Creating Opportunity
Annual Meeting Scientific Program & Food Expo
The 2009 IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo in Anaheim saw a 10% increase in registrant attendance with 8,755 attendees, compared to 7,922 attendees in 2008.
In 2009, IFT introduced the new framework for the scientific program, fostering better collaboration by organizing content around key issues, and involving expert multidisciplinary subpanels to identify content.
Overall, more than 2,000 presentations made up the 2009 Scientific Program, "Food Science from Producer to Consumer." New sunrise sessions were offered on nanoscience, basic methodology of food allergies, and DNA methods of detection for food microbiology.
IFT’s world-renowned Food Expo in Anaheim, featuring more than 800 exhibitors, over 100 new exhibitors, and 500 ingredient companies, "wowed" our attendees once again with new innovations, award-winning products and concepts, and a preview of what’s new in the food industry from nearly every corner of the globe.
IFT Member, Bob Gallatin
And IFT debuted our IPEx, Intellectual Property Exchange Session, two new sessions from the Journal of Food Science, Trend Tours, and our new Sustainability Pavilion featured on our Expo Floor.
Preparation for the debut of IFT’s new Scientific Program has been ongoing for most of 2009. In 2010, the Scientific Program will be organized around key focus areas within the industry, and based on core sciences which provide the foundation for all things related to food science. The new track structure is designed to meet food professionals’ needs, streamline programming by reducing the number of programming "buckets" and decreasing the overall number of concurrent sessions.
IFT and the Food Processing Suppliers Association
In a collaborative effort to offer an even more extraordinary member attendee experience during IFT’s Annual Meeting and Food Expo, IFT made an agreement in 2009 with the Food Processing Suppliers Association to co-locate with Process Expo, in conjunction with our 2010 Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Chicago.
The co-location of these two premier food events provides organizations with an opportunity to send their commercialization and/or optimization teams to a single, food-focused, cost-effective venue that will ultimately reduce product time-to-market and costs. Together, these two events will bring together the who’s who of food science and technology, food manufacturing, and more—all at one remarkable venue.
Online Learning
Webcasts: In 2009, the What is Clean Labeling? webcast yielded the second highest registration to date with 128 live registrations and 32 on-demand registrations.
IFT held more than 10 webcasts throughout 2009, addressing many current issues IFT members and industry professionals experience, including The Challenges of Traceability, Recalls and Good Manufacturing Practices: What are the Lessons Learned?, and Risk-Benefit: The Whole Food Approach. Two webcasts were broadcast live from each Wellness 2009 and the IFT 2009 Annual Meeting and Food Expo. IFT also had the opportunity to broadcast a timely session from the Food Laws and Regulations Division Symposium, "There’s a New Sheriff in Town": Impacts that Regulatory Developments and a Change in the Administration Will Have on Your Business.
Online Courses: IFT developed four food science online courses in 2009: Incorporating Food Safety in Product Development, How Consumer Values Affect Food Choices, Traceability in Food Systems, which included some content presented at the IFT 2009 Global Food Safety and Quality Conference, and Food Regulations Online Course with Live Q&A Sessions, which prompted the largest volume of online course enrollments in any given time period. Food Scientist for the Non-Food Scientist was the most popular online course in 2009 with 94 enrollments.
IFT added more professional development online courses as well with topics covering business ethics, finance and accounting basics, and customer service. Professional development courses made up more than 30% of the total online course enrollments in 2009. The total enrollment in 2009 for all online courses was 148.
IFT Live
IFT took another step in remaining sustainable and "going green" with the introduction of IFT Live, the official show daily of the IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo at the 2009 meeting.
Making its debut in Anaheim, this online, interactive newsletter showcased more than 90 articles, and a photo and video gallery. The online newsletter won an award from PR News magazine.
Access it now at http://live.ift.org/ to learn more about the 2009 IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo events, awards and competitions, sessions, Trend Tours, product development, and health and wellness.
Trend Tours
New in 2009, IFT offered Trend Tours on the IFT Food Expo floor. The Trend Tours were self-guided attendee visits to exhibiting companies that offer innovative products or services related to the top four issues or trends facing the food industry, as identified by Food Technology magazine—Flavor & Color Innovation, Ingredients for Functional Foods, Naturally Sourced, and Weight Management.
Participating companies included:
- Glanbia Nutritionals: Introduced their Functional Flax for the Functional Foods Trend.
- PL Thomas: Introduced their Berry Dark Blend™ for Functional Foods Trend.
- Wild Flavors: Introduced their weight management lollipops for the Weight Management Trend.
- Briess Malt & Beverage: Introduced their BriesSweet™ White Sorghum Syrup 45DE High Maltose for the Naturally Sourced Ingredients Trend.
- Culinary Farms: Introduced their Dried Vegetables for the Naturally Sourced Ingredients Trend.
- NIZO Food Research: Introduced their Flavor Induced Satiety Concept for the Weight Management Trend.
- DD Williamson: Introduced their Certified Organic Annatto for the Color Innovation Trend.
- Blue Pacific: Introduced their hortRelfruit™ true-to-fruit technology for the Color Innovation Trend.
Wellness Conference
In March, 2009, hundreds of professionals attended Food Technology Magazine’s Wellness 09 Conference: At the Forefront of Food & Health. Unique in its format and content, this conference offered practical, sound science applications to help participant’s organization’s stay profitable, identify new marketplace opportunities, and minimize risk in the development and marketing of healthful foods. Wellness 10 promises to be even more successful with registration and sponsorship metrics on target to surpass the 2009 Conference.
Global Food Quality and Safety Conference
Outbreaks and other issues have brought the subject of traceability to the attention of the public and into the regulatory spotlight. On June 10, 2009, participants at the IFT Global Food Safety and Quality conference, Traceability in Food Systems: Technology vs. Reality, examined the need for traceability, discussed current solutions and advances, and identified future research needs. The conference, which included a Technology Showcase of seven sponsors, had over 170 attendees.
Strategic Leadership Forum
IFT held the 2009 Strategic Leadership Forum (SLF) at the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont, IL on December 3-4, 2009. Nearly 100 members gathered to hear presentations on breakthrough leadership, generational leadership, communication strategies, tips for working with the media, and even how to de-stress at their desk using yoga.
Lauren Shimek, IFT Member
The opportunity to participate in the 2009 SLF was open to all members through an application process. The response to the call for applications was overwhelmingly positive. We received 173 applications for 50 available slots. A selection panel was established to review the applications and make the final selection of the funded participants. A recap of the entire event is featured in the February 2010 issue of Food Technology magazine.
