Liesbeth Zandstra

Liesbeth Zandstra is a Special Professor (part-time) in Food Reward and Behaviour at Wageningen University's Department of Human Nutrition and Health. She also serves as Science Leader Reward & Behaviour at Unilever Foods Innovation Centre. Her research focuses on making healthy and sustainable food choices more appealing through behavioral and sensory science, emphasizing consumer preferences, food perception, and long-term dietary habits. She holds a PhD in food acceptance and appetite regulation from Wageningen University (2000) and has extensive industry experience at Unilever R&D. Key projects include the NUDGIS initiative on healthy food nudging and studies on plant-based alternatives and olfactory influences on food choice.

Education: PhD in Food Science (Wageningen University, 2000). Post-PhD roles included senior positions at Unilever R&D and leadership in program management.

Research Interests: Food reward mechanisms, consumer behavior, sensory science, emotional responses to food, sustainable diets, and the role of multisensory contexts in food choice. Her work bridges academic research and industry innovation, addressing challenges like reducing meat consumption and improving health through sensory design.

Projects:

• CSC Project (2021–2024): Healthy odors for sustainable food choices.
• SENESCYT Project (2018–2022): Emotional measures in food acceptance.
• TKI Agri & Food Project (2018–2020): Breaking unhealthy eating habits.
• NUDGIS Project (2014–2019): Nudging healthier food choices.

Advising & Grants: Collaborates with industry partners (e.g., Unilever, Symrise) and academic institutions (Utrecht University, FrieslandCampina). Her work is supported by grants from Wageningen TKI, NWO, and private-sector initiatives.

Labs/Teams: Leads interdisciplinary teams at Unilever's Wageningen Innovation Centre and collaborates with Wageningen Food & Biobased Research and Noldus Information Technology.