Theophane Venard School of Food Biotechnology and Innovation welcomed Betagro’s innovation leader for a plant-based market talk.
Assumption University of Thailand (AU) welcomed Dr. Phontakorn Wongcharoen, Vice President, Food Innovation Center, Global Sourcing, Betagro Group, as a guest speaker for the session “Plant-based Food Innovation and Market Needed” on February 16, 2026.
Hosted in connection with courses across food innovation, functional ingredients, experimental design, and graduate-level seminar study, the talk brought students into the real-world questions shaping plant-based food development today: what consumers actually want, what the market will pay for, and what it takes to move from “good idea” to “good product.”
A Welcome from Theophane Venard School of Food Biotechnology and Innovation
The Theophane Venard School of Food Biotechnology and Innovation highlighted the session as an industry-facing learning moment—one that connected classroom frameworks with current product realities, from ingredient strategy and functionality to commercialization thinking.
From Innovation To “Will Anyone Buy This?”
Dr. Phontakorn shared practical perspectives from the corporate innovation side; how companies assess trends, validate market needs, and approach product development with constraints that students don’t always see in a textbook (scalability, sourcing, consistency, pricing, and consumer trust).
Learning That Linked Multiple Courses
Students attending through FT 4144 Food Ingredients Functionality, FT 3114 Functional Foods for Health, FT 6189 Experimental Designs and Statistics Analysis, and FB 5109C Graduate Seminar gained an applied lens on how data, product performance, and market insights work together in modern food innovation.
A Stronger Bridge Between Campus and Industry
The session reinforced a simple truth: plant-based innovation is not only about replacing ingredients—it is about meeting expectations. And for students preparing to join the food sector, that is the kind of lesson that sticks.
About Betagro Group
Betagro is a leading integrated food company in Thailand, working across the full food value chain, from upstream to downstream, guided by its purpose of delivering “Better Food.” Its core businesses span animal feed, animal health and supplements, livestock farming, and the production and distribution of meat, eggs, fish, processed foods, and premium pet food, serving customers in Thailand and more than 30 international markets.
WRITER: THE AU LIBRARY
More Information about Theophane Venard School of Food Biotechnology and Innovation, please visit:
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