Theme
Future Food Concepting
Design your next food concept
Where food design meets innovation strategy
Across the food sector, organizations are confronted with fast-moving developments in health, circularity, technology, sustainability and changing ways of producing and consuming food. This raises a pressing question: what does this mean for our product, our market or our business model?
From trend to concept
The Future Food Concepting programme helps teams answer that question.
Guided by food designer Katja Gruijters and the FoodX Concepting Toolkit, participants identify opportunities, challenges and blind spots, and translate ideas into value creation.
What makes a concept future-proof
Turning a trend into a viable concept takes more than inspiration. It requires a clear view of opportunities and blind spots, a structured way of testing ideas, and access to the right partners to bring a concept closer to reality.
Success ultimately depends on a team’s willingness to confront assumptions and translate insight into direction.
Meet the team: the right expertise for every challenge
Katja Gruijters works with a flexible network of partners. Depending on the question at hand, a team is composed to bring together the right expertise, energy and perspective. During a Future Concepting program, you may work with:
- Katja Gruijters — Lead Facilitator. With over 25 years of experience in food design, Katja specializes in future concepts for a healthy and sustainable food system, translating agri-food challenges into tangible, future-proof directions.
- Susanne Mosmans (BrandEnergetics) — Strategy & Marketing Partner. With over 25 years of international brand strategy leadership in food and agri-food, Susanne helps teams uncover their sharpest positioning.
- Michael Luesink & Dennis Favier (Studio Fava) — Product Development & Business Partner. Studio Fava translates concepts into tangible product directions and viable business opportunities.
What FoodX offers
The programme: a structured journey in two days
Day 1 — Feed & Frame (4 hours)
A field forecasting trip and ecosystem exploration with innovative companies, products and players within the FoodX ecosystem. Participants explore trends, practical examples, opportunities, challenges and initial design questions.
Day 2 — Concept Growth (6 hours)
The insights from day one are translated into two or three future-proof conceptual directions. Using the FoodX Concepting Toolkit, your team explores opportunities, blind spots and potential partners, supported by a flexible set of methodologies, cases, design questions and reflection tools. Relevant FoodX partners can be involved where needed to deepen, test or further develop ideas.
Team development period (3 weeks)
Your team develops the concept further independently, using the tools, tips and reflection questions provided.
Online coaching (2 hours total)
Conceptual directions are presented, refined and translated into next steps, partnership opportunities or potential pilot projects.
What you take home
- 2 or 3 future-proof conceptual directions
- An initial roadmap
- Insights into relevant partner and ecosystem opportunities
- Directions for a potential pilot
- Feedback on positioning, feasibility and implementation
- Tools, tips & tricks to move forward
Interested?
Curious what Future Concepting could look like for your team? Let’s start with a conversation.
Explore related themes
Future Food Concepting is closely connected to other areas of food innovation. A FoodX program can combine multiple themes, allowing you to explore related topics.