On Wednesday 16th September 2026, 15 delegates joined the IFST Technical Visit to Brenntag’s UK Innovation & Application Centre ( I&AC ) in Leeds for an informative, inspiring and enjoyable morning session. The visit was organised by the IFST Food Innovation Special Interest Group (SIG) in conjunction with the IFST Northern Branch.
The visit commenced with a short introduction to Brenntag from Nick Wilson, UK Business Manager Food & Nutrition UK & Ireland supported by Steve Timms, Commercial Development Manager and Linda Pravinata, Manager of the I&AC in Leeds. Brenntag was founded in 1874 as an egg seller and today is one of the World’s largest distributors of ingredients being present at over 600 locations in 72 countries with a worldwide network of over 30 food Innovation & Application Centres and a portfolio in excess of 10,000 items. The UK I&AC in Leeds is one of the newest, having opened in 2025.
The guided tour of the Sweet and Savoury application labs included a stop off at each of 3 demo stations in the I&AC where the Brenntag food and beverage technologists presented their concepts aligned with current and emerging trends combining many ingredients from the Brenntag portfolio to address topics that included HFSS, GLP-1, sugar reduction, protein and fibre enrichment, fortification and texture analysis. Linda explained the importance of understanding the science underpinning each concept and how use of data can speed up problem solving as well as helping to accelerate time to market for a new development.
The session concluded with an interactive Q&A forum during which younger members of IFST enquired of the more experienced members and fellows in the room about meeting current challenges in the food sector and how to build their own career journeys before the session closed with a light lunch.
Feedback from the session was overwhelmingly positive and thanks go to Brenntag for hosting such an informative and inspiring event.