2013 No. 1
Food Valley Update
News, features and trends Food Valley NL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PagE 10
Here it is!
The first issue of Food Valley Update. Discover how dairy specialists FrieslandCampina implement corporate social responsibility. Learn why Thailand is an interesting market for Dutch companies. Find out about the many opportunities for commercializing food waste streams. This is just a small sample of what you will come across in Food Valley Update. With this inviting and lively publication, we aim to keep you informed about Food Valley NL’s projects and areas of expertise. Enjoy! Roger van Hoesel, Managing Director, Food Valley NL
Spotlight on innovations Dutch business and knowledge institutes are continually developing new packaging, research methods and concepts. We’ve put the spotlight on a number of these innovations from the agrofood industry.
PagE 14
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Potatoes enter modern age Today’s tomatoes are genetically totally different from tomatoes 30 years ago. But potatoes have remained the same. For their basic material, many breeders still turn to Bintje, a potato variety that has been around for nearly a century. That’s because potato breeding takes a long, long time. But if it’s up to Pim Lindhout, this is about to change.
“CSR is at the root of our growth strategy” Depletion of non-renewable resources, global warming and the growing world population are problems that can only be solved if businesses put sustainability at the forefront of their corporate strategy. According to Frank van Ooijen, CSR Manager at FrieslandCampina, sustainability can mean vastly different things to different businesses or countries.
PagE 20 PagE 7
Food Valley NL piques Thai interest Thailand has long admired the Dutch agro-food industry. Impressed by the way Food Valley NL promotes innovation and cooperation, the Thai are now establishing a similar organization.
“We must tackle issues head-on” Bert Roetert (56) is known as the former CEO of Schuitema/C1000 and FrieslandCampina and the man behind the launches of Breaker, Coolbest and Dubbelfrisss. Now he is the new chairman of the board at Food Valley NL. With a wealth of experience and a clear vision, he aims to strengthen Food Valley NL’s role in major issues such as food wastage, healthy nutrition and sustainability.
PagE 24
PagE 31 Wide horizons for upgrading waste streams Food wastage is high on the political agenda. The Netherlands aims to decrease waste by at least 20% in 2050. This can be achieved by using raw materials more efficiently, but also by re-using and upgrading waste streams from the food industry. The latter method is being actively pursued by participants in the Leaders in Ambition program.
PagE 27
Welcome to the world of nutraceuticals Four to six times a year, Food Valley NL organizes Food Valley Society meetings and excursions for members only. On May 8, this event was hosted by Newtricious, a company specialized in extracting biobased ingredients with possible health benefits.
Food Valley Ambassadors on their internship The Food Valley Ambassador Program offers foreign students the opportunity to pursue a Master’s degree at Wageningen University and do a one-year internship at a multinational to complete a food-related research project. Two students share their experiences. PagE 34 Miscellaneous Food Valley NL offers services aimed at helping businesses innovate. Here’s what we can do for you. Plus a list of upcoming events.
PagE 28
Genomic tools speed up classic breeding In order to keep producing enough food, there is an increased demand for higher-yield crops that are more resistant to weather conditions and disease. Using genetic markers and improved molecular crop knowledge, these new traits can be introduced ever more rapidly.
Food Valley Update | 3
can help feed the world
CATCHING UP WITH PIM LINDHOUT
Hybrid
potato Today’s
tomatoes are genetically totally different from tomatoes 30 years ago. But potatoes have remained the same. For basic material, many breeders still turn to Bintje, a potato variety that has been around for nearly a century. That’s because potato breeding is a lengthy process. But if it’s up to Pim Lindhout, this is about to change. In the early days, Lindhout’s garage doubled as a storage room for his research potatoes. In cold and wet weather, he had to move them to his bathroom. This typifies Lindhout, a man with vision, a goal, and the drive to get his ideas off the ground. Even if that meant his family sometimes had to put up with potatoes in their bathroom. That was back in 2008, when Lindhout had just launched Solynta, a biotech company that breeds new potato varieties using modern techniques. “But I actually started out breeding tomatoes, first as a researcher at Wageningen UR and later for De Ruiter Seeds. There I came across potato breeders and saw that developing new potatoes was a completely different matter from tomatoes. The portfolio of available tomato varieties is overhauled every five years. They keep getting juicier, sweeter and more disease-resistant. But producing a new potato variety takes at least 15 years. Genetically, potatoes haven’t changed in decades! No wonder we’re still growing Bintje, a variety that’s almost a century old,” says Lindhout.
Tetraploid versus haploid
But why is it so much more time-consuming to develop a new potato variety? Lindhout: “Market potato varieties are tetraploid. This means their DNA has four copies of each chromosome. Many other plants are diploid, so there are only two copies of each chromosome in the DNA. When crossing tetraploid plants, many undesirable genes are passed on as well, so it takes years to develop a new variety in which the negative genes are offset by other, positive genes and you end up with a variety that has the traits you’re looking for.”
“The selection process is empirical and takes an incredibly long time,” Lindhout explains. Therefore, tomato breeding tends to use diploid varieties, which are inbred to effectively eliminate negative genes. Genetically speaking, this is very profitable and results in better hybrid varieties. However, applying this principle to potatoes is not as straightforward as it seems because of a strong inbreeding depression, a prevalence of weak and dead plants. Potato breeders had tried many times to circumvent inbreeding depression but the results were disappointing. It was assumed that the hybrid breeding technique simply was not applicable to potatoes. “This was exactly what triggered me,” says Lindhout. “The challenge was to produce hybrid potatoes which had been strongly inbred yet contained the desired traits. With my knowledge of genetics and breeding I was sure it could be done. So I started experimenting.”
Wild potato gene
Lindhout’s experience as a researcher and the freedom of being self-employed paid off. In 2009, after years of experiments, he achieved a breakthrough. Lindhout’s company Solynta had started to work with diploid potatoes from Wageningen University’s breeding program and crossed these with a semi-wild potato species from Japan containing the Sli-gene. Introducing this gene made it possible to successfully inbreed diploid potatoes and to obtain homozygous diploid lines. This made it possible to identify and eliminate unwanted properties. Subsequent crossing of these lines created a hybrid potato that resulted in bigger tubers or a higher yield. This technology has been successfully used in corn breeding, producing hybrid varieties that yield up to five times as much as the original species. Lindhout: “I presented my breakthrough with the potato at a conference in Finland in 2011. The audience was skeptical. I think they felt threatened because this technology could truly revolutionize potato breeding. We were not taken seriously. In early 2012, we published our findings in a scientific journal and distributed this throughout our network. Again, we encountered resistance, but over the course of that year we saw that there was a growing interest in our technology.” Food Valley Update | 5
CATCHING UP WITH PIM LINDHOUT
Ambitious goals
Despite the skepticism of other potato breeders, or perhaps thanks to it, Solynta is determined to prove that hybrid breeding technology works. The company aims to introduce a new variety by 2015 and says it is 60 to 70% of the way towards reaching that goal. Their next objective is set for 2018: to introduce a Phytophtora-resistant potato with a higher yield than current varieties. This would be a huge achievement, since half of all chemicals currently used in Dutch agriculture are deployed to combat this plant disease. Lindhout: “In twenty years or so, our technology will be commonplace in the world of potato breeding. New hybrid varieties will be sold as seed rather than seed potatoes. Seeds are also much cleaner than seed potatoes, making it easier to export the new varieties.” However, introducing new varieties is costly. “In that respect, winning the 2012 Food Valley Award has been a great help. It raised the interest of potential investors. We’re also exploring our options to do business in China. After all, the Chinese consume more potatoes than any other nation in the world, so there must be plenty of opportunities there,” says Lindhout. Apart from the financial challenge, Solynta also has to jump through some regulatory hoops. “Certification of seeds and phytosanitary rules and regulations urgently need harmonization at the European level,” says Lindhout. All in all, these are exciting and challenging times for Solynta, the biotech company that has come a long way, from storing its propagation material in a bathtub to revolutionizing the field of potato breeding. “We are going to change the way the world breeds potatoes forever. Because hybrid varieties can help feed the growing world population. What better goal to strive for?” FV
CROSSING BORDERS: THAILAND
Food Valley NL piques Thai interest Thailand has
long admired the Dutch agro-food industry. Impressed by the way Food Valley NL promotes innovation and cooperation, the Thai are now establishing a similar organization. Competitively priced and highly successful in the global market, the Thai food industry’s major contribution to the national GDP has prompted the Bangkok government to initiate a ‘Kitchen of the World’ policy. Aimed at increasing Thailand’s global market share, the policy will bring food production up to par with global standards and promote customized food production for various markets. This requires scientific research, technological know-how and a concerted effort by stakeholders. The policy’s success will depend on how well it is implemented.
Inspired by the Dutch
As part of their Kitchen of the World policy, the government set up the ‘Thailand Food Valley program’ in 2012. Directly inspired by the structure and organization of Food Valley NL, the program focuses on developing food processing technologies and creating added value for agro-food products by fostering links between technology, innovation and the food industry. The Thailand Food Valley program is being implemented by three government ministries: Industry, Science and Technology, and Agriculture and Cooperatives. “Food Valley NL is a world-class showcase of how to engage the agro-food industry in demand-driven innovation. The organization acts as a dynamic agro-food center that pairs business sense with knowledge and innovation in order to boost the food cluster and create products Food Valley Update | 7
CROSSING BORDERS: THAILAND
The Thai Ministry of Industry visited FrieslandCampina in March 2013 with added value. And it’s working like a charm,” Minister of Industry Prasert Boonchaisuk said while visiting the Netherlands in March 2013. “We are very interested in this model since we aim to turn Thailand into the center of food processing for the wider Asian region.” According to the minister, existing Thai research institutes are neither consumer-oriented enough nor responsive to business demands. “So there is lots of room for better cooperation in order to foster innovation,” Boonchaisuk says. “At home, we are not used to doing research in the way it’s organized in the Netherlands – with research institutes, commercial businesses and government cooperating so closely. We want to encourage this more in our country.”
Implementation
The Thai Food Valley program has an operational budget of € 121 million for 2013. These funds will be used by implementing agencies that cover both upstream and downstream activities of food industry development.
Boonchaisuk: “We have identified four target regions for rolling out this program. In two of these regions – important food producing areas in the north and northeast – the program is already underway. We are also going to implement many other activities, ranging from creating a common understanding of what the Thailand Food Valley program is about, to promoting and encouraging commercialization of research results in the food industry. We want to reach our initial goals within 3-5 years. Our focus will be on strengthening the links between the private sector and research institutes, increasing the number of products with added value on the market, improving productivity and achieving 10% annual growth in exports.” Boonchaisuk expects the program to give the food industry in neighboring countries a boost as well: “We’re confident the program will stimulate the growth of the Thai food industry, which in turn will stimulate agricultural growth in the wider Asian region in order to supply Thai food manufacturers. The program will
also serve as a model so other countries can see, up close, how conducive R&D and innovation investments are to economic development.”
Benefit for the Netherlands
Although Thailand Food Valley is meant to stimulate the Thai food industry, it will also offer business opportunities to Dutch companies. For example, the demand for research services will increase as SMEs start to invest more in R&D to develop innovative products. In general, the demand for specialist services, which specialized Dutch businesses are well-qualified to deliver, is predicted to climb. Managing Director Roger van Hoesel of Food Valley NL welcomes Thai Food Valley: “Having a sister organization in Thailand creates opportunities for Dutch companies to do more business in the ASEAN area.” The Thai industry minister says his country is eager to step up cooperation with the Dutch. “We need more technological know-how and we could certainly use the expertise and experience the Dutch have to offer. This could lead to direct business for agro-food companies in the Netherlands,” says Boonchaisuk. An agreement is already in place for the Dutch to assist in rolling out the Thai version of Food Valley. Food Valley NL will act as a consultant to help get the program firmly established. Van Hoesel: “What exactly our role is going to be will crystallize in the next few months. We already know that we’re going to help set up the organizational structure and devise ways to persuade companies to participate in the Thai Food Valley program. We will also help our counterparts develop tailor-made services for their members. We’re extremely proud that our Thai colleagues have asked us to assist them and we’re happy to help.” FV
Betagro Group’s ambitious plans
The Thai Betagro Group was founded in 1967 and annually produces 1.5 million tons of animal feed, 120 million broilers and 120,000 fattening pigs. The group employs nearly 6,000 staff in Thailand and neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. In 2012, sales amounted to € 1.68 billion, 80% of which came from the domestic market and 20% from exports. “Last March, we visited Food Valley NL to hear about the trends in food production and research from leading food companies in the Netherlands and from Wageningen UR. We’re very interested in using food for other benefits besides nutrition”, says Rutjawate Taharnklaew, director of the Betagro Science Center. “Our R&D projects focus mainly on bioactive peptides in chicken and pork and on offal, which is usually sold very cheaply or even thrown out. We’re exploring whether we can add value to the meat and its possible uses in cosmetics or medical nutrition. Currently, we’re working with two hospitals in Thailand on projects involving medical nutrition for specific target groups.” Taharnklaew welcomes the new Thailand Food Valley program: “Getting it off the ground is one thing, but the real challenge lies in keeping such a cluster alive long enough to start seeing real benefits.”
International membership Food Valley Society Thai companies are among several international members of Food Valley NL’s network. In 2013, Mitr Pohl (a large sugar-producing company) and Betagro Group joined the Food Valley Society. International members are kept up-to-date about the latest trends in food technology, have access to Food Valley NL’s extensive network and are welcomed with a tailor-made program when they visit the Netherlands. For more information on international membership in the Food Valley Society, please contact Saskia van Erkelens at saskia.vanerkelens@foodvalley.nl, or call +31 317 427095.
Food Valley Update | 9
SPOTLIGHT ON FOOD INNOVATIONS
Dutch
business and knowledge institutes are continually developing new packaging, research methods and concepts. We’ve put the spotlight on a number of these innovations from the agro-food industry.
Packaging tomatoes in their own pulp
Packaging tomatoes in their own residual material is both innovative and sustainable. Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research has developed a method for processing tomato leaves and stalks into a pulp which can be used to manufacture molded cardboard trays. Only prototypes have been developed so far. Further research is needed to investigate what retailers and consumers think of this packaging material and what the best way is to transport leaves and stalks to the processing plant. This is a joint research project by Wageningen UR, the Westland Biobased group and Dutch knowledge centers on Biobased Materials and Paper and Cardboard.
Capsule facilitates sampling from small intestine
NIZO food research and Medimetrics have developed a non-invasive method for collecting samples from the small intestine. Subjects swallow a capsule that takes samples in the small intestine and is then passed in the stool. Once passed, the contents of the capsule can be examined. This innovation can be used to research the effect of food products and probiotics on the small intestine. Over the next year, the technology will undergo further development and validation.
Grocery shopping: truly an experience
Innovation is alive and well in the supermarket sector, judging from the introduction of Jumbo Food Market, a 6,000 m2 store that offers consumers a choice of 35,000 products. Jumbo claims the market will truly make grocery shopping an experience. Aside from the astounding product range, dozens of food specialists and chefs will prepare world cuisine there. Customers can buy these freshly prepared meals and bring them home or eat them at the Foodmarkt CafĂŠ. Unless they choose to buy the ingredients and cook it themselves at home.
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SPOTLIGHT ON FOOD INNOVATIONS
Toilet trained pigs help reduce pollution
Pigs can be trained to defecate in a designated area. This means their manure can be collected in a small area within the pig sty, making it easier to process, improving animal welfare, cutting construction costs and reducing emissions of ammonia and particulate matter. Pig farmers and researchers from Wageningen UR have tested the ‘pig toilet’ at the Sterksel Pig Innovation Center. The innovation needs a bit more tweaking before it is ready for market, but parts of the concept can already be used by pig farmers.
Method for extracting phytochemicals
Wageningen-based Phytonext has joined forces with TOP BV to develop a new technology for extracting highly valuable chemicals such as anti-oxidants from plants. The technology makes it possible to extract biobased chemicals under mild conditions, so very fragile compounds that would be destroyed by regular extraction can now be harvested. Phytonext and TOP have built a pilot plant where they demonstrate the method. The joint venture is currently scaling up their equipment to industrial size.
Catered meals: the next generation
Foodcase is working on a new generation of catered meals for airlines, healthcare, and remotely-situated industries. Foodcase meals and snacks have a long shelf life at ambient temperatures. In-flight meals no longer have to be frozen and thawed. Instead, cabin personnel need only heat them up. Meals can be stored at ambient temperatures, eliminating refrigerated transportation. Airlines welcome this development, which can help reduce food waste and cut logistical costs without compromising the high standard of in-flight meals.
More efficient feed-to-milk conversion
New test results by Provimi, part of Cargill Animal Nutrition, show that its rumen buffer Rupromin Balance can cost-effectively improve milk fat production and feed conversion efficiency. The tests were carried out at Cargill’s Animal Nutrition Innovation Centre in Velddriel, the Netherlands. The test treatments resulted in clear differences in the type of fermentation in the rumen, which led to highly significant linear increases in milk fat production and percentage. Improved milk quality directly affects dairy farmers’ income under most milk contracts.
Bread gets new lease on life
Consumers throw out a lot of stale bread and bakeries discard even more. In order to prevent bakeries from wasting so much, Sonneveld Bakery Ingredients has introduced a new product. Sonextra Marinade turns stale bread into a savory snack that bakeries can sell. The ready-made marinade is easy to use on all sorts of bread, from wheat to white. Sonextra Marinade can help bakeries minimize waste by reprocessing bread into a distinctive end product: bread chips. Bread chips can be baked using the residual heat of the ovens. Sonextra Marinade is available from wholesalers and comes in two flavors: Pomodori and Green Herbs. FV
The sound of creaminess
If you want to know how creamy or astringent a food product is, just listen to it. New technology from NIZO food research measures food creaminess based on the sounds generated when the product is consumed. The technology called ‘acoustic tribology’ analyzes the sounds of the tongue rubbing or tapping in the mouth during mastication. The vibrations in the tissue are the same as those sensed by mechanoreceptors in the tongue that signal the sensation of roughness, stickiness and structural coarseness of any food (fluid, semisolid and solid). Acoustic tribology enables researchers to predict the mouthfeel of innovative food products.
Food Valley Update | 13
INSIGHTS: FRIESLANDCAMPINA
“CSR is at the root of our growth strategy” Depletion
of non-renewable resources, global warming and the growing world population are problems that can only be solved if businesses put sustainability at the forefront of their corporate strategy. According to Frank van Ooijen, CSR Manager at FrieslandCampina, sustainability can mean vastly different things to different businesses or countries. In 2012, Dutch dairy giant Royal FrieslandCampina came second on the Sustainable Image Index, an annual survey measuring consumer perception of companies in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility. It was a major achievement for one of the five largest dairy companies in the world. FrieslandCampina has 80 dairies in 28 countries, where it processes milk from over 19,000 member dairy farms. Its high ranking on the sustainability index is the result of the clear commitment it made to
CSR starting in 2009 with the merger of Friesland Foods and Campina. Frank van Ooijen, responsible for FrieslandCampina’s CSR policy since 2010, sees sustainability as a cornerstone for growth. “Corporate Social Responsibility is at the root of our growth strategy for 2020. Without it, there would be no strategy and no growth. It’s as simple as that.” But where does such a big company start? Van Ooijen: “We started with a thorough risk analysis in all the regions where we’re active: Europe, West Africa, Asia and the Middle East. We wanted to measure our carbon footprint, the energy consumption in our dairies, our packaging, manure and methane emissions, our raw materials for feed, cocoa and any local issues at play. You need a clear picture of the status quo first, a baseline, before you can set real goals and criteria.”
Once the analysis was done, FrieslandCampina could formulate a mission statement based on four priorities: Nutritional Value & Health (solutions to combat malnutrition); Efficient and Sustainable Production Chains (more efficient use of raw materials and energy); Dairy Farming Development (helping small dairy farmers in Asia and Africa); and Sustainable Dairy Farming (aimed at issues such as reducing methane emissions and promoting animal welfare). Three of these priorities are corporate goals, the fourth is to be pursued by member dairy farms. Together they developed the CSR policy
approved by FrieslandCampina’s top management in September 2011.
Goals per country
Because FrieslandCampina is a multinational it is logical that its carefully devised CSR policy applies to every country where the company produces or sells dairy products. However, precise goals may vary per country. “Sustainability can mean different things in different countries,” Van Ooijen explains. “Here in the Netherlands, manure, minerals and methane emissions are a huge Food Valley Update | 15
INSIGHTS: FRIESLANDCAMPINA
issue. But I’ve never heard an Asian mention them. In Asia, it’s all about people being able to maintain a decent livelihood, about helping small farmers and improving children’s nutrition and health. The same goes for Greece, right now, where the financial crisis is forcing people to live hand to mouth. Children go to school hungry now. Our response has been to join forces with other organizations and develop a school breakfast program. In the Middle East other issues are at play. There, water is scarce. So in our dairies there, we emphasize efficient use of water. Every country has its own unique priorities, and hence its own CSR goals,” says Van Ooijen. The differences between countries are neatly illustrated by the ‘outdoor grazing’ issue: should cows graze in pastures? In surveys, 75% of Dutch respondents see allowing cows to graze outdoors as a marker of sustainability. Of these, 93% said it is better for cows because soft soil promotes healthy hooves and allows cows to engage in natural grazing behavior. “Yet outdoor grazing is a non-issue in Belgium, Germany and Denmark,” says Van Ooijen. “Only 20% of Danish dairy farmers lets their cows graze outdoors. But if this is what the Dutch see as sustainable, then we don’t argue the point, we just go with it.” So FrieslandCampina has translated Dutch consumers’ wishes into a program promoting outdoor grazing. As an incentive, farmers receive an extra € 0.50 per 100 kilograms of milk if their dairy cows spend at least six hours a day and 120 days a year outdoors. This has won the company a lot of support from animal welfare organizations and supermarket chains, and the day when cows can leave the barn for the first time after winter has even come to symbolize the arrival of spring. Van Ooijen points out that outdoor grazing is not the full extent of FrieslandCampina’s CSR vision: “It’s only one of the things we do. Behind the scenes, we do much more, like reducing methane emissions and working on solutions to remove phosphorus from manure.”
Committed to nutritional security
Despite the regional and national differences, many issues seem almost universal. Obesity, for one, is no longer exclusively a problem in the western world. It is rapidly becoming a serious problem in Asia. Van Ooijen: “Low-fat and sugar-free products are therefore starting to gain prominence in these growing economies. Likewise, sourcing sustainable palm oil is not just a matter of keeping Dutch consumers happy, it is equally relevant to the Asian market. The tropical rainforest that’s being cut down to make way for palm oil plantations is
in their own backyard! In these cases, sustainability is inextricably linked with social issues.” Van Ooijen mentions a few of the issues he’s referring to: child malnutrition, obesity, the need to educate small dairy farmers in developing countries, healthy nutrition and the worldwide food shortage. “These are all linked to sustainability. We’re running a program that offers educational support to 40,000 small farmers. We’ve set up model farms to teach them how to increase the productivity of their cows and the quality of their milk. That’s sustainability too. Because if you help them to produce more efficiently, then that helps safeguard nutritional security. And all these activities together serve a higher goal, namely feeding 9 billion people by the year 2050. For that, you need producers that maximize their efficiency.”
Growing business
Van Ooijen calls it a fallacy that only large, financially strong corporations like FrieslandCampina can effectively address sustainability issues. “You can also prioritize sustainability as a freelancer, by asking yourself where you work, or how much paper you use for printing. Everyone can do the math for themselves,” he says. “The important thing is that you always look at your own situation and make sure that you get everyone involved on the same page. It shouldn’t be one individual’s hobby horse, it should be made relevant to different worlds within the company. For HR I translate CSR into trying to hire young people looking for a company with a mission, vision and passion. For diary farmers, sustainability is about whether they’ll still be able to farm in ten years’ time.”
Food2Market Sustainability Event Food2Market, a conglomerate of five agro-food cluster organizations including Food Valley NL, is organizing an International Sustainability Event in Wageningen on Thursday June 6. The event is meant for Dutch, German and Flemish entrepreneurs who want a clearer picture of the role CSR can play in their own company and production chain. The program includes a visit to FrieslandCampina’s Research & Development Center in Wageningen. One of the speakers at the event is Frank van Ooijen, FrieslandCampina’s CSR manager. For more information, please contact Mia Holleman, Food2Market Project Manager at mia.holleman@ foodvalley.nl, or call +31 317 466516.
FrieslandCampina did not want to create a separate CSR department with dozens of employees, says Van Ooijen. “Instead, it opted for a small group of people within the company who monitor whether our goals are met. Implementation takes place at all levels. So far, the CSR strategy that was started four years ago has proven fruitful. Some companies we supply have given FrieslandCampina the status of ‘preferred supplier’ thanks to our CSR policy. This means business is booming and the company is set to grow even further.” According to Van Ooijen, it cannot hurt to look at how other industries are dealing with sustainability. “But most potential gains are found within the production chain, in our case the dairy production chain. For example, 40% of the energy used by our 25 Dutch dairies is generated by our own dairy farmers, using wind and solar energy and biofuel. And we’re working on producing ‘green’ fuel from manure fermentation for our milk tank trucks. This reduces consumption and brings us closer to a carbon neutral production chain.”
we can use to make a difference elsewhere. Not only in the field of food security, but also in water management and energy production. We can help make the world more sustainable. Sustainability is not just a pain in the neck, and it shouldn’t be seen that way. It’s an opportunity.” “As a nation we have a good track record. We score well on several international sustainability indices. Last year, FrieslandCampina, Heineken and Unilever joined forces in the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition. We all share the view that financial and economic growth go hand in hand with creating profit for people and the planet. I am convinced that sustainable growth is the only business model for the future,” concludes Van Ooijen. FV
Opportunities for Dutch business
The CSR efforts of individual Dutch companies have an impact on all Dutch businesses. Van Ooijen: “This country is awash with knowledge and know-how that Food Valley Update | 17
Sports bread made from Teff
Low-fat, low-salt cheese, made possible by new technologies from NIZO food rEsearch and others
Protein-rich snacks for optimum recuperation. Alliantie Voeding Gelderse Vallei tackles malnutrition
Self-heating soup and chocolate milk from Foodcase
More and more companies are developing food and food supplements for specific target groups such as athletes, seniors and medical patients. “Physiologically, there is a strong similarity between the recuperation of patients (following an operation, for instance) and that of athletes after competition. That is why they also have many of the same nutritional needs. I see many opportunities to develop tools that can help patients or seniors adopt a healthier lifestyle,� says Menrike Menkveld-Beukers of Alliantie Voeding Gelderse Vallei (a partnership formed by Ziekenhuis
Tasty meat substitutes from Ojah
Gelderse Vallei and Wageningen University to combat malnutrition). Alliantie Voeding Gelderse Vallei cooperates with Food Valley NL, InnosportNL and Oost NV to provide advice to companies taking part in the Sports, Nutrition and Health project. The participating companies are Bakels Senior, Bodec Food Tech, Carezzo, Culios, Easy Europe, Foodcase, Lead Pharma Medicine, Lekker Brood, Millets place, NIZO food research, Ojah, TOP and Winclove. The project runs through September 2014. Project manager Judith Hulst has more details: judith.hulst@foodvalley.nl Food Valley Update | 19
FACE TO FACE: BERT ROETERT
Bert Roetert
(56) is known as the former CEO of Schuitema/C1000 and FrieslandCampina and the man behind the launches of Breaker, Coolbest and Dubbelfrisss. Now he is the new chairman of the board at Food Valley NL. With a wealth of experience and a clear vision, he aims to strengthen Food Valley NL’s role in major issues such as food waste, healthy nutrition and sustainability.
“We have to tackle issues head-on”
FACE TO FACE: BERT ROETERT
Where does Food Valley NL stand now? “Aside from being a recognized brand, Food Valley NL also has a strong presence in the market as a center of innovation and knowledge, both in the Netherlands and abroad. We’ve built up a strong network in food innovation in recent years. One thing that’s not so well known yet, is that we’re a player that can provide service to every link in the food production chain, from farmers to stores. Issues like sustainability, food wastage and health are relevant to every party in the agro-food sector. Food Valley NL can play an even stronger role in this by tackling these issues head-on. One way to do this is by forming partnerships that include big companies.” What are your priorities as the new chairman of the board? “I want to bring the product known as Food Valley NL more clearly into focus. What do we actually have to offer companies? We’ve already accomplished a lot but I think we’ve been too modest in the past. In the years ahead, we face the important task of gearing Food Valley NL’s policy towards the entire food production chain. And we have to dare to think in terms of the issues the agro-food sector faces in the Netherlands. With this vision, Food Valley NL can gradually become an institute that serves the entire food production chain.” What drew you to Food Valley NL? “I already knew about Food Valley NL because I’d worked in the industry for some time. Food Valley NL inspires companies and helps them innovate and give products added value. That’s appealing. And there’s continuity between my responsibilities at Food Valley NL, the experience I gained at Friesland-Campina and C1000, and my current role as chairman of the Centraal Bureau Levensmiddelenhandel (CBL). These experiences are all part of my baggage, if you will.” What does the Dutch agro-food industry need most? “The Dutch agro-food industry needs to do an even better job of meeting consumers’ demands. Not in the ‘old-fashioned’ way, by introducing lots of new products,
but by showing the consumer how the industry is responding to important social issues. This is how you create support among consumers. That’s the key thing.” What can Food Valley NL do for Dutch companies that are active internationally? “Dutch companies look to Food Valley NL for efficient and effective ways to innovate while putting a good product on the market. Foreign players see that too. When it comes to agro-food, the Netherlands is at the center of attention internationally. By putting ourselves on the map even better than we presently do, we can expand and intensify our international partnerships while continuing to market our knowledge at a good price.” What were Food Valley NL’s greatest successes over the past 10 years? “There are too many to enumerate. Food Valley NL has been finding answers to businesses’ questions for the past decade, often with an immediately visible impact. Aside from that, Food Valley NL has built up many consortia and significantly helped spread the international image of the Netherlands as a center of knowledge and innovation in agro-food.” What qualities do you as an individual bring to Food Valley NL? “Aside from my background in the food industry, I bring a lot of enthusiasm and daring. It’s not a coincidence that my motto is ‘Nil volentibus arduum’, which basically means ‘For those who want it, nothing is impossible’. To put this into practice, you need to be daring now and then. It takes conviction. If you believe in something, you need to go for it. Just like in sports, as I saw when I was on the board of the Vitesse football club. My motto was also apt when I worked for Riedel in Ede. Under my leadership, the company launched Coolbest and Dubbelfrisss even though market research showed that consumers didn’t immediately understand the concept behind these products. We felt we should go ahead with it because they fit into the trend towards
“We have to keep marketing our knowledge, and at a good price”
fresh and healthy drinks. In five years, turnover doubled, which I consider the best proof that following your hunches pays off.” Are you a conscious consumer when it comes to food? “I know how most products are made so I try not to look too closely at every label on the packaging. Fortunately for me, I still behave like an ‘regular’ consumer. But when you’re immersed in the food industry like I am, it can be hard not to get involved in every debate. For instance, whether organic food is more sustainable and healthier than non-organic products.” Is the economic crisis affecting innovation in the Netherlands? “You certainly notice the impact. Spending on innovation has decreased over the past few years. But at the same time, a lot of work is being done on the problems we all face. When times are hard, there’s an extra incentive to cooperate. This can make us more efficient and effective.” Where do you see Food Valley NL in ten years’ time? “The one-to-one relationship Food Valley NL enjoys with many smaller companies will remain very important, but there’s a growing need for partnerships on a larger scale. Hopefully, companies will begin to see Food Valley NL as the go-to organization when they’re grappling with an issue and need an outside party to point them in the right direction. We’re already seen as a mature, independent and reliable source of support and coordination regarding every current trend in the Dutch agro-food industry, and we will keep expanding and strengthening this role in the years to come.” FV
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LEADERS IN AMBITION
Wide horizons for upgrading waste streams Food wastage
is high on the political agenda. The Netherlands aims to decrease waste by at least 20% in 2050. This can be achieved by using raw materials more efficiently, but also by re-using and upgrading waste streams from the food industry. The latter method is being actively pursued by participants in the Leaders in Ambition program.
Reusing or recycling cardboard is easy, but recycling food is far more complicated. Food waste streams are high volumes of organic matter that need to be treated in accordance with strict food safety standards. As a result, a great deal of food and food waste is lost because no suitable form of re-use has been found for it. In the Dutch food chain, an estimated 32 to 39% of the total production is lost, according to data from the Agro Keten Kennis organization (AKK). In 2006, more than 6.4 million tons of animal and plant waste was lost (Monier and Mudgal et al, 2010). Although much of the food produced in the Netherlands is exported, this still meant that 393 kilograms of food per inhabitant of the Netherlands was wasted in 2006. This made us the “number one food wasters” of the entire European Union. The researchers said approximately one-third of food waste is inedible, but that much of it can be re-used for human consumption, animal feed or fermentation. European Commission data (2010) show that households are responsible for 42% of food waste, while food producers account for 39%, the hospitality industry for 14% and retail for 5%.
Waste is not normal
“Reducing the amount of food wasted by producers starts with getting a clear picture of the existing waste streams. This is where a large amount of raw materials is lost. So this was the first issue we chose to focus on in the Leaders in Ambition program, in order to help producers sort this out first,” says Frances Fortuin of Food Valley NL. Other issues will be dealt with in subsequent years, one at a time. Agnes van der Haar, who works for Milgro, a company specialized in waste prevention and raw materials management, agrees with Fortuin and says that managing waste streams requires transparency of volume and costs. “Our position is that waste and waste streams are no longer a normal part of the production process. That means we recognize the value of materials and are continually looking for ways to make better and smarter use of used materials. After all, raw materials are not inexhaustible,” Van der Haar adds. To achieve transparency, all participants in the Leaders in Ambition program undergo a company scan. Food Valley NL matched every company taking part in the program with a professional partner in the field of waste management and commercialization of waste streams. Because Milgro knows the bakery industry so well, it was matched up with the Veldt cookie factory in Veenendaal. Factory manager Kees Pater says he is taking part in the program because his traditional
bakery produces about 350 kilograms of cookie crumbs a week. “The crumbs are re-used in animal feed, but I am curious to see what else we could do with it and whether I can reduce the volume,” Pater says. “Presently I do not separate the crumbs from the different types of cookie. Traceability and labeling standards make it difficult to re-use the crumbs for human consumption, where you’re required to list every last ingredient on the label. That’s just not feasible,” adds Pater. The cookie bakery has already explored several ways to upgrade the crumbs. They talked to a dessert producer and even thought about selling the crumbs in combination with the popular children’s book Het Muizenhuis (The Mouse House). “But I was critical of that last idea. In a sense you’d be creating a new market for the crumbs, and that’s not really the idea,” says Pater. According to Milgro, it can be tempting to create a market for a waste stream. “But this doesn’t solve the problem. Before you know it, the solution you find for your waste stream creates even more waste. And what’s more, you don’t do anything about the waste that’s ingrained in the chain,” says Van der Haar. In the months ahead, Milgro and the bakery will begin looking for other ways to tackle the problem.
Volume and demand
The goal is reduction of the waste stream and a more efficient use of raw materials. Sometimes, however, reduction of the volume is hard to achieve. In that case, a solution may be to look for a new destination for the waste streams. Fortuin: “A good example of this is how Scelta Mushrooms upgraded the stems of their mushrooms into high-grade, and highly profitable, mushroom essence. It is important to note that there was a buyer that needed a large amount of this kind of essence. Scelta was very smart and innovative in the way they seized that opportunity. Market demand is a very important incentive that can be used to persuade companies to process their waste streams into highgrade or useful products. Unfortunately, producers and buyers don’t always know how to find each other.” According to Anouk Schrauwen, a student of Urban Environmental Management at Wageningen University, it is also crucial that companies weigh the financial benefits against all that will be required in terms of environmental technology and labor before they decide to embark on waste stream valorization. Schrauwen researched waste stream valorization in the Dutch food industry and specifically studied the ways stale bread can be re-used. Data from HAS KennisTransfer Food Valley Update | 25
LEADERS IN AMBITION
shows that about 7% of unsold freshly baked bread in the Netherlands is returned to the producer, which amounts to some 35 million kilos of bread a year. “Lots of this bread ends up in animal feed. But sometimes it’s more profitable to ferment it. When companies opt for fermentation, they’re improving their own CSR image. But since the bread is no longer used in feed, this may create another problem: if waste products are scarce, valuable raw materials for human nutrition might be used in animal feed. In a sense, everything is interconnected. Also, volumes are important. Fermentation is only profitable if you can supply 100,000 kilos of bread per year,” Schrauwen says. And that’s another pitfall, says Milgro’s Van der Haar: “Then you have to actually throw out more to increase your profit. That’s why it’s important to be very critical of alternative methods such as fermentation,” says Van der Haar.
Plenty of opportunities
Frances Fortuin of Food Valley NL says there is still great potential for upgrading waste streams. “Many food manufacturers produce large waste streams, while other companies are itching to get their hands on these. They can relieve these food companies of a real headache,” says Fortuin. And the technology used to extract high-grade ingredients from plant and animal waste keeps improving. Many companies use the value pyramid as a guide. This pyramid and similar graphs often depict a ladder on which every step up represents an application with a higher value. The proteins from returned bread can, for instance, be used in cattle feed,
Efficient use of Animal By-Products Hilckmann slaughterhouse in Nijmegen also takes part in the Leaders in Ambition program. Hilckmann will soon have to relocate and is eyeing a nearby industrial park. Other parties, including Teeuwissen Holding (meat and meat by-products such as natural sausage casings) are also interested in relocating there. At the new site, Hilckmann wants to deal with its waste streams efficiently. Their efforts will be focused on category 2 and 3 ABPs: blood from dead animals, hides, hair, and so on. Annual disposal costs are substantial. The Leaders in Ambition program matched the slaughterhouse with Philips Innovation Services. Under the program, Hilckman will undergo a company scan and then be supported in setting up the collaboration and exploring the technical options.
which may be more profitable than feeding the entire bread to pigs. Biorefining may be used to extract highgrade proteins from grass, which can then be sold as livestock feed as an alternative for soy. The green leaves from leeks are usually left on the land, yet they contain useful ingredients and oils. The market is exploring how to take advantage of such knowledge. Waste streams from meat processing also present opportunities. Improved technology and increased knowledge about by-products and their contents are contributing to the potential use of animal by-products, according to a recent Rabobank report entitled ‘The Return of Animal By-Products.’ Fortuin hopes the results achieved by companies participating in the Leaders in Ambition program will persuade others to follow suit. The waste streams project runs until December 2013. FV
Kees Pater of Veldt cookie factory discusses his crumbs with Milgro’s Agnes van der Haar.
FOOD VALLEY SOCIETY MEETING
Newtricious: welcome to the world of nutraceuticals Four to six
times a year, Food Valley NL organizes society meetings for members only. Each time, one member company hosts this meeting and shows fellow members what their company is all about. In early May, Society members were invited to Newtricious, a company specialized in extracting biobased ingredients with possible health benefits. “Mark my words. Preventing illness through special nutrition will become a trend,” predicts Jos Nelissen, CEO of Newtricious in Oirlo, the Netherlands. Since 2006, this innovative company has been developing special foods that can help prevent human illnesses and medical conditions. In 2008, Newtricious won the Food Valley Award for its enriched eggs that help combat Macular Degeneration, an eye disease that affects many seniors. The egg yolks are used as a liquid or dry ingredient in drinks, for instance. The active ingredients include lutein and zeaxanthin extracted from Tagetes erecta (African marigolds), processed into an oil suspension and mixed into chicken feed. The ingredients end up in the egg yolks and are therefore absorbed more easily into the human body. “But that’s not all we do. We’re also developing products aimed at fighting obesity and preventing cardiovascular disease. For these, we also use other raw materials than eggs. For obesity, for instance, we’re developing a product that gives people a feeling of being satiated,” says Nelissen.
At the Food Valley Society meeting, Nelissen and his team showed their guests what Newtricious achieved so far and what strategy it pursued to get there. Nelissen: “The link between health and nutrition is a source of inspiration for many food companies. But the legislation on health claims is much stricter now and we’ve all felt the effects of this. This is why we’re working very closely with prominent scientists, innovative companies, organizations and local government - in order to build up the kind of dossier you need to secure a health claim for a product. Cooperation is crucial. We’re dealing with fairly uncharted territory here, between food and pharmaceutical. Our enriched eggs that combat blindness in the elderly are now in the final stages of applying for a health claim. Once we’ve got that, we can enter the market.” As hosts of this society meeting, Newtricious shared its vision and experiences with the functional food claim process. The company also provided a short tour of the poultry and trading company located at its premises in Oirlo. FV Upcoming meetings will be hosted by: Ingrepro on June 26, Heinz Innovation Center on September 25 and Cargill R&D Centre Europe on November 27. For more information, please contact Saskia van Erkelens at saskia.vanerkelens@foodvalley.nl, or call +31 317 46 65 19
Food Valley Update | 27
SCIENCE FOR BUSINESS
Genomic
tools speed up classic plant breeding In order
to keep producing enough food, there is an increased demand for higher-yield crops that are more resistant to weather conditions and disease. Using genetic markers and improved molecular crop knowledge, these new traits can be improved ever more rapidly. The world population is growing by 1.2 to 1.5% a year. The production of many crops is unable to keep up with such growth, however. This means new varieties are needed that use nutrients and water more efficiently and are more heat, salt, disease and pest resistant, resulting in less loss and higher yields. In a separate development, plant breeders are breeding new varieties that meet the color, shape and flavor preference of farmers, supermarkets and consumers. In developing new varieties
with these traits plant breeders are benefiting greatly from data generation and sequencing techniques, largescale genotyping techniques and bioinformatics. These tools have significantly accelerated and improved the application of genetic information in plant breeding programs.
Genetic markers
Farmers have been using marker-assisted selection to grow vegetable crops and field crops like corn and rapeseed for a number of years. “Molecular markers have been in use for more than ten years. But recently it has become easier to trace those markers, because now other types of marker are being used: SNPs instead of SSRs, RFLPs or AFLPs,” says Annemieke Jungerius of Genetwister. A decade ago, markers were mainly used for research purposes, for fingerprinting, that is being able to distinguish lines/varieties at DNA-level. But now it is possible to costeffectively identify the genetic basis of traits that are important to breeding programs in practical breeding. Developing anonymous markers (SNPs) for a new crop takes only six months. An important factor is the availability of lines that are a good representation of the core plasma of the breeder’s crop. But Jungerius says “the most important thing is linking these anonymous genetic ‘mile markers’ to traits that are relevant to the breeder. This requires cross-breeding, phenotyping and linkage studies, which takes another 18 months to two years.” Guusje Bonnema, researcher at Wageningen University Research Center’s department of Plant Breeding, says genetic markers, in combination with accurate phenotyping (determining and measuring traits), can seriously speed up the breeding process. “Just consider the simple example of the color of your apples. If you plant an apple seed, the tree doesn’t bear fruit for another seven years. However, if I can determine at the seedling stage whether this tree is going to bear red or green apples, I can then focus my efforts on green apples alone. This increases efficiency and lowers costs,” Bonnema adds. The genetic markers also come in handy when you want to preserve multiple traits, such as resistance to several diseases, in your descendants, or when you would like to select for a new trait from the genome of a wild species. “What it comes down to is that much less crossbreeding is needed to get descendants with the desired combination of traits,” says Bonnema. Food Valley Update | 29
SCIENCE FOR BUSINESS
Molecular mutagenesis
KeyGene, a molecular genetics R&D company with many international clients, researches which genes are responsible for certain traits and develops molecular markers for them. As Mark van Haaren of KeyGene said in his presentation at the April ‘Genomics in Business’ conference in Amsterdam: “This knowledge is crucial for us because we want to discover the natural genetic variation of crops and use it to produce new varieties that meet the current demands of the market.” He emphasized that most of the desired traits are already present in nature and that the use of GMO crops is therefore not an absolute necessity. “We’ve seen how big of a role GMO is playing in field crops, but it has also narrowed the genetic distribution of new varieties of these crops, while variation is necessary if you want to keep selecting for new traits,” Van Haaren says. One technique for increasing natural variation is molecular mutagenesis. KeyGene has optimized this process and made it applicable for a large number of crops. Van Haaren: “Mutagenesis itself has been used for decades in the breeding of crops, but molecular mutagenesis is relatively new. Using our KeyPoint®MT technology (based on molecular mutagenesis), we can select plants with the very genetic mutations we’re interested in, and do it with great efficiency on a large scale. The advantages are huge: it means a new trait can be expressed in a crop in just a year or two.”
Opportunities for smaller scale crops
With the advent of molecular mutagenesis and the introduction of more and more molecular markers breeders can predict ever more accurately and quickly what the result of crossbreeding will be. Van Haaren believes these new techniques will help expand our
knowledge of key traits such as abiotic and biotic stress and will heighten the economic return of a variety. Bonnema of Wageningen UR Plant Breeding says the new techniques have increased the profit potential of many food crops. Bonnema: “Just think of phytophthora-resistant potatoes, virus-resistant tomatoes, xanthomonas-resistant cabbage or pest-resistant crops and biobased crops with added value (such as antioxidant tocopherols in rapeseed or certain fatty acids in crambe).” Genetwister’s Jungerius also believes there is plenty of room for improvement in crops. She says the genetic tools are getting cheaper and are therefore becoming more readily available for use on smaller scale crops. This is also why Marcus Weidler at Bayer sees great opportunities for wheat. Weidler, who also spoke at the ‘Genomics in Business’ conference, says wheat is about to undergo a technological revolution because the relatively poorly funded wheat research can now benefit from the groundwork done on corn. Van Haaren of KeyGene agrees with Weidler. He says the introduction of hybrids in corn has led to a spectacular increase in yields. “This has not been the case for wheat, and Weidler’s right: if we seriously invest in crops like wheat, we can expect to see improved yields that far outstrip normal growth through traditional breeding,” says Van Haaren. Keygene recently entered into a research partnership with Bayer CropScience aimed specifically at improving wheat. Jungerius, at Genetwister, says there are great expectations in the field of sequencing. “Right now, generating sequencing data is fairly simple and we’re able to obtain much larger amounts than we were ten years ago. But it’s still a bit like finding a needle in the haystack. Identifying the relevant genetic basis for profitable traits remains a big challenge,” Jungerius says. She stresses that new techniques such as the use of molecular markers will always remain supplementary to plant breeding. “It’s not as if plant breeding will soon only take place on computers. You still have to go out into the field or the greenhouse to see and select the plants, which are the end products of genetics and their environment.” FV
Phenotyping gains importance
We are steadily gaining more insight into the genetic makeup of plants. It has become relatively cheap to generate unlimited numbers of genetic markers. Therefore, it is all the more important to accurately determine which traits the industry is interested in. Hence the growth of phenotyping (measuring traits and physical characteristics). Only if a phenotype is reliably established in a population is it possible to use marker technology to identify the genetic location and the genes behind this phenotype. KeyGene and the German company LemnaTec have jointly invested in a state-of-the-art phenotyping facility in Wageningen called PhenoFab. There, hundreds of plants a day can be phenotyped automatically. The precision with which this is done enables researchers to discover the relationships that breeders have difficulty detecting in the field.
Food Valley Update | 31
HUMAN CAPITAL
“My expertise was matched with the right food company” The Food
Valley Ambassador Program, set up by Food Valley NL, Nutri-Akt and Wageningen University Research Center, offers foreign students a chance to pursue a Master’s degree in a food-related subject at Wageningen University while doing a one-year internship with a multinational based in the Netherlands. During their work experience, the students are trained to act as Food Valley Ambassadors, representatives of the Food Valley NL innovation cluster. This means they automatically become part of the Food Valley Ambassador network, a growing international network of high-performance students and employees. AnA Paez, Food Valley ambassador FROM Mexico According to Ana Paez her placement with Danone was perfect for her. She would certainly recommend the Food Valley ambassador program to others. How did you end up in the Netherlands? “I started to look around at the possibilities to study abroad about two and a half years ago, when I was still studying Food Technology in my home country Mexico. Wageningen University caught my eye and the Master’s program specializing in dairy really interested me. I learned about Nutri-Akt, the company that works closely with Food Valley to select the Food Valley Ambassadors. I applied, and a year later I began the Ambassador program at Danone.”
Why is the Dutch food industry of interest to you? “Dutch food companies play a key role in the development and production of infant nutrition. They have a strong position in the global market. The Netherlands was particularly appealing due to my background in dairy science.” How were your experiences at Danone? I was matched with Danone because my profile and expertise suited this company best. For me, the match was perfect because Danone is an international company that could offer me an interesting internship in dairy product development. I feel the Food Valley Ambassador Program is a great way to get started in an international career during your studies. Isn’t a year-long program too long? No, on the contrary! It gives you time to get to know the company you’re with and to really delve into a project. In a normal Master’s program you have limited time to carry out projects. And sometimes you need a little bit more time to get results, especially in product development. What are your plans for the future? I completed the program last March and was offered a full-time job at Danone. I was thrilled and eagerly accepted the offer.
“Dutch companies are well organized” Manal Khouri, Food Valley ambassador FROM JordaniA Manal wanted to gain work experience at an internationally oriented food producer. She found an opportunity to achieve this on the Food Valley Ambassador Program. How did you end up in the Netherlands? “I was studying at the Jordanian University of Science and Technology and had worked for an olive oil export organization for a few years. But my dream of studying abroad for a few years persisted. In my quest I came across Wageningen and I was immediately interested because the level of education there is so high. I quickly discovered a way to combine studies and work experience through the Food Valley Ambassador Program. I ended up doing work experience at Purac.” What drew you to the Netherlands? “I love the international climate that you find at Dutch food companies. The great diversity of international students at Wageningen University is also appealing. Above all, this is a well organized place with access to modern, advanced technology. Aside from that, it is very nice that students doing work experience in The Netherlands are treated like part of the team.”
How has your experience at Purac been so far? “Very positive. I got the chance to work on some interesting projects. I also received training in some other areas while on the Food Valley Ambassador program, such as presentation, interviewing and networking skills. They will come in handy both during the program and later on.” Isn’t a year-long program too long? “For projects and research on food, the more time you have the better. Then you don’t have to rush things. That’s better for the student, but also for the company.” What are your plans for the future? “My specialization is food safety and I would like to continue in that field. I would like to become an inspector. I hope to complete my work experience in June. And who knows? Maybe I will be offered a chance to remain and work in the Netherlands. I certainly hope so.” FV
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FOOD VALLEY SERVICES
Food Valley NL works for you Bird’s eye view of innovative NL
The Dutch agrofood industry faces the challenge of producing healthy, high-quality and sustainably sourced food that satisfies the demands of increasingly critical consumers, at prices that can compete with those of foreign producers in a globalizing market. Such a complicated objective requires innovativeness, cooperation and the exchange of knowledge. Businesses have to be flexible, but finding the knowledge or the potential business partner they need is easier said than done. There is plenty of information available, but companies often have difficulty judging its relevance and value. This makes it harder to act quickly. Food Valley NL helps companies identify relevant sources of knowledge, support and partnership. Food Valley NL has a bird’s eye view of developments in the industry, thanks to its many years of experience building innovationoriented networks and assembling national and international innovation clusters consisting of businesses, academic institutions and government agencies.
The innovative power of a business network Innovation starts with sharing knowledge and expertise. Being part of an innovation-oriented network can have great added value for accelerating new business, growth and innovation. A growing number of agro-food and food-related businesses and organizations participate in Food Valley NL by becoming members of the Food Valley Society.
Keeping you informed
Food Valley NL keeps its members informed of relevant activities and opportunities, including conferences and meetings, potential joint ventures and business partners, events involving international visitors, visits to national and international trade shows, and tours of company premises in the Netherlands and abroad.
Publicity
Food Valley NL offers its members various media outlets to publicize their news, innovations and member meetings: the Food Valley NL website, Food Valley Update, our newsletter and video reports. Food Valley NL maintains regular contact with Dutch and international media and receives many press inquiries. This allows the organization to regularly direct the media’s attention towards its members.
Target group
Food Valley NL targets innovative businesses ranging from start-ups to multinationals, which are active in the agro-food industry and related fields; these businesses may be based in the Netherlands or abroad. For more information, go to www.foodvalley.nl.
Food Valley NL Core Activities Guidance & support in identifying relevant knowledge, information and potential partners Specially arranged tours and programs for foreign delegations with an interest in Dutch businesses National and international matchmaking & technology scouting Creating national and international clusters that bring together companies, knowledge institutions and/or government bodies: Food Valley Society, European Food Alliance, Food2Market, NetGrow National and international promotion highlighting the innovativeness of Dutch companies: Food Valley Award, Food Valley Expo, Holland Food Valley pavilion
Upcoming Events June 6: International Sustainability Event for agro-food companies Wageningen, the Netherlands Info: mia.holleman@foodvalley.nl June 13: Leaders in Ambition, meeting about Waste Streams in Industrial Bakeries Wageningen, the Netherlands Info: frances.fortuin@foodvalley.nl June 26: Food Valley Society meeting @ Ingrepro Borculo, the Netherlands Info: saskia.vanerkelens@foodvalley.nl July 13-16: IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo (Holland Food Valley pavilion) Booth #1013 Chicago, IL, USA Info: saskia.vanerkelens@foodvalley.nl September 25: Food Valley Society meeting @ Heinz Innovation Center Nijmegen, the Netherlands Info: saskia.vanerkelens@foodvalley.nl October 24: Food Valley Expo Arnhem, the Netherlands Info: expo@foodvalley.nl, www.foodvalleyexpo.nl November 19-21: Fi Europe (Holland Food Valley Pavilion) Messe, Frankfurt, Germany Info: annemarie.nulle@foodvalley.nl FOR A FULL OVERVIEW OF UPCOMING EVENTS, PLEASE GO TO WWW.FOODVALLEY.NL
Food Valley Update is published by Food Valley NL. Nieuwe Kanaal 9D-3 P.O. Box 294 6700 AG Wageningen The Netherlands Phone + 31 317 42 70 95 Fax +31 317 42 76 71 info@foodvalley.nl www.foodvalley.nl Food Valley NL is sponsored by the Province of Gelderland Original copy: Emmy Koeleman English translation: Word’s Worth Photography: Frank Lodder Design: Roel Dalhuisen Production: Ilse Dulk Copy-editing: Jolanda Wels Printing: Macula Comments and information requests Questions, comments, ideas, inspiring examples and news are all welcome. Please let us know at communicatie@foodvalley.nl. Copyright All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part of articles and images without written permission by Food Valley NL is prohibited.
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meet inspire create agrifood business knowledge innovation 24 October 2013
Hotel & Conference Centre Papendal
Arnhem The Netherlands
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