Food Matters Live Rotterdam 2025: Experts discuss AI in food and digital health amid F&B transformation

The use of AI in the F&B industry is quickly gathering pace as companies use it to analyze consumer data, accelerate product innovation, and support sustainability targets. At the recently concluded Food Matters Live Rotterdam event (September 23-24) in the Netherlands, experts discussed how AI is reshaping food system transformation, personalized nutrition, and digital health.

Mariëtte Abrahams, founder and CEO of Qina, a specialized nutrition innovation consultancy, and Carla Hilhorts, senior VP, R&I categories and zones at Danone, shed light on various aspects of AI usage — from the need for collaboration across departments to ensure data accuracy to the ethical concerns and challenges faced by companies.

“We all know the food system needs transformation. The way we currently produce and consume food isn’t sustainable. Over the next decade, we’ll see more supply shocks as certain ingredients become scarce or too expensive,” says Hilhorts.

“These shocks, combined with climate change, will accelerate adoption of new technologies. Think of the energy transition — solar panels were once too costly for most, but a spike in energy prices drove adoption. I expect similar dynamics in food, where shocks make emerging technologies more attractive and speed up change.”

Need for cross-department collaboration

Abrahams notes that Qina focuses on personalized nutrition, and helps companies understand what people should consume, how much, and when. The company’s database covers innovations, start-ups, and science in this space. 

Mariëtte Abrahams, founder and CEO of Qina, and and Carla Hilhorts, senior VP, R&I categories and zones at Danone during the panel discussion.“Using AI, we can quickly analyze trends, identify key players, and connect data from science, consumer behavior, and practitioners.”

The session also highlighted why it is important to integrate AI across departments, such as R&D, marketing, customer service, and the need for field-specific expertise to analyze results.

“AI helps us cut through the noise, identify early signals, and understand consumer needs. For product development, that’s invaluable. But AI alone isn’t enough — it needs to be combined with subject-matter experts who can interpret the data,” explains Hilhorst.

Abrahams agrees that companies cannot only depend on R&D, marketing, customer support, and other departments must be involved. “Too often, nutrition experts are asked to validate results after the fact. They should be in the room from the start.”

Ethical considerations

Along with the use of AI, the question of AI ethics also emerged during the discussion, with the experts emphasizing that ethical considerations are critical.

“I think ethics is a big issue that is often underestimated and misunderstood. When we develop digital solutions, we use massive amounts of information from the internet. But this data only comes from people who are online, which means we are already leaving out groups who could benefit from the solutions we create.”

“Another concern is the science and databases used to build algorithms. If certain populations are missing from those datasets, they won’t be represented in the results. This increases the risk of inequality if we design only with the information we currently have.”

Digital health helps “make the invisible visible” with simple, app-based nutrition insights. 

Emerging digital health concept

An emerging development Hilhorts points to is the use of AI in digital health. AI helps analyze the large amounts of data generated by digital health tools such as smartphone apps to identify patterns, provide recommendations, and explain complex health information.

“At Danone, one area we are working on is what we call “making the invisible visible.” With digital health, we can democratize access so that anyone with a smartphone can collect data,” notes Hilhorts.

For example, by taking a picture of a baby’s stool with a stool tracker app, users can get information on whether it’s healthy or not.

Over time, she expects AI technology to enable the convergence between healthcare and nutrition, which could incentivize providers to invest in nutrition.

Abrahams views 2025 as a turning point in personalized nutrition as advances in technology, consumer interest in well-being, and concerns for people and the planet are converging. It’s creating a real movement in the industry that “may finally blur the lines between food and healthcare.”