About the Event

Every food product that you have tasted started with an idea and a recipe. But designing a product that consumers enjoy and bringing it to market can take an unexpectedly long time. Digital AI assistance is emerging as a tool for food product development that could reduce cost and time to bring new foods and flavors to grocery store shelves. Savor will bring together experts in the field to discuss the possibilities and limitations of this new technology as well as social, cultural, and ethical implications in AI-driven food innovation. 

Registration:

The event will be presented in person at the Sensory Theatre, Robert Mondavi Institute, UC Davis Campus.

• Tickets are $25 per person, $15 for students.
• Includes a welcome reception with a hosted bar and appetizers.
• Limited seats are available. Parking details are below.
• A pop-up exhibit from the UC Davis Library Archives and Special Collections will be displayed in the lobby.

*A video recording of the program will be posted here 1-2 weeks after the event.

Carrie Alexander is a postdoctoral scholar for Socioeconomics, Ethics, and Policy at the USDA-NIFA/NSF AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS), and a lecturer in Science and Technology Studies at UC Davis. Her research areas include AI technologies and policy, food system adaptation, corporate law, liability frameworks, negotiation, risk, and governance in contexts of intense cultural and technological change and high-stakes political and economic decision-making. Drawing on computational and qualitative methods including regression and topic modeling, textual analysis, interviews, focus groups, and surveys, she works across disciplinary lines and sectors to identify, define, and propose solutions for pressing societal problems. She is a prior Mellon Public Scholar and a research consultant for the State of California. She has lectured, published, and presented on AI technologies, law and policy, negotiation strategies, cultural and technological change, and built and natural environments.

Justin Shimek is CEO and Chairman at Mattson & Co., an independent developer of food and beverage products that is creating and shaping the future of food. His clients range from Fortune 500 CPG companies to emerging start-ups and are working across every category, consumer need state, technology, and channel of distribution in food & beverage.  For nearly 50 years, Mattson has conceptualized, developed, branded, and scaled hundreds of product lines and, in the process, created billions of dollars in revenue for clients. Prior to joining Mattson, Justin held multiple roles at some of the food and beverage industry’s most recognized firms, including Del Monte Foods, E. & J. Gallo Winery and General Mills. He has developed and commercialized new products for both the US and global markets and has numerous patents and technical publications. Justin has a Ph.D. in food science from UC Davis and Bachelor of Science degrees in both food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. Currently, Justin serves on the UC Davis Department of Food Science & Technology Leadership Advisory Board and the Google Innovation Lab for Food Experiences.

Julien Delarue is an associate professor in sensory and consumer science in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis. His research focuses on methods to measure sensory perception and preferences and on their effective use in food design. He seeks to develop high validity consumer-oriented methods. In particular, his research explores the role of context in hedonic measures using immersive environments and digital technologies. He also works to develop and validate rapid and flexible descriptive analysis methods with application to new product development and consumer research. Using these methods, he seeks to understand the sensory determinants of food preferences and to find levers to drive healthy and sustainable food behaviors. Formerly an associate professor at AgroParisTech in the food science and technology joint research unit with INRA and Université Paris-Saclay, he has served as the Chair of the French Society for Sensory Analysis (SFAS) and of the European Sensory Science Society (E3S).

Moderator Ned Spang is the director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and an associate professor with the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology. Spang brings broad expertise on the relationships between food, water and energy to the institute. He is the faculty advisor for the Food Loss and Waste Collaborative, an interdisciplinary research program on campus focused on developing solutions and innovative approaches to reduce loss and waste throughout the food life cycle. Previously, he was associate director of the Center for Water-Energy Efficiency.