The 4th La Digital Tech Conference is taking inspiration from common practices to devise the future of agriculture and food in particular. On the menu, expert speakers on safety processes, food, waste reduction, etc. linked to digital technology.
In Europe, there are 1,655 active startups in FoodTech*. New trends are arising from this ecosystem including towards health and environmental responsibility. In 2017, 70% of French people claimed to be prepared to change the way they consume in favour of more responsible products.
Former co-founder of the Contemporary Culinary Centre, Freddy Thiburce, will be advocating this trend in a lively debate on the theme: “Who will be the driving force, consumers or producers?” A key player in the development of “Healthyfood à la française” (French-style healthy food) with the start-up Natural Cooking by Alexandra Beauvais, he supports companies in their innovation or influence strategies at the heart of food transitions. According to him, consumers have regained control over their food choices, shifting the balance of power. The digital transition is also revolutionising our food trends. “Connected eaters” want to be able to choose exactly what they find on their plates, becoming increasingly demanding food critics.
New challenges for the food industry
This shift in the balance of power is forcing manufacturers to change the way they work. “These are historic times. Crises have given rise to transparency. The very function of a producer is to sell his or her products. Yet tomorrow, it will be the eaters who will change the rules for the simple reason that they vote three time a day, making their choice of company and expressing their opinions.” maintains Freddy Thiburce.
Seeing the roles reversing, consumers are demanding transparency from manufacturers. Product data, often difficult to quantify, must be verifiable and 100% safe. CEO of Bl0ckch21n, designers of blockchain solutions for companies and the Internet of Things and founder of the organisation Blockchain Israel, Yael Rozencwajg, will be speaking at La Digital Tech Conference about blockchain in the food industry. Identified as one of the most significant technological trends to follow according to Gartner, in time blockchain will ensure the traceability of products. The impact will be considerable, since it will integrate the supply chain of producers and distributors to offer a secure and totally transparent ecosystem.
Fast food automation
Culinary business specialists, Philippe Goldman and Thierry Graffagnino have combined their knowledge to create “Pazzi: the pizza-making robot”, set to revolutionise fast food. The plan, next spring, is to open an independent restaurant in Paris. “We have spent two years researching the best products. Our vegetables come from Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, our cooked meats from Brittany and our cheeses from Auvergne and Savoie and the flour we use is natural and made from French wheat. The rest is a secret!” explains Thierry Graffagnino, Executive Chef of Pazzi, but first and foremost Director of the World Pizza Institute and three times world champion of the pizza. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, their pizza-making robot promises to satisfy city-dwellers eternal search for quality and speed, this customised robot will have a repertoire of 5 million recipes, take digital orders and carry out the preparation from start to finish, right up to the cooking. This means that customers running late will be able to delay the start of cooking remotely. All you need to revolutionise the traditional restaurant trade, combining great food and speed!
#DigitalFood debate
Four speakers will also be making their arguments in #DigitalFood: Freddy Thiburce, Xavier L’Hostis, Head of Innovation at Adventiel, Jean-Luc Perrot, Director of Valorial, the 1st collaborative support network dedicated to food innovation and Marine Louessard, North Western France Manager for Too Good to Go, a digital platform that enables consumers to pick up unsold items from stores at low prices at the end of the day.
* according to the DigitalFoodLab report
