Post-Conference Report: 5th International Conference "Challenges in Food Flavor and Volatile Compounds Analysis"

On July 1–3, 2026, the Runge Hall hosted the 5th International Conference "Challenges in Food Flavor and Volatile Compounds Analysis". The conference series was launched in 2009 and originally organized as a two-day event aimed at promoting research in the field of flavor and aroma compounds- primarily among young researchers and PhD students in Poland- by inviting world-leading specialists in the field.

The current edition was expanded into a three-day event, with the organizers aiming to give it the broadest possible international reach. The scientific program featured six plenary lectures delivered by invited leading scientists from international research centers: Prof. Devin Peterson (Ohio State University), Prof. Chiara Cordero (University of Turin), Priv. Doz. Martin Steinhaus (Leibniz-LSB@TUM), Prof. Corinna Dawid (Technical University of Munich), Prof. Hans-Gerd Janssen (Wageningen University / Unilever), and Dr. Imre Blank (IBK Food & Beverage Consultancy). In addition, the program included 25 oral presentations, 9 presentations by PhD students, and 23 poster presentations.

Overall, the conference brought together 97 participants, including 52 international attendees representing 15 countries. Alongside academic staff and PhD students from universities and research institutes, the event was attended by 21 representatives of corporate R&D centers, the food industry, and the flavor sector, including both domestic companies (12 participants: Regis, LECO, Gorzelnia Podole Wielkie, Tarczyński, Arcon) and international corporations (9 participants: Nestlé, Martin Bauer, FrieslandCampina, Austria Juice, Gerstel, Unilever, Mondelēz International, Syft). Additionally, two analytical workshops were conducted in collaboration with LECO and SYFT. The event was also supported by sponsors Anchem/Thermo, Altium, and Shimpol/Shimadzu. The awards for the best oral presentation and the best poster were presented to PhD candidates Alexandre Dusart (Université Catholique de Louvain) and Rifaldi Lutfi Fahmi (Tallinn University of Technology), respectively.

As organizers, our ambition was for the conference to serve as an international platform for exchanging knowledge and experience among research teams working on the chemistry and analysis of food flavor and aroma compounds. The event convened participants from top European and American research centers in this field and, in the shared view of both attendees and organizers, will become a permanent fixture in this format as a triennial European conference dedicated to the chemistry and analysis of flavor, aroma, and volatile compounds. The next edition will take place in 2029.