Key Takeaways from NutrEvent 2023 Rennes Participation

Published: Oct 19, 2023 by FME Lab

Marie and Julien participated in the NutrEvent held in Rennes on the 17th and 18th of October.

For context, NutrEvent is a European partnering event focusing on Food, Human, and Animal Nutrition innovations. It brings together professionals from various sectors, including food industries, academic institutions, research institutes, and investors. FME’s participation in this event underlines the initiative’s commitment to fostering innovation in the fermented foods sector.

Marie was present at the event, representing our collaboration with PIMENTO (Promoting Innovation of ferMENTed fOods), along with Elena Gerbaud and Christophe Chassard. Those attending NutrEvent might have come across the PIMENTO stand, which was aimed at discussing possible collaborations and synergies in the realm of fermented food innovation.

Julien delivered a presentation titled “Food and gut microbiome modelizations to sustain health.”¹ He proposed that modelization, prerequisite for AI solutions, could be a valuable tool to navigate the intricacies of food and gut microbiome.

Key insights from Julien’s presentation included:

The prototyping process of next-gen fermented food should include gut-tipping elements during screening for better personalized and beneficial effects.
The potential collaborative approach of not just sharing data but considering the federation of AI models, especially in projects associated with INRAE.

Julien Tap. Food and gut microbiome modelizations to sustain health. NutrEvent, Eurasanté, Oct 2023, Rennes, France. hal-04249736 ↩

From “synthetic” to defined microbial communities for clearer terminology

Stéphane Chaillou participated in a joint reflection with a group of international researchers, coordinated by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), on the terminology used to describe certain microbial communities. The collective of experts proposes replacing the term “synthetic community” (or SynCom), sometimes perceived negatively, with “Defined Microbial Community”.

Harnessing gut microbiome diversity for next-generation fermented foods

On June 5, 2026, Julien Tap participated in the INRAE-Tokyo NODAI Joint Symposium on Fermentation and Food Bioscience. This online event brought together researchers from INRAE and the Tokyo University of Agriculture to discuss fermentation microbiology, food bioscience, taste, and microbiome-based approaches to health. More than 100 participants attended the symposium, most of them Japanese students, highlighting the strong interest of the next generation in fermentation and microbiome science.

DOMINO 3rd annual meeting in Madrid

After three years, the #DominoEU project has reached full speed, with significant results across all project objectives. The three-day meeting provided an opportunity to review the very busy year of 2025 and the many key findings that can be leveraged in the coming months.