Dear Reader,

The Organizing Committee of 12th Euro Fed Lipid Congress was honored to welcome 900 participants who gathered in Montpellier to make this 2014 event the biggest congress in Euro Fed Lipid history.

This congress was a wonderful forum to discuss and exchange with delegates from Europe and worldwide on many topics and new discoveries dealing with lipids, oils and fats. From lipidomics to industrial innovation, the congress addressed 17 different topics favoring networking with colleagues from academic or industrial sectors and sharing up-to-date information. Special sessions related to molecular and cell biology of lipids, nutrition, lipids and health, analytics, physical chemistry, oleochemistry, oilseeds and plant lipids, marine, plant and animal lipids and many others took place during this congress.

On that occasion, the two French societies dedicated to lipid science and technology, GERLI and SFEL, combined their efforts to assist the scientific committee to establish an attractive program for the Euro Fed Lipid congress. We would like to thank here all our colleagues from SFEL and GERLI scientific boards, as well as Euro Fed Lipid division chairs, who have been involved in the invitation of keynote speakers and the selection of oral presentations from the submitted abstracts. Their support was highly appreciated and contributed to make this congress a success. The post-congress survey made by Euro Fed Lipid confirmed that the main factor of attraction of this congress was the quality of the scientific program.

You will find articles related to some of the presentations, prizes and posters in this OCL’s special issue.

Of course, we look forward to seeing you in few weeks (27–30 September 2015) during the 13th Euro Fed Lipid congress, which will be hosted by the Italian Society for Fats and Oils Researches (Società Italiana per lo Studio delle Sostanze Grasse – SISSG) in Florence. Symposium topics will be Analytics, Authenticity & Lipidomics, Bioscience, Biocatalysis & Biochemistry, Lipid oxidation & Antioxidants, Lipids in Animal Science, Health and Nutrition, Microbial & Algae lipids, Oliseeds, Plant breeding & Plant lipids, Oleochemistry & Biodiesel, Olive oil, Physical chemistry, Processing, Sustainability & Industrial Innovation.

The Scientifc Committee, established by involving scientists from Europe and outside and SISSG will be delighted to welcome many Lipid Scientists in Florence, having in mind that exceeding the number of attendees of the Montpellier congress is now a new challenge for Euro Fed Lipid congress organizers!

© P. Villeneuve and F. Carrière, Published by EDP Sciences, 2015