Dr Dattatreya Banavara is a passionate scientist and an innovation leader with a focus on Taste, health and nutrition. He has more than 22 yrs of experience in food industry at various capacities in the area of science, technology and strategy of food products and ingredient development. He has been leading taste and sugar reduction innovation programs for past 10 years with dsm-firmenich. Previously he held several technical roles in product, ingredient, and process technology developments in infant nutrition space for nearly 10yrs. He has 17 peer reviewed publications and over 50 patents and patent applications to his credit. He has a PhD in Food Science from acclaimed institute CFTRI/University of Mysore, India. In his spare time, he enjoys learning about world history, geography and human evolution.