Grab your Plant FWD badge, drop your coat and get a delicious coffee from our baristas. Start the day by creating new connections at one of our Network Tables!

Not to sound clingy, but change NEEEEEDS you. Harald Friedl dove deep into circular transition and the circular economy to gain insights into fundamental positive change. During his talk, he explains what transition requires from you as a person and professional. Come in with an open mind and heart.

We love hybrid innovation! But PhD-er Anne-Louise Peeters believes we need something bigger to bridge the gaps in our transition. And yes, that includes admitting that eating less meat and dairy is just painful as fuck! Want to learn more about four important gaps in this transition and the opportunities they offer? This is a keynote not to be missed!

Every conference needs a numbers geek to offer some perspective. So, we’ve got a really good one: Joost Slagt from the market research agency Circana. Joost offers a super quick update on the European market, covering the differences in sales between categories and marketing mixes. And we peek into the future with some upcoming trends.

Are we going to split the bill like we do on an okay first date? Or who will be paying for our food transition? One of the most innovative, smart, and financially eloquent women out there, Jacqueline van den Ende, shares her knowledge about financially fuelling (plant-based) transition.

The potential of making many products plant based without compromising taste is enormous. Yet we still get all these (bakery) products with phrases such as “made with real butter.” Why not just serve the best apple pie but made entirely out of plants? Whipped cream too? Yes please! Join Flora Food Group and one of their key partners as they explore how strategic partnerships can accelerate change, reshape consumer choices, and fast-track the plant-based transition. Don’t miss this insightful discussion on making plant-based the new standard!

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Have a taste of the future! In our 1.000m2 Market experience, you can browse through the latest food innovations and the best plant-forward discoveries. You saw – and tasted – it first at Plant FWD.

Let’s make change irresistible! Three innovative chefs are here to help. Afro-vegan chef Glory Kabe (FR) and upcoming star Nicky Aquaa (NL) discuss their mission to make African cuisine shine by combining flavours from home with classic French techniques. 2-star restaurateur Sebastian Frank (DE) shares his love for vegetables and explains why he still uses pork fat along with all the greens.

When Rutger Bregman & his team were searching for the challenges where the most impact could be made for a better world, it was moving towards more plant-based that came out on top. They selected the smartest people and made them work on it for a year. We have the privilege to serve up the first sneak peaks of their quest! And guess what - The shift to more sustainable proteins isn’t just about innovation—it’s about changing the entire system. Ecosystem thinking is essential. In this interactive session you’ll find out how finance, policy, and unexpected coalitions can work together to drive real change.

Wanna know what the future holds? Out of the hundred start-ups that applied for our Start-up Program, we've selected the ten most promising brands to come and pitch. And you are their audience! Meet the frontrunners and innovators in all things plant-forward.

The pitching start-ups:

✓ Millow (Sweden) - Pure meat analogue ever, made from mycelium
✓ Black Sheep Foods (USA) - Crispy, juicy, fatty plant based lamb steak.
✓ Monkeys by the Sea (Netherlands) - Algea plant based (fish) fillets
✓ Omeat (USA) - affordable ground beef from cells
✓ Bio Dairy Labs (Poland) - plant-based functional dietary fats that are tasty & nutritious for chocolate, confectionary & bakery

Please note that this session is hosted in collaboration with our partner Invest in Holland.

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What's the importance of true True Value, and how does it create business opportunities? Get down and flirty with best practices from Time Travelling Milkman & Carbon Cloud, using data to prove their climate impact (CSRD). Another best practice is from Fiber Foods & Invest International, who together created jaw-dropping social value of dried Jackfruit from Uganda. Please note that this is a partner session hosted by The Protein Community.

In the first part of this hackaton we focus on the barriers keeping hybrids from flourishing. From producers to retailers, we all fear the backlash of hybrid products. There are just so many hows that need answering: how to name them (we all know thathybrid is not the sexy option), how to position them, and how to make them loved. In this session we gather a few of the best marketeers, scientists and people from the industry to work on the answers together.

Your beloved host and partner of Plant FWD for this session is the Transition Coalition Food. Please note that this session is hosted at Danzigerbocht 55 (DB55), which is a 5 minute walk from Theater Amsterdam.

Revitalize yourself with a delicious coffee or tea and some delicious plant-based sweets before we head into the final part of day 1.

What’s new, you ask? You will find your answer at Innovation Hour. Duckweed just got approved by the EU, and as scientist Ingrid van der Meer said to me: it's open source and up for grabs to get businesses started! Meanwhile, Tom Foster-Carter makes eating healthy as easy as possible with Cherrypick. The app helps you pick tailor-made meals, makes your grocery list, finds the cheapest supermarket near you, and gets the ingredients right to your doorstep.

In Denmark, they did it: unite politicians from both sides of the spectrum with a plan to go plant-forward. And it was granted a mind-boggling funding of 1 billion DKK! Could we do the same here? In this open brainstorm, we ask everyone to join in while politicians Klaas Dijkhoff and writer Tobias Leenaert share insights from their respective fields of expertise. This session is moderated by Linda Vermaat.

Together, many can make a huge change. During this panel, we speak with businesses that serve many – MANY! – people every day. Schiphol's largest caterer is brutally honest about its efforts to make an impact. And Postillion Hotels may seem a bit traditional, but they had the guts to go fully plant-based in every single one of their hotels. How did they make that happen? Lastly the Fransiscus Hospital is veganizing its menu for grannies, and the largest caterer in the world Compass Group is ready to rock the plant-based world.

Please note that this session is presented in Dutch

While the rest of us are figuring out to move move plants on plates, Ira van Eelen is humbly inventing the first-ever farm for lab-grown meat with all the flavor and none of the mooing. The environmental stats are no joke either – using 95% less land, 78% less water, and 92% fewer greenhouse gases (cows everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief). Hopefully coming soon to a plate near you: Dutch meat that never met a meadow!

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(Y)our future starts here? International start-ups from the ‘Accelerate in the Netherlands: Protein Edition’ meet one-on-one with investors. To fund the future.

Please note that this session is invitation only.

In the second part of this hackathon, we focus on positioning - how do we do that without the much-feared backlash? From producers to retailers, we all fear the backlash of hybrid products. There are just so many hows that need answering: how to name them (we all know thathybrid is not the sexy option), how to position them, and how to make them loved. In this session we gather a few of the best marketeers, scientists and people from the industry to work on the answers together.

Your beloved host and partner of Plant FWD for this session is the Transition Coalition Food. Please note that this session is hosted at Danzigerbocht 55 (DB55), which is a 5 minute walk from Theater Amsterdam.

Sometimes its wise to look beyond your own sector to others who've already done it. The energy transition is an a-political subject, everybody wants solar panels, and there are huge investments going towards renewable energy. Who better to ask than former politician Diederik Samsom, now Commissioner for Climate Action at the EU, to shed some sustainable light?

Looking back on an inspiring day with new and existing friends while enjoying a drink and delicious plant-based snacks.