Rong QIU (Ella QIU), Group Leader of China C&A and Technical Service Team, IFF Health Sciences.
She joined IFF (hDuPont Nutrition & Biosciences) in 2018 and brings over 15 years of experience in the health nutrition and food industries. She specializes in application development and innovative technologies for dietary supplements as well as food and beverage products. With deep expertise spanning probiotics, prebiotics, botanical extracts, plant proteins, dietary fibers, and low‑GI solutions, she has led the development and successful industrialization of multiple market‑ready health product solutions. Her experience covers the full innovation lifecycle, from early‑stage concept design through to commercial‑scale production. Prior to joining IFF, she held positions at Roquette, where she built a strong foundation in functional ingredient applications and product development.
Across the global beverage industry, innovation is shifting from single-point breakthroughs to parallel validation of product concepts. Diverse consumer needs, processing technologies, and flavor systems are creating new growth opportunities—while placing higher demands on R&D and application design.
The FBIF2026 Concept Product Launch does not define a single challenge. Instead, it highlights four high-relevance innovation pathways, giving shortlisted participants the flexibility to choose the direction best aligned with their strengths and to present commercially applicable product concepts that respond to real market needs.
Four Innovation Pathways
1 | Sports Nutrition
As the sports nutrition market continues to expand, innovation is moving beyond powders and shakes toward RTD, daily-use, and low-burden beverages. This pathway focuses on proteins, amino acids, electrolytes, and functional blends, with emphasis on taste, stability, and usage scenarios.
2 | HPP & Cold-Pressed Technology
With growing demand for minimally processed products, HPP technology is gaining traction across juices, functional beverages, and premium RTDs. This pathway explores flavor retention, formulation stability, and differentiated expression under HPP processing.
3 | Coffee Ingredient & Application Innovation
Coffee is evolving into a broader ingredient system spanning flavor, functionality, and everyday occasions. This pathway highlights innovative uses of coffee ingredients in RTD, functional, low-burden, and cross-category applications.
4 | Flavor & Sensory Innovation
Flavor has become a key driver of emotional connection and consumption context. This pathway encourages distinctive flavors, regional profiles, and multi-sensory designs, exploring how flavor can define product identity and competitiveness.