Food R&D is a team sport, believes one of the industry’s leading innovation figures. Yet the sports Cargill CTO Florian Schattenmann enjoys most are, ironically, solitary pursuits.
Cross-country skiing, weightlifting and running are typically solo activities. But for the ingredient major’s chief technology officer (CTO) and vice president of innovation and research and development, when he’s in work mode, success depends entirely on the strength of the team around him.
Since joining Cargill as CTO in 2018 from a background in the chemical industry, Schattenmann has overseen a period of rapid change for food R&D, from the rise of artificial intelligence to shifting consumer expectations and an increasingly complex innovation landscape.
But what does a CTO in food actually do? And what does R&D look like in Cargill’s future?
“Sometimes there’s confusion about the CTO role in food,” Schattenmann says ahead of his appearance at Future Food-Tech San Francisco later this month. “I look at the products and processes that Cargill needs for the future. It’s about looking ahead and understanding what new products and technologies will be needed to meet customer and consumer demand.”
It is, by definition, a broad remit. The role blends trend-watching and horizon scanning with deep reliance on what Schattenmann describes as “the talent of smart people”.
“You’re also part of a bigger ecosystem,” he adds. “We work with universities, customers, national labs and start-ups – the entire ecosystem.”
That environment must be supported with the right infrastructure, from lab equipment to digital tools. Schattenmann says Cargill wants “world-leading technology” across its R&D operations, and that increasingly includes AI, which is already being deployed across multiple parts of the business.
This is where the sporting analogy returns. Schattenmann likens his role to that of a coach or manager: deeply embedded in the action, but no longer working hands-on with the technology itself.
His job is now much more about strategy. This includes protecting the business from poor investments, especially in a world where there’s a new food fad on what feels like an hourly basis.
Cargill’s R&D focus
Separating fads from meaningful trends is one of the most difficult parts of the job. There is no single rule, Schattenmann says. Some fads are obvious; trends often only reveal themselves over time. But, regulatory intervention or a sudden shift in consumer interest can quickly derail even the most promising idea.
“The most important thing is not to get over your skis,” he advises, drawing on sport again. “You might test a trend with a partner or invest in a relevant start-up, but you need to stay close to it and really understand it.”
When a trend does prove durable, that is when R&D can fully engage. Right now, many of those opportunities centre on a consumer landscape that is becoming increasingly fragmented and personalised.
That does not mean hyper-personalised nutrition tailored to individual DNA, Schattenmann stresses. Instead, it reflects growing demand for specific ingredients, functionalities and label claims.
Meeting those needs at scale depends on technology delivering availability, efficiency and economic viability. Schattenmann points to the use of established technologies in new ways, such as building functional proteins or applying plant breeding techniques to agriculture.
I don’t really like the word ‘threat’. For me, it’s always an opportunity
Florian Schattenmann, Cargill
“Getting something like camelina to grow over the winter for its oil is important,” he says. “But then you have to make sure you can process those oil-containing seeds, and that often requires different approaches.”
The different processing approaches may occur as a result of differences in the new crop compared to established camelina – also known as false flax – variants.
Alongside these developments, few technologies have reshaped R&D thinking as quickly as AI. Schattenmann recalls that when he first encountered AI, its potential impact was not immediately obvious.
“Then someone sent me a consultant whitepaper showing how professions would change with generative AI,” he says. “R&D was shown as one of the most impacted areas.”
From there, the challenge became understanding where AI could add real value. One risk, Schattenmann explains, is simply accelerating idea generation without addressing downstream bottlenecks.
“If you push more ideas into the system, you may just move the bottleneck,” he says. “You end up with more concepts needing validation, not more products on the market.”
AI’s impact on food and drink
Budgets also impose limits. While technology is advancing rapidly, investment resources are finite.
“We have to think carefully about where we want to build core strengths in-house and where we don’t want to waste money,” he says.
AI itself is evolving at extraordinary speed. Schattenmann notes that the dean of MIT recently said AI curricula now need updating mid-semester – a pace unheard of in most academic disciplines.
At Cargill, the focus has been on applying AI in targeted, pragmatic ways. “We look at deep science areas and develop very specific, tailored models,” he says. “We’re seeing benefits across all of these.”
One example is customer co-creation. “That used to be very time consuming, with lots of prep work,” Schattenmann explains. “Now we have models that can define a customer persona and generate menus within set parameters – but the human still has to be part of that process. Still is part of the process.”
Despite the pace of technological change, Schattenmann does not frame AI as a threat, nor other emerging technologies. He likens it to the rise of automation in manufacture.
“I don’t really like the word ‘threat’,” he says. “For me, it’s always an opportunity.”
He points to Cargill’s position in the supply chain and its relationships with customers and farmers as areas where human expertise remains irreplaceable. “There’s value there that big tech cannot replicate,” he says.
Looking ahead, Schattenmann says Cargill will continue to invest heavily in core food science capabilities, particularly around salt and sugar reduction. Reformulation, he believes, is far from a passing trend.
“There’s no end in sight,” he says. “And to deliver on that, you need a very strong food science foundation.”