�鶹APP

The Department of Food Science and Nutrition presents its fall 2025 seminar series featuring guest speaker Qingbin Yuan, co-founder of VitaBio Innovations, who will give a presentation on “Building What’s Next: Lessons from Global R&D and Startups in Food and Nutrition.” This seminar will take place on Thursday, November 13, 2025, from 12:45–1:45 p.m. over Zoom.

Abstract

This talk is intended to provide a practical view of how ideas become real products in food and nutrition—both in big companies and startups. We’ll cover the key drivers to success, how to manage risk and resources, and the elements that separate promising concepts from commercial products using a simple path from lab to market: define the need, test fast, learn, and scale. We’ll touch on the must-haves—safety and stability, manufacturability, cost, basic regulations/claims, and IP—without going deep. Short cases from dairy, confectionery, and biotech ingredients highlight common pitfalls and best practices.

Biography

Qingbin Yuan is co-founder of VitaBio Innovations, a pioneer of using solvent free and chemical free biotechnology to process shea butter for the cosmetic industry. Prior to this, he served as vice president of R&D for innovation and regulatory at Junlebao Dairy Group. In this role, he led a large R&D organization and worked with business units and strategic partners to drive innovation in animal genetics and dairy products. His responsibilities included portfolio management, technical risk reduction, and scaling innovations from pilot to plant.

Yuan’s career also includes 14 years at The Hershey Company, where he rose to senior director of international R&D. He established and led regional R&D teams in China, India, Brazil, and Mexico, and played a key role in founding the Hershey Asia Innovation Center. Yuan moved to the United States in 2001 and earned his Ph.D. in food science from Pennsylvania State University in 2005. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, Yumin, and son, Gabriel.