What is shaping UK food innovation? My takeaways from IFST 2026
By Connor Bond, founder of TasteBond | 21 October 2026
A great food idea needs more than a good recipe. It needs a process that works, packaging that protects it, reliable product information and a price customers can afford.
That was my biggest takeaway from attending the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) Autumn Conference in Nottingham on 13 October. The theme, Delivering Food Strategy Outcomes, brought together discussions about food safety, nutrition, manufacturing, affordability and the information behind better decisions.
As a food consultant working with growing food and drink businesses, I was particularly interested in what these conversations mean in practice. What should a founder consider before scaling up? Which tools could make development easier? And where can technical support prevent an expensive wrong turn?
These are the points I am taking back into my work at TasteBond.
Food product development needs a route into manufacture
The Food Works session brought an important challenge into focus: developing a promising recipe and being ready for commercial manufacture are different milestones.
The Amazing Meals example showed how culturally familiar food can inspire a product with a clear purpose. It also highlighted the work between that initial idea and a manufacturing partnership, including recipe development, packaging, nutrition, costing and product stability.
For me, this is where food innovation becomes particularly interesting. How do you keep the character of a product while making it consistently at a larger scale?
Increasing batch size can change how a product heats, cools, mixes and fills. The equipment available may also affect texture, yield and the time needed to produce each batch.
My takeaway is to bring manufacturing questions into development early. Before committing to packaging or a launch date, establish what the production process needs to achieve and what trials will demonstrate that it works.
This is central to my approach to food product development at TasteBond: breaking the journey into practical stages, with a clear purpose for each trial.
Healthier food development starts with better information
Nutrition and product data were recurring themes throughout the day. One useful resource discussed was the free Nutrient Profile Model Calculator from the Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service (HASP), developed by researchers at the University of Leeds.
The calculator helps users calculate a product's nutrient profiling score. It also supports multiple product assessments, making it relevant to businesses reviewing a range rather than a single recipe.
Explore the HASP Nutrient Profile Model Calculator.
For a food business, my practical takeaway is to consider nutrient profiling while the formulation is still flexible. It can help inform the questions you ask when comparing development options.
It is important to understand what the tool does. A nutrient profiling calculator assesses information supplied to it; it does not generate a complete nutritional declaration from a recipe or replace a full labelling review. A score alone should not be treated as a complete decision about which restrictions apply to a product or business.
Good inputs matter. Keeping ingredient specifications, recipes and nutrition information organised makes these tools more useful and helps avoid repeated work later.
Affordability is about more than the shelf price
The discussions about food access and affordable food clubs were a reminder that product development needs to start with people's circumstances.
A product can look affordable on paper but still be difficult to use if it requires a long cooking time, plenty of freezer space or ingredients bought in large quantities.
The affordable food clubs session also highlighted the importance of choice, dignity and access to familiar foods. Those points belong in conversations about food innovation just as much as flavour and packaging.
For a new product brief, I would ask:
What does a usable portion cost?
How much time and energy does preparation require?
What storage space will the customer need?
Does the product fit how the intended customer actually eats?
These questions can reveal opportunities that a trend report alone will miss. A useful innovation might be a more convenient format, a better portion size or a product that reduces preparation and waste.
Packaging decisions need to work for the whole product
The packaging discussion reinforced the connection between sustainability ambitions and practical performance.
Recyclability depends on what happens to packaging after use, including collection, sorting and reprocessing. Product protection also needs to stay central to the decision.
From my thermal processing perspective, packaging belongs in the development conversation from the beginning. A jar, pouch or closure is part of the production system, rather than simply the finishing touch.
When considering a packaging change, the questions include whether it suits the intended filling and processing conditions, how the seal performs, and what evidence is needed to support the proposed shelf life.
My takeaway is to assess the product, process and packaging together. A change to one can create work for the others.
Food safety depends on people understanding the process
One of the most useful discussions concerned hygiene competence and the gap between having a written procedure and understanding how to use it.
A signed training record does not, on its own, demonstrate that someone can recognise a problem or respond appropriately when conditions change.
For me, effective technical support should leave the business more capable. People need to understand why a control matters, what a failure looks like and when to stop and ask for help.
That principle is relevant to a small producer as well as a larger factory. A practical walkthrough, a clear explanation and a usable record can be just as important as the technical document itself.
A useful resource for food businesses: the IFST Food Innovation Toolkit
The IFST Food Innovation Toolkit was another resource worth taking away from the conference.
It brings together resources to support food innovation and provides a useful starting point for exploring development questions. Access arrangements can vary across the linked material, so check the IFST website for current availability.
Explore the IFST Food Innovation Toolkit.
My view is that tools like this are most valuable when they help a business identify the next question to answer. The challenge is then applying that information to its particular product, facilities and budget.
What I am taking back to TasteBond
I left the conference thinking about how closely these themes connect.
A healthier formulation still needs to taste good. A sustainable pack still needs to protect the product. A successful trial still needs to translate into repeatable production. And a food safety system needs people who can use it confidently.
At TasteBond, I support food and drink businesses with product development, thermal processing and the practical challenges of moving towards manufacture. My approach starts with understanding the product and the problem, then agreeing the next stage of work.
That might mean planning development trials, reviewing a proposed process, investigating a heating or cooling challenge, or identifying the evidence needed before scaling up.
If you have a food product in development and are unsure what should happen next, get in touch with TasteBond. We can start with where you are now and work out what support would be useful.