Ágnes Balogh-Berecz is a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Economic and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, starting the 2025/2026 academic year. She holds degrees in Horticultural Engineering and Food Safety Engineering. Her main research interests include automated food retail systems, short food supply chains, sustainable consumption, and consumer behavior analysis. Her work examines how innovative vending solutions and digital retail technologies can strengthen local producer networks and contribute to more resilient and sustainable agri-food systems. Her research combines traditional survey methods with experimental approaches, including neuromarketing tools.

His research focuses on meat R&D and value-chain innovation, covering livestock and feeding, processing technologies, logistics, and consumer-driven quality in pork, poultry, cattle, and fish. His is one of top experts in food technology especially in the meat science R&D, food safety, nutrition-focused product development, and digitalization/data-driven decision making in the food sector. His results contribute to understanding the development of integrated, sustainable agri-food production system for healthier, higher-quality animal-derived foods, as well as understanding importance of processing method and technology on the product quality and functionality.

He has taken an active role in developing the BSc and MSc education in Food Engineering, in the application of practical experiences in education, as well as in the implementation of practice-oriented training. His research activities include the management, development and implementation of numerous national and international Research and Development and Innovation collaborations, tenders and industrial contracts, typically involving the application of scientific results to industrial practice.

He authored and co-authored 146 research articles in high-impact scientific journals, 2 books and 11 book chapters. 

Prof. Friedrich has collaborated with research groups across Europe and worldwide. He has successfully applied for multiple R&D grants as principal investigator and/or research subproject leader. Chair of the Meat and Fish Subcommittee of the Hungarian Food Codex Committee since 2015. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (2024) and the Pro Alimentis Hungariae Prize (2020). In 2018, he received the Master Teacher Gold Medal in recognition of his work in school and postgraduate education and his outstanding supervision and mentoring of TDK and PhD theses, reflecting his strong commitment to nurturing young talent and supporting the professional development of early-career researchers.

He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal HÚS and Editor of the of the journal Food Science and Technology. He is also the President of the Cibus Hungaricus Foundation, which is actively involved in the implementation of the Digital Food Strategy.