161: What do insect protein, next-gen dairy alternatives, e-sports nutrition and umami have in common?

Some of the largest ingredients companies are leading the way with food and drink innovations that will feed the future. In this special edition of the Table Talk podcast we look back to conversations we've had with Cargill, Gelita, Givaudan and Ÿnsect to find out how they're developing the flavours to support consumer trends.

Find out why insect protein could be the future of sports nutrition, how e-sports athletes are gaining an edge through supplements, how umami can be harnessed to improve flavour and what challenges still need to be conquered in order to expand the world of dairy alternatives as host Stefan Gates joins the leading names from the ingredients world.

About our guests


Antoine Hubert, Chairman & CEO, Ÿnsect

Antoine is Ÿnsect’s Chairman and CEO. He also leads the cooperative insect industry association, the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) and is Board Member of Protéine France consortium and LFD. Prior to co-founding Ÿnsect, Antoine worked on scientific projects in environmental risk assessment, biomass and plastics recycling. He is an agronomy engineer graduate from AgroCampus-Ouest and AgroParisTech. Together with Alexis, he co-founded NPO WORGAMIC and the company ORGANEO.


Franziska Dolle, Gelita

Franziska Dolle (M.Sc.) is a nutritional scientist and an expert for collagen peptides, who is always focused on and passionate about empowering people to improve their nutritional and active lifestyle.

Her goal is to implement population-wide health promotion concepts and effective measures for disease prevention. In pursuit of this goal, she examined the importance of protein intake to prevent sarcopenia – the muscle loss in the elderly.

For the last five years Franziska has co-created and implemented innovative lifestyle nutrition products with Bioactive Collagen Peptides®. In “The White Tissue” guide from GELITA she presents the new role of proteins in Sports Nutrition.

At GELITA AG Germany Franziska Dolle is Product & Account Manager Health & Nutrition. In this role she is in charge of New Business Development and Global Product Management for the brands BODYBALANCE®, FORTIBONE® and CURADERM®. As Account Manager she is responsible for sales of GELITA’s collagen peptides in Northern Europe and Germany.


Nicole Oelhafen, Senior Project Manager for Consumer Sensory Insights EAME, Givaudan

Nicole joined Givaudan in 2004 as Sensory Panel Leader; in 2015 she became Consumer Sensory Project Manager for EAME. She helps to translate consumer insights into actionable concepts and solutions, bringing the voice of the consumer into the heart of the business.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Sciences and German Literature & Linguistics from the University of Zurich. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, cooking, and exploring nature. She is based in the Givaudan Zürich Innovation Center in Switzerland.


Matthias Bourdeau, Marketing Manager Texturizers, Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers Europe

Working for the Nielsen Company and other research agencies, Matthias gained over 10 years of experience in consulting packaged food and beverage manufacturers across Europe and Africa on marketing their products in retail. Since joining Cargill’s Starches, Sweeteners and Specialties Business Marketing team three years ago, he supports new product launches and drives marketing campaigns, with a specific focus on dairy alternatives and meat alternatives. He is passionate about consumer research and market positioning. Matthias is based in Belgium and is a proud new dad.