1st Lunch Talk: “Funding Opportunities for Future Food Research and Innovations” 

The Office of Research Affairs, together with Chula Unisearch, the Halal Science Center, Chulalongkorn University, held the 1^st Lunch Talk: Future Food Platform under the theme of “Funding Opportunities for Future Food Research and Innovations”  on November 9, 2023, at Chula Naruemit Building.  

Prof. Dr. Chakkaphan Sutthirat, Vice President for Research Affairs, delivered the opening remarks. The event was attended by Mr. Adrián Gutiérrez, Research and Innovation Consultant (People’s Republic of China and South-East Asia) from the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), a Spain-based organization that promotes the development of industrial technology and innovation and grants funding for research projects to foster international collaboration in innovation.  

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chaleeda Borompichaichartkul, Deputy Director for Research Strategy Division, Program Management Unit for Competitiveness (PMUC), gave a talk titled “A Platform to create future food entrepreneurs from local to global” on building collaboration to drive food research with CDTI by serving as the ‘middleman’ to bridge the relationship between Thai researchers and foreign entrepreneurs. The goal is to inspire research projects in food innovation that can become products in the Asian markets, by focusing on food supplements, alternative foods, and functional food, exchanging knowledge in technology and innovation, upskill/reskill, overseas visits, and partnerships in food and local flavors databases. 

CEO of CIP Value Co., Ltd., Mr. Metha Jaratanakorn’s lecture titled “Creating global market opportunity from collaborative research for future food,” discussed the trends of research needs and market trends in the future. He mentioned the food technologies that have seen continuous growth, namely Food Product & Process, Functional Food, Food Packaging, Kitchen Equipment, Information Technology, and Microbial & Enzymes. The market is showing an increased need for food products that use natural processing on natural ingredients for health concerns, especially personalized ready-to-eat meals and special functions of plant-based foods, e.g., extracts, supplements, and ready-to-cook ingredients.  

Dr. Adshariya Agsornintara, Director of Office of Research Affairs, spoke of the support mechanisms for Future Food research projects through research groups that combine diverse expertise to conduct well-rounded research. Her advice for research group management includes setting clear directions, having output/outcome, and creating impact on society at large. The research should undergo an ‘onion’ or a multi-layered thinking process, which considers the users, stakeholders, supporters, and academic partners in every sector, in order to create a complete research environment that can effectively meet the needs of users.  

 (Information from Chulalongkorn’s Office of Research Affairs) 

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