THIS WAS FSM 2025

Dear colleagues,

as we look back on the Food System Microbiomes 2025 International Conference, held in Wageningen, the Netherlands, from 25-28 November 2025, we are pleased to share some highlights from this inspiring event.

This conference marked the second event organised by the MicrobiomeSupport Association, continuing our mission to increase awareness and foster collaboration around food system microbiomes.

The meeting brought together over 180 international delegates and offered a rich scientific programme addressing different segments of the food system and the role that microbiomes play within and across them. The programme included two keynote lectures by Nicola Segata, University of Trento, and Michael Wagner, University of Vienna, as well as 15 invited talks, 18 short talks, 29 science flashes and 60 posters.

Three outstanding contributions were recognised with prizes for excellence in research:

• Lakhansing A. Pardeshi, Wageningen University & Research, for “Conservation, evolution and recombination of tailocins in the genus Pectobacterium, and consequences for species and strain level interaction” — Best Basic Research
• Edoardo Zaccaria, Wageningen University & Research, for “Microbial seeding as an early-life intervention to reduce methane emissions in dairy cattle” — Best Applied Research
• Chiara Traina, University of Turin, for “Interconnections across microbiomes: How do plant holobionts and food fermentation relate? A focus on Taggascia olive tree ecosystem” — Research best showcasing the interconnectedness of microbiomes across the food system

Special features of FSM 2025 included the Early-Stage Researcher Session, “The Many Pathways to Sustainable Food Systems Powered by Microbiomes,” designed and chaired by Ricardo Garavito Duarte and Kevin Jerez-Bogota; the regulatory workshop organised by Yolanda Sanz and Javier Moreno; and the project exhibition session highlighting ongoing research and innovation from EU-funded projects and research infrastructures.

The Early-Stage Researcher Session featured contributions from early-stage researchers and showcased emerging talent in the field. It highlighted interconnections across human, animal, plant, food and environmental microbiomes and reflected the systems-level thinking needed to address global challenges.

The regulatory workshop provided participants with the latest scientific criteria for evaluating microorganisms used in regulated food products and discussed advances needed in regulatory science to improve guidance for assessing and authorising microbiome applications. The workshop featured talks by Javier Moreno, Rosella Brozzi and Sandrine Claus, followed by a roundtable discussion.

The project exhibition session highlighted ongoing research and innovation from EU-funded projects, including Microbiomes4Soy, TRIBIOME, WHEATBIOME, HOLiFOOD and FoodSafeR, alongside the local research infrastructure UNLOCK. It provided a dynamic platform for collaboration, networking and knowledge sharing among researchers, industry and other stakeholders.

The conference is also accompanied by a themed collection in the journal Sustainable Microbiology.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of our sponsors and exhibitors: QUANTUM Europe, Applied Microbiology International, QIAGEN and ISME.

We would like to thank all participants, speakers, chairs, sponsors, exhibitors, organisers and supporters who contributed to making FSM 2025 a successful and inspiring event.

We look forward to continuing these discussions at the next Food System Microbiomes Conference in Paris in 2027.

On behalf of the Organising Committee,

Hauke Smidt

Angela Sessitsch

 

CONFIRMED INVITED SPEAKERS

Local organizing committee