3rd Cellular Agriculture Conference

8-9 October, 2026

City Hall, Lund

Programme

Agenda 8th of October

08:30-09:00Registration and coffee
09:10-09:30Future-proofing Europe’s food system through protein diversification: Challenges, opportunities, and the road ahead
David Hunt, Good food institute
BLOCK 1 – Engineering microbial cell factories
Chair persons: Olafur Fridjonsson and Magnus Carlquist
09:30-10:00Establishing cell-factories for the production of biochemicals from sustainable resources
Sheila Ingeman Jensen, Senior researcher, DTU BRIGHT
10:00-10:15Systems Metabolic Engineering for the development of high-performing microbial cell factories
Nélida Leiva Eriksson, Founder and CEO, Ironic Biotech
10:15-10:30 β-lactoglobulin a new whey: production and screening of novel β-lactoglobulin variants through precision fermentation
Maija Greis, The Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Coffee and poster session
BLOCK 2 – Scaling precision fermentation 
Chair persons: Eva Nordberg Karlsson and Lena de Maré
11:00-11:30From Bench to Market: Accelerating Precision Fermentation Through Pilot and Demo Infrastructure
Diogo Pinto, Project Acquisition Coordinator, BBEPP
11:30-11:45Precision fermentation of milk proteins
José Arnau, 21st Bio
11:45-12:00 Raman spectroscopy as a real-time process control tool in precision fermentation
Petter Andersen, Nofima AS
Lunch and poster session
BLOCK 3 – Cultivation of eukaryotic cells
Chair persons: Martin Krøyer Rasmussen and Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen
13:30-14:00 Keynote: From cultured muscle cells - to meat with quality
Margrethe Therkildsen, Professor at Department of Food Science, Aarhus University
14:00-14:15 Barley-based growth factor production paving the road for cultivated meat technology
Björn Örvar, Co-Founder, ORF Genetics
14:15-14:30 Replacement of basal media amino acids through targeted hydrolysis of porcine blood from slaughterhouse by-products
Marc Auguet, Department of Food Science, Aarhus University
Coffee and poster session
15:00-15:15Flash presentations from startups
Panel - Cellular food for health
15:15-16:00Keynote and discussion
Moderator: Åsa Håkansson, Associate Professor in Food Hygiene, Lund University
BLOCK 4 – Pretreatment and fermenting biomass
Chair persons: Anneli Rittala and Olafur Fridjonsson
16:00-16:30Keynote: Bioconversion platforms – Increasing the value of feedstocks and the sustainability of bioprocesses
Emilia Nordlund, Research manager, VTT University
16:30-16:45 Utilization of whole lipid-containing microbial biomass in high-moisture extrusion processing for the production of pea protein-based meat analogues
Minna Kahala, Production Systems, Natural Resources Institute Finland
16:45-17:00Summary of the day
Dinner

Agenda 9th of October

BLOCK 5 – From reactor to reality
Chair persons: Lena de Maré and Anneli Rittala
09:00-09:30Keynote: Environmental sustainability of protein-rich novel foods
Hanna Tuomisto, Professor in sustainable food systems, University of Helsinki
09:30-09:45Market sizing and growth drivers for fermentation-derived ingredients
Kamila Lopes Abelha, Global commercial Manager, Tetra Pak
09:45-10:00 An eco-system in cellular agriculture in the Netherlands
René Wijffels, Professor in Bioprocess Engineering, Wageningen University
10:00-10:15 Beyond Orchestration: How Anchor Organizations Shape Research-to-Impact Pathways in Sustainable Protein Innovation Ecosystems Under Uncertainty
Qian Chen, Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University
Coffee and poster session
Panel – Regulatory perspectives
10:45-11:30Keynote and panel discussion
Moderator: Elena Walden, Good Food Institute Europe
Lunch and poster session
BLOCK 6 – Solid-state and low-energy pathways
Chair persons: Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen and Magnus Carlquist
13:00-13:30Keynote: Unlocking the potential of fungal solid-state fermentation for delicious and sustainable food innovation
Leonie Johanna Jahn, Senior researcher, DTU BRIGHT
13:30-13:45 Dry fermentation using filamentous fungi or bacteria: Advantages and challenges
Mohammad Taherzadeh, Professor in Bioprocess Technology and Chief Scientific Officer, Millow
13:45-14:00 Upcycling Potato Side Streams via Fusarium venenatum Solid State Fermentation: An Approach to Sustainable Mycoprotein Production
Gabriela Ibieta, Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund University
14:00-14:30Summary of the conference