Evolution of the Food Innovation Centre - Part Two
Posted on 02 September 2026
Alice Jones, Senior Food Innovation Advisor, FIC facilitating a Sensory Evaluation Workshop held in November 2024
Reflecting on the last 10 years working with the Food and Drink Industry - Part Two: Brexit, emerging food trends and industry support
This article was written Senior Food Innovation Advisor, Alice Jones as part of the Food Innovation Centre’s 10-year anniversary blog series. This is the second part of a two-part blog reflecting on the FIC's last ten years supporting food and drink innovation.
In the summer of 2023, following Brexit, the funding to offer free support for SME’s finally came to an end and we were faced with the choice of closure or to pivot our current model. At this time, government funding for SMEs became more disparate, and had changed from being regional, to borough or city council level. With an established repeat customer base, we decided to experiment with creating a hybrid model, whereby we continued to deliver SME support for Nottingham City Council businesses using available Innovation Voucher grants, but also set up as a commercial operation. This was an exciting development as we opened our doors to working with any size of business and in any location, meaning the scope of projects we were delivering became much more diverse. Being a peripatetic service, it has also meant that today we are often on the road a lot more, visiting factory or farm sites (which is a pleasure!).
From 2023 until today, we have seen the peak of the ‘High Protein’ trend, which I personally have mixed feelings about. There are indeed specific target consumer groups (such as the frail/elderly or athletes) for which high protein is very relevant, but when developing products for healthy adults who eat a privileged Western diet, increased protein consumption may not always be nutritionally correct. However, we have been able to apply the expertise of our nutritional science colleagues to develop products with higher protein quality (more diverse or complete amino acid profiles) and utilise their test methodologies to study availability and digestibility of different protein sources. This has been invaluable to many companies to help them create more nutritionally balanced, higher quality protein products.
The functional and fortified products trend is continuing to build, as are innovations in the no- and low-alcohol sector. Much product development is fuelled by social media with trends such as ‘Fibremaxxing’; in general, this seems to be a much more positive trend when it comes to improving the health of the nation, with most of the UK population not currently consuming the . Another interesting recent observation is the rise in enquiries about meal replacement or food replacement products. Being a Sensory Scientist by training, and an appreciator of the diversity of sensory sensations real food and drinks can deliver, I secretly hope not. I think we have the wider implications of potentially losing some of the positive, social aspects of sharing and eating with others to consider also, should that trend take off.
Likewise, the introduction of GLP-1 weight loss drugs in both injectable and pill format to the UK is just starting to influence product development decisions. We are fortunate to have colleagues at the University in Medical, Dietetics, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences to work with on this latest subject area. The area is deeply complex, requiring the input of trans-disciplinary teams to manage benefits and risks.
Finally, I am reminded that these are thought-provoking times for Food Scientists, with the plethora of AI product development tools being shown to us. The very way that we go about product and process development may be set to evolve again very soon.
That said, for me the joy of working at the FIC is that it’s still a very human service; we thrive on getting to know and working collaboratively with new customers, allowing us to personalise our support to each individual project, person, and scale of business. With all these years now under our belt, and a growing team, it is also exceedingly rewarding to still be working with businesses we have guided from start-up stage to grow into established operations.
So, at our 10-year anniversary, I am raising a glass [of elderflower spritz!] to all the people that have interacted with and been a part of building, developing and evolving this Food (and Drink!) Innovation Centre over the years - you have all shaped a piece of what it is today. Here’s to the next 10 years!
Catch up on part one, explore our anniversary page or read our previous blog here.