Our white paper is now available! Click to read the AIFDP report: "The Future of Food: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Food Manufacturing."

Watch video presentations from the event: AI for Food Product Development Playlist.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at UC Davis for the inaugural AI for Food Product Development Symposium, a unique cross-sector gathering designed to catalyze innovation at the intersection of artificial intelligence and food science.

This one-day symposium, brought together a curated group of researchers, industry professionals, government representatives, and technology innovators to explore how AI is transforming the way food products are designed, developed, and commercialized. From precision formulation and rapid prototyping to sensory analytics and sustainable packaging, AI is enabling smarter, faster, and more consumer-responsive approaches to product innovation.

The highlight of the day was the cross-sector working group session where we identified priorities, challenges, and opportunities for applying AI across the food innovation pipeline. Insights from all of our participants informed a white paper that is now publicly available: The Future of Food: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Food Manufacturing.

A special thank you to our speakers: Juming Tang,Justin Siegel, Ilias Tagkopoulos, Reto Bischof, Girish Ganjyal, Nitin Nitin, Sudhir Sastry, Sean Adams, Ned Spang, Nik Watson, Harold Schmitz, Daniel Voit, Ritu Mishra, David Shaya, Jean-Xavier Guinard, Chen Chang, Travis Mavrich, and Shyam Sablani.

As speaker Harold Schmitz put it, this may be the “Sputnik moment” for food innovation — and it’s going to take all of us to move it forward.

We capped off the evening with a tour of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and wine tasting at Great Bear Vineyards.

This symposium is part of AIFS’s broader mission to build a resilient, sustainable, and equitable food system through data-driven science and multidisciplinary partnerships. Join us in advancing the next generation of AI-powered food development.

DATE: October 13, 2025, 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM

LOCATION: University of California, Davis