18th April, 2023
5 hours
Mobile eTicket
Meat consumption is a leading cause of climate change due to the excessive carbon emissions emitted by the industry. It is now more important than ever to reduce our impact on the planet by shifting society's diet.
Plant-based protein is a sustainable alternative to meat consumption. However, it's production and distribution channels are limited. Join us for our roundtable to discuss this issue. We will focus on how to expand the production of plant-based protein within the East of England's supply chain.
Get t know the speakers
James Dobson
29 Year Old, founder and Production Manager at Club Cultured.
Talk: Building a plant-based manufacturing business in the UK
Arjan Narbad
Professor Arjan Narbad is Group Leader at Quadram Institute Bioscience leading the research on Translational Microbiome.
His group is focused on developing different strategies including probiotics, phage therapy, bacteriotherapy, lantibiotics and fermented foods for modulation of the gut microbiome for health benefits.
The development of multifunctional starter cultures and the importance of naturally fermented foods in food safety and human nutrition is another area of his research interests.
Talk: Health benefits of plant-based fermented foods
Joe Hill, One Planet Pizza
Joe is one half of the father & son team behind One Planet Pizza, the UK’s leading frozen vegan pizza brand.
Together with his Dad, he’s on a mission to save the world with unbelievably tasty vegan pizza that’s better for people and the Planet. Dubbed as Norfolk’s answer to ‘Ben & Jerrys,’ they’ve built an ethical business, taking it from their kitchen in Norfolk to being stocked in Asda and 100s of stores right across Europe.
Talk: Building a plant-based business from the ground up within East Anglia
Matthew Gilmour, Quadram Institute Bioscience
Dr Matthew Gilmour is the Group Leader for ‘Listeria and other invasive pathogens’ research programme, and Co-Lead of the ‘Microbes in the Food Chain’ programme at the Quadram Institute Bioscience in Norwich.
Together with Maria Traka, Matt recently set up the UK Food Safety Research Network – an innovation hub to catalyse and fund research and training projects between partners in the food industry, academia and government, with the view to applying science to improve the safety of food.
Matt was previously the Scientific Director General of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory, where he focused on national science informatics needs that result from modern genomics and other ‘big data’ technologies.
Talk: New plant-based food categories: new research questions
09:45 - 10:00
Arrival and coffee
10:00 - 10:20
Introductions of Quadram and the Food Innovation Cluster
Alexander Larter, UEA
Laila Roper, Quadram Institute Bioscience
10:20 - 10:40
Building a plant-based manufacturing business in the UK
James Dobson, Club Cultured
How Club Cultured started making Tempeh in his Mum's back garden to supply Wagamama's. James Dobson founder and Production Manager at Club Cultured will talk about the Journey of Club Cultured and their plans for the future.
10:40 - 11:00
Health benefits of plant-based fermented foods
Arjan Narbad, Quadram Institute Bioscience
Fermented foods have been consumed widely and with the recent focus on plant-based foods their consumption is on the rise in UK and Europe. There are opportunities for food companies to take advantage of this growing market. These foods have benefits of increasing food shelf life and preventing growth of pathogenic and food spoilage organisms. Arjan will discuss the research he has conducted on African fermented foods and explore the health benefits of plant based fermented foods.
11:00 - 11:20
Refreshment break and networking
11:20 - 11:40
Building a plant-based business from the ground up within East Anglia
Joe Hill, One Planet Pizza
Joe will be sharing his story of how he and his Father took a simple idea shared over a couple of beers, to making it their mission to build an ethical global brand by 2025. From what it takes to build a business locally from the ground up, to the more recent challenges faced by both start-up and plant-based brands, Joe will be offering his take on the local production of plant-based foods from a founder’s perspective.
11:40 - 12:00
New plant-based food categories: new research questions
Matthew Gilmour, Quadram Institute Bioscience
Matt will be sharing the perspective of new and perceived microbial risks that may need to be managed as new food categories and ways of production are being introduced. The UK Food Safety Research Network is funding collaborative research projects between food businesses and academic groups, and priority areas of collaborative work include alternative proteins and new plant-based food categories. Matt will share some key food safety research information shared from food businesses and trade associations, and provide an update on future research and collaborative opportunities within the Food Safety Research Network.
12:00 - 12:20
Speaker TBC
12:20 - 13:20
Healthy plant-based lunch, networking and tours of Quadram
13:20 - 13:40
Speaker TBC
13:40 - 15:00
Guest Speaker Panel
A chance for you to debate and ask the guest speakers questions from the day.
More information on speakers to come shortly.