Next Bite is the EIT Food flagship event, which had its first edition in 2024. The annual summit consolidates previous key events into a single, cohesive gathering that represents EIT Food's brand and missions - across all our regions and functional areas.


Next Bite is a transformative, multi-day event designed to unify EIT Food's core activities into one inspiring experience for leading food systems professionals. It serves as a platform to showcase the organisation's impact, foster collaboration, and engage diverse audiences through dynamic programming. This summit features multiple stages tailored to attract and engage specific audience segments, focusing on EIT Food missions and business creation objectives.


The event location rotates annually among EIT Food's three regions (South, West, North & East), fostering inclusivity and regional engagement. Its planning and execution are a collaborative effort, with various teams taking responsibility for different stages or key aspects of the event. The overall organisation and coordination will be led by the Director of Communications and Events and the Events Manager from the CBDO office, ensuring strategic alignment and operational excellence.


To achieve the event's goals and represent the breadth of EIT Food's expertise, it is essential to involve all teams across the organisation. Each year, the Directors of different teams and regions listed below play a critical role in identifying and nominating their representatives for participation.


Given the scale, complexity, and visibility of Next Bite, the working group will comprise of members from across EIT Food, selected for their specialised skills, unique perspectives, and capacity to contribute meaningfully to the event's success.


The focus areas for the working group will include:


  • Promotion: collaborating with our communication and marketing teams to develop promotional strategies that drive engagement.
  • Internal Team Coordination: each working group member is responsible for keeping their team informed on the developments.


Set-up


  1. Events Manager (lead) - 1
  2. Regional Communication and Events Managers - 3
  3. Public Affairs Team Representative - 1
  4. Impact Team Representative - 1
  5. Partnership Team Representative - 1
  6. Brand & Digital Team Representative - 1


The working group meets once a month to share and discuss the progress of Next Bite's organisation: status of the overall project, what's happening in the different streams, and updates. The events team oversees implementation, coordinating with vendors, venues, and technical teams to ensure seamless execution while monitoring expenditures to stay within the allocated budget. 


The working group will be divided into specialised subgroups as needed. These subgroups will focus on specific areas and will operate under the guidance and oversight of the events team, which will actively participate in their activities. Regular subgroup meetings should be held, with the lead of each subgroup presenting updates during the monthly working group calls.


Potential subgroups may include, but are not limited to, the following:


  • Programme subgroup: responsible for event content and scheduling.
  • Media subgroup: focused on communication and promotional efforts.
  • Sponsorship subgroup: managing sponsor relations and funding.
  • Marketing subgroup: overseeing exhibition or vendor spaces.
  • External engagement subgroup: liaising with stakeholders and external partners.


These subgroups may be established to address the specific phases of event planning and disbanded once their objectives are achieved. While each subgroup will include at least one representative from the events team, leadership roles within the subgroups can be assumed by other members of the working group based on expertise and availability.


Next Bite 2025 Working Group


  • Director of Communications & Events - Miriam Sastre
  • Events Manager (lead) - Mariana Meira e Cruz
  • Events Officer - Maria Vlachou
  • Regional Communication and Events Managers - Ada Aparicio, Frank Horlbeck, and Ewa Rzeszowska
  • Public Affairs Team Representative - Laura Dirix
  • Impact Team Representatives - Latif Andersson and Cornelia Schwenk
  • Partnership Team Representative - Jente Schoutens
  • Brand & Digital Team Representative - Joanne Mazoyer