foods: From Structural Functionality to Gut Microbiome Interactions

Fatma Boukid

ClonBio, Ireland

Coffee Break

8 September

Sion

15:15 - 15:45

Roundtable 1: Clean-Label Biotech – Aligning Innovation with Consumer Expectations

8 September

Sion

15:45 - 17:00

Poster Flash Talks & Innovation Pitch Session

8 September

Sion

17:00 - 18:00

Apéro & Networking Reception

8 September

Sion

18:00 - 19:00

Conference Dinner

8 September

Sion

19:30 - 22:00

Plenary Lecture

9 September

Sion

8:45 - 9:30

The Microbial Mind: Engineering Microbiomes for Sustainable Nutrition

Fabian Wahl

Agroscope, Switzerland

Session 4: Enabling Technologies in Food Biotechnology

9 September

Sion

9:30 - 10:45

From Omics Data to Predictive Biology: Integrating Bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence

Laurent Falquet

University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Coffee Break + Poster Viewing (Part II)

9 September

Sion

10:45 - 11:15

Session 5: Ethics, Regulation, and Societal Impact of Food Biotech

9 September

Sion

11:15 - 12:30

Navigating Novel Food Regulation: Harmonizing Swiss and EU Frameworks for Biotech Food Innovation

Mpoi Hilpert

University of Basel, Switzerland

TBD

Lucas Grob

Swiss Food Research, Switzerland

Lunch Break “La Ruche” HES-SO

9 September

Sion

12:30 - 13:30

Roundtable 2: Policy Pathways to Enable Sustainable Food Biotechnology

9 September

Sion

13:30 - 14:30

Closing & Awards Ceremony

9 September

Sion

14:30 - 15:00