Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
From waste valorisation to personalised nutrition: OnFoods at Cibus Tec Forum 2025
Cibus Tec Forum 2025, organised by Koeln Parma Exhibitions, will take place on 28–29 October in Parma, the heart of Italy’s Food Valley. Over two days, OnFoods will present talks and discussions on cutting-edge research and innovation in the food sector.
Published: September 18, 2025
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Transforming waste into ingredients, leveraging food safety as a driver of innovation, reformulating food products, and personalising diets are strategic directions that, together, can change the way we conceive food.
OnFoods will explore all these topics in a two-day series of talks at Cibus Tec Forum 2025, the triennial event organised by Koeln Parma Exhibitions (KPE) – a joint venture between Koelnmesse and Fiere di Parma – taking place on 28–29 October 2025 in Parma, at the heart of Italy’s Food Valley.
OnFoods, Italy’s largest ecosystem for food research, established with the support of the PNRR and composed of 26 partner organisations including universities, research centres, companies and institutions, will bring to Cibus Tec Forum 2025 its advanced scientific expertise, concrete project initiatives, and opportunities for technology transfer to benefit the agro-industry and food tech sectors.
The format of Cibus Tec Forum, structured over two days of high-intensity exhibition and conference sessions rich in content and networking, represents an ideal platform for OnFoods to present the challenges and results of its research, the innovation models developed, and the future scenarios reshaping the food system.
Topics of discussion: every year, approximately 60 million tonnes of food are wasted in Europe, highlighting the urgency of rethinking food systems. OnFoods aims to transform this problem into a resource, focusing on the valorisation of agri-food waste as new, safe, and nutritious ingredients. Circularity thus becomes a tangible approach, combining innovative technologies, biotechnologies, and digital processes.
Recovery alone is not enough: food safety must be ensured at every stage through advanced protocols and control tools that prevent chemical and microbiological risks. Simultaneously, research focuses on reformulating existing products to make them healthier and developing innovative foods built around functional ingredients. Another strategic area is personalised nutrition, capable of adapting to individual needs based on age, metabolism, preferences, and lifestyle. Within this framework, sustainability is not only environmental but also social and economic.
After three years of PNRR-funded research, OnFoods brings its work to Cibus Tec Forum to demonstrate how innovation, safety, and personalisation can converge towards a new, circular, and inclusive food paradigm.
Tuesday 28 October — 14:30–15:30
Focus Spoke 4 OnFoods
Food quality and nutrition: towards sustainable and personalised dietary models
Spoke 4 works to develop dietary models capable of meeting the nutritional needs of individuals differing in age, sex, physiological condition, lifestyle, and metabolic profile. The research combines the reformulation of existing products (reducing critical issues such as excessive salt, sugar, and fat), the promotion of innovative and functional foods, and the development of strategies for precision nutrition.
At the core are plant-based models, considered an important pathway towards sustainability, yet requiring optimisation to ensure nutritional adequacy. The approach is multidisciplinary: nutritionists, food technologists, and companies collaborate to build consumer-acceptable solutions based on scientific evidence and advanced technologies.
Programme:
- Introduction and moderation (10’)
Prof. Patrizia Riso (University of Milan), Prof. Daniele Del Rio (President, OnFoods Foundation) - The need for food reformulation: current landscape and future challenges (20’)
Prof. Daniela Martini (UniMi), TecnoAlimenti (speaker TBC) - Round Table: biotechnological approaches for the production of foods and ingredients for specific targets (30’)
Silvia Tagliamonte (UniNa), Leonardo Mancini (UniBa), Milena Brasca (CNR), Sacco System (speaker TBC) - Plant-based foods: the future lies in multidisciplinary dialogue (10’)
Alessandra Marti (UniMi), Margherita Dall’Asta (UniCatt)
Wednesday 29 October — 11:00–12:00
Focus Spoke 3 OnFoods
Innovation and food safety: risk assessment, prevention and control
Food safety is a fundamental pillar of any innovation. Each year, around 600 million people fall ill due to pathogens, contaminants, or toxins in food, with severe health and economic consequences.
Spoke 3 develops tools to identify emerging and re-emerging risks, reduce the likelihood of contamination, and maintain high hygienic and sanitary standards within an increasingly complex food system. New technologies, production processes, and alternative ingredients offer opportunities to improve access to food and reduce environmental impact, but they also introduce new risks that must be prevented.
Programme:
- 11:00 – 11:20
Assessment of emerging and re-emerging risks in the agri-food system - 11:20 – 11:40
Strategies for risk reduction and improvement of hygienic and sanitary quality - 11:40 – 12:00
Advanced analytical methods for the protection of safety and quality
Wednesday 29 October — 14:30–15:30
Focus Spoke 2 OnFoods
Circular, sustainable and safe food systems
Every year, around one third of the food produced worldwide is lost along the supply chain, often during production and logistics stages.
Spoke 2 of OnFoods addresses this challenge through a circular economy approach, developing green processes and biotechnologies to transform waste and by-products into valuable resources. The goal is to make supply chains more resilient, transparent, and capable of generating value.
The research includes:
- smart logistics solutions to reduce surpluses and waste;
- sustainable physical and chemical methods to create new ingredients;
- efficient extraction techniques to recover bioactive compounds with high nutraceutical value;
- tools to measure circularity and ensure the safety and effectiveness of new processes.
Programme:
- Advanced logistics solutions for waste reduction
Prof. Riccardo Accorsi (University of Bologna), Dr Giorgia Bartolotti (University of Bologna), Dr Michele Ronzoni (University of Bologna)
DISCO - Efficient and sustainable extractions for the recovery of bioactive compounds from agri-food waste and by-products
Dr Francesca Annunziata (University of Milan)
EXTRABIO - Measuring sustainability and circularity in new green extraction processes: when is circularity truly sustainable?
Dr Lucrezia Lamastra (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart)
ONTRADE - The hidden treasures of agri-food waste
Dr Arianna Rossetti (Polytechnic University of Milan)
CHARACTERBIO
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