The 1st Authentic Food Festival & Conference: A New Chapter in the Fight Against Food Fraud
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Event Highlights
đź‘Ą 130 participants
🌍 18 countries represented
🎤 45 speakers and moderators
🧪 25 scientific posters presented
🙌 80 volunteers involved
On 27–28 May 2026, Dublin became the meeting point for food fraud fighters, researchers, industry representatives, policymakers, laboratories, students, and innovators from across Europe and beyond, as the EFF-CoP proudly hosted the 1st Authentic Food Festival & Conference (#AFFC).
More than a traditional conference, the #AFFC was designed as an interactive and engaging experience that brought together science, innovation, collaboration, and community building under one roof. The event reflected EFF-CoP's mission to create meaningful connections and strengthen collective efforts to prevent and detect food fraud.
A Different Kind of Conference
From the beginning, the #AFFC aimed to break away from conventional conference formats. Participants had the opportunity not only to attend keynote presentations and scientific sessions but also to engage in interactive activities designed to encourage learning, networking, and knowledge exchange.
The programme featured inspiring talks from internationally recognised experts, thought-provoking panel discussions, hands-on experiences, poster presentations, science cafés, mini-labs, serious games, and even escape-room challenges focused on food fraud detection and prevention, starting with a really powerful debate!
The diversity of formats encouraged active participation and created an environment where ideas could be exchanged openly between academia, industry, authorities, and civil society.
AFFC PROGRAMME
Bringing the Food Fraud Community Together
One of the greatest achievements of the #AFFC was its ability to bring together stakeholders from different sectors and countries around a common goal: protecting the integrity of our food systems.
Over two days, participants shared experiences, discussed emerging challenges, explored innovative solutions, and identified opportunities for future collaboration. New professional connections were formed, existing partnerships were strengthened, and discussions continued long after the formal sessions ended.
The festival atmosphere created a unique setting where learning and networking happened naturally, reinforcing the core principles of the Community.
Highlights from Dublin
Among the many memorable moments were:
Inspiring keynote presentations addressing food fraud, supply chain vulnerabilities, corruption prevention, consumer trust, and emerging technologies.
Interactive debate that challenged participants to examine food fraud from different perspectives.
Escape-room activities and gamification exercises that demonstrated the value of experiential learning.
Mini-laboratory demonstrations showcasing innovative tools and technologies.
Poster sessions highlighting cutting-edge research from students and researchers.
Science Café discussions that encouraged informal dialogue between experts and participants.
Social events, including networking activities, live music, and the festival barbecue, which helped strengthen community bonds.
These activities demonstrated that combating food fraud requires not only scientific excellence but also communication, collaboration, and engagement.
Celebrating Excellence
The #AFFC also provided an opportunity to recognise the outstanding efforts of professionals working to combat food fraud through the presentation of the "Best Counter Fraudster" award.
This recognition highlighted the dedication of individuals and organisations that contribute daily to safeguarding food integrity, strengthening transparency, and protecting consumers.
Building the Future Together
The success of the 1st Authentic Food Festival & Conference confirms the growing need for spaces where stakeholders can meet, learn, exchange experiences, and collaborate.
The enthusiasm, participation, and positive feedback received throughout the event clearly demonstrated that the food fraud community is eager to work together and share knowledge.
For EFF-CoP, the #AFFC represents much more than a successful event. It marks an important milestone in the development of a vibrant and sustainable European Food Fraud Community of Practice.
We would like to thank all speakers, moderators, volunteers, consortium partners, and participants who contributed to making this event possible.
Together, we are building a stronger community, enhancing food fraud prevention and detection, and strengthening trust across food supply chains.
The journey does not end here. This is only the beginning.
See you at the next Authentic Food Festival & Conference!
