Valio Food 2.0 Annual Seminar 2026 Focused on Foresight, Collaboration, and Future Food Systems

“Even though a lot has happened in the world, the big picture hasn’t changed. The global food system is facing the same challenges.” With this reflection, Harri Kallioinen, Executive Vice President at Valio, opened the afternoon session of the Valio Food 2.0 Annual Seminar 2026. 

Presentation materials from the event can be downloaded via links at the end of this article.

The event, held in the auditorium at Valio’s Helsinki headquarters on March 19th, brought together ecosystem partners, researchers, and industry representatives to explore the path forward. 

Kallioinen revisited Valio’s vision of the food system of the future and the progress of the Food 2.0 research program. He pinpointed how different research topics and food products fit the landscape of the vision. 

He closed by asking: how do your activities fit into this picture? What is your contribution? One of his key messages remains, how important it is to cherish the Food 2.0 ecosystem and the value that collaboration between big and small companies as well as businesses and academia create. 

A Broader View on the Future 

The discussion then widened beyond the food system with Sara Reponen, Vice President, Strategy & Market Intelligence, and Kevin Deegan, Vice President, Innovation, both from Valio, who approached the future through a 360-degree perspective. Quoting Peter Drucker—“The best way to predict the future is to create it”—they emphasized that the future is shaped through choices and actions. 

They presented scenarios for what sustainable food production in Finland could look like. While uncertainty remains, it also brings choices that can bring these scenarios to life, an invitation to build a future worth striving for. 

Their presentation combined insights on global food market development, economic indicators, climate change, politics and regulation, consumer behavior and demographic shifts, as well as trade and supply chain dynamics. They also highlighted three challenges: too much data, too little clarity; no data from the future; and insight generation that is too slow. When asked which area of foresight should be prioritized first in building Food 2.0, seminar participants identified climate change as the top priority. 

From Field Capacity to Food Security 

Continuing the theme, Csaba Jansik, Principal Research Scientist, and Anu Kaukovirta, Director, both from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), focused on Finland’s primary production. They examined field capacity, how it is changing, and whether there is a risk to food security. 

They cited three aspects related to the sufficiency of arable land: restoration, the harvest gap, and the development of plant protein production. The overall message was that the availability of agricultural land does not endanger food security or limit growth. 

 
Highlights from the Food 2.0 Program, and AI and Ecosystem Collaboration 

Veera Virtanen, Ecosystem Lead – Valio Food 2.0, and Riitta Partanen, Research Manager at Valio, presented an overview of the program’s second year. The ecosystem has grown to 212 partners, and work is also ongoing to build an international network. 

Project leads reported on the progress of joint efforts across four themes: future products, technology transformation, regenerative production, and circular economy and resource efficiency, guided by a roadmap toward a nature-smart food system. 

Afterwards, Vilja Hannula, Senior Program Manager, ADM Silo AI, presented how AI and collaboration can support the development of the food industry. She introduced their Veturi program mission of making Finland a world-leading AI hub, supported by demanding use cases, high complexity, and open-source development, and presented their “Compute to Impact” initiative. 

Outlook for the Future 

The session concluded with a PhD pitching segment chaired by Mari Sandell, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Helsinki. Presentations from seven university researchers covered topics such as soil carbon balance, remote sensing, plant-based protein processing, food fermentation, gut health, personalized food production, and biodiversity impacts on food choices. 

The event culminated with remarks delivered by an AI-generated version of the late Nobel laureate Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, a long-time Director of the Valio Laboratory and the inspiration behind Valio’s science-based research tradition. His parting message returned to a theme that ran throughout the session: the future is shaped through collaboration, shared understanding, and concrete actions. 

Food 2.0 and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 

The Food 2.0 seminar also hosted the introduction of Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MMM)’s funding of RDI projects under the Food 2.0 program. During the morning session, Elina Nikkola from MMM presented the funding scheme with its focus areas and corresponding Food 2.0 program themes. MMM has sum of €5 million euros available for Food 2.0 project funding. After her presentation, themes and projects were presented. Between the morning and afternoon sessions, the audience had the opportunity to dive deeper into the projects via poster session. 

Speakers at the event

Speakers from Valio

Harri Kallioinen, Sara Reponen, Kevin Deegan, Veera Virtanen, Riitta Partanen, Johanna Vielmaa, Mikko Immonen, Niina Valkonen, Virpi Kling, Ehsan Fathi

Presentation materials