CROOKSTON, Minn. (August 2025) — The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) will host a free webinar in its AURI Connects Webinar Wednesday “Future of” Series, sponsored by Bremer Bank and Minnesota Farmers Union. The webinar, “The Future of Lipids – A Market Explosion in Food, Fuel, Crops, Bioplastics + More,” will highlight the industry’s evolution from a traditional commodity to a platform for innovation.
WHAT: AURI’s “The Future of Lipids – A Market Explosion in Food, Fuel, Crops, Bioplastics + More,” Webinar
WHEN: Noon to 1 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Aug. 13
WHERE: Online, Please register in advance
WHO: The webinar is free and open to the public.
The future of lipids is bright, multifaceted, and crucial for sustainability across food, feed, and industrial sectors. With scientific creativity, farming innovation, and cross-sector collaboration, lipids are evolving from a traditional commodity into a platform for innovation. This webinar aims to provide highlights of these critical and novel developments.
From farms to labs to factories, the landscape of lipids is experiencing a transformative expansion:
- Food: Reimagining fats for health and functionality – eliminating trans fats, fortifying with omega-3s, and structuring oils in new ways for the plant-based revolution.
- Feed: Decoupling aquaculture from wild fish inputs and enhancing sustainability by sourcing omega-3 from crops and microbes.
- Industry: Leveraging the molecular versatility of lipids to create a range of products from fuels to plastics.
- New crops: Developing and exploring crops to boost both yield and sustainability of farming operations.
- Novel extraction: Refining industrial processing methods to enhance oil yield and quality, sustainability, and at scale.
Featured speakers during the webinar include:
- Chris Aulbach, Vice President of Agronomy, CoverCress, Inc.
- Prasanth Pillai, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Bioconversion & Upcycling of Food Byproducts, University of Minnesota – Department of Food Science & Nutrition
- Luca Zullo, Ph.D., Senior Director of Science and Technology, AURI
AURI Connects: Webinar Wednesday is a recurring webinar series hosted by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute. Each webinar explores different aspects of the food and ag sectors in Minnesota—from resources for food entrepreneurs to innovations in coproducts and biobased energy.
