Thursday october 27th another ‘Food is a conversation’ took place. This time with Michael Bourlakis, Director of Demand Chain Management Community (Head of Department) & Head of Supply Chain Research Centre.

The delicious food was made by Sirley Kaston, who is a student of the food innovation program and a passionate cook.

The main topic of the conversation was logistics and distribution in combination with food innovation.

With growing populations, innovation of farms and distribution networks have to be improved.

The students had the opportunity to ask questions to Michael, but Michael also asked a lot of questions to the students.

‘Who is the driver of the supply chain?, and what can consumers do?’

The bottom line of the conversation was that consumers, but also the companies itself have an influence on the sustainability and innovation of food. If consumers start buying more sustainable products, the companies will produce more. And if the companies makes their products more sustainable, the consumers will follow this path. Education of consumers and companies plays an important role in this.

For the students it is very usefull to have these conversations because people like Michael have a lot of experiences in the food network. The next conversation will be with Mark Post & Chef Gianni D’Amato.