About the top 5 universities

1. Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University is one of the Netherlands’ leading universities and the absolute leader in this ranking. The university collaborates with businesses, governments, and civic organisations, helps startups, and focuses on developing solutions for international issues, including a more sustainable agrifood sector.4 The institution has been on a journey towards enabling students to focus on healthy, sustainable plant-based food development during their studies, and to concentrate their research on related topics.

Wageningen scored the highest among all of the selected universities, with a total of 285 points. The university’s lead in the ranking is supported by its research and collaborations with the private sector and non-profit organisations.5

Wageningen University brings the educational institution closer to the food production industry, which is beneficial for consumers.Food-production giant Unilever has opened a new global Foods Innovation Centre on the Wageningen campus, which provides students with a wide range of research and development opportunities.6

2. University of Hohenheim

A silver medal in the ranking goes to the University of Hohenheim, with a total of 220 points. In its Department of Plant-based Foods, located within the Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, specific plant-based materials are combined with engineering approaches to designing foods. The institute works on transferring knowledge to the food industry in order to enhance the development of innovative food technologies and products.7

The university finds itself near the top of this ranking predominantly due to its Department of Plant-based Foods, and its teaching and study opportunities. It should be mentioned that a qualitative study titled ‘The Future is Plant-Based’ was funded by EIT Food and conducted by the University of Hohenheim, with the support of ProVeg International.8

3. University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen achieved third place, with 195 points in this ranking. As with the two universities above, it is a teaching and research-based institution that requires students to address society’s challenges and needs. The university concentrates on decreasing its climate footprint and helping its students to study programmes and work on projects in the field of sustainability.9 One such study programme is the PhD course titled ‘Innovation towards plantbased consumption’.

Moreover, a research project focused on innovation in the area of plant-based protein titled ‘Solid-state fermentation for protein transformations and palatability of plant-based foods’ 10 as well as a project called Seedfood (focused on increase the utilisation of rapeseed protein in foods), each received a grant of DKK 56.3 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.11 A study conducted by ProVeg International, in partnership with the University of Copenhagen and Ghent University, titled ‘What consumers want: a survey on European consumer attitudes towards plant-based foods, with a focus on flexitarians’ was published as part of the Smart Protein Project, and received funding from the European Union‘s research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020.12

4. The University of Sheffield

Fourth in the ranking, with a total of 180 points, is the University of Sheffield. This UK-based university is overall a highly ranked university in global terms.13 The institution as a whole is oriented toward sustainability issues in general, including social, environmental, and economic questions. Most importantly, its Institute for Sustainable Food is devoted to the transformation of crops, food production, and consumption, including, behavioural change in consumers. One of the university’s goals is to bring together diverse areas of research in order to make food systems more effective, less wasteful, and with a lower environmental impact.14 They offer study programmes that include using plant-based technology to tackle global food shortages, mitigating the effects on the global environment, and developing sustainable technologies.15

5. University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki got the fifth-highest score of 150 points. Finland’s largest and oldest academic institution and innovation centre,16 one of its main areas of concern is climate research and the science of sustainability. The Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, established in 2018, focuses on contributing to sustainable transformations of society as a whole.17

The University also has a multidisciplinary research team named Future Sustainable Food Systems, whose main focus is on solutions for ensuring the sustainability of food systems in the future, as well as the potential of novel technologies that take into account the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability.18 Moreover, interesting scientific research has been conducted at the University of Helsinki, focused, for instance, on synthetic protein and cultivated meat.19

A selection of key projects from the top 10 universities

We have chosen some exciting projects from universities in the top-10 ranking.

1. Lund University: the new research and innovation centre by Oatly

As the world’s largest oat drink company, Oatly is building a new research and innovation centre at Lund University in Wihlborgs, Sweden. Construction of the 6,000-squaremetre building started in 2021 and is expected to be finished in 2023.20 Oatly expects to employ 30 scientists at the new centre, while expanding its research teams worldwide with almost 100 new researchers. The research centre will make it easier for scientists to study oats in greater detail from various perspectives, including biochemistry, biophysics, microstructure, nutritional traits, and refinement. They believe that they will further their oat expertise using “the unique competence and technology gathered in the academic environment at Lund University”. 21

“We believe this new research and innovation centre will both improve our existing products and lead to new, innovative oat-based foods,” said Sofia Ehlde, Oatly’s Executive Vice President of Food Innovation. The 25-year-old company’s innovation team plans on enriching its wide variety of oat-based drinks and foods with newly-developed products, as well as innovating the already-existing ones.22

“We're going to know everything there is to know about oats at the molecular level –from proteins and carbohydrates to flavours and colours – to discover what makes oats so unique! This pioneering oat-breeding programme will harness the diversity of oats and allow us to select the best, most nutritious, and climate-resilient varieties for making oat milk around the world [...] If successful, it would allow us to create more oat-based products that help us better address human health needs by reducing blood-sugar and cholesterol levels and providing people with more sources of fibre.” Said Caroline Orfila Jenkins, Head of Research.23

2. University of Hohenheim: Department of Plant-based Foods

Housed in the Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, the University of Hohenheim’s Department of Plant-based Foods is focused on studying the extraction and use of ingredients derived from plants. The aim of such processes is to create high-quality foods, with a focus on building knowledge to design food that is safe and clean-label. In order to achieve such a goal, innovative processes are involved. On their website, they mention, for instance, additive manufacturing, including, 3D printing of food. Among other goals, they concentrate on combining their scientific approach with their experience in knowledge transfer to the food industry in order to enable the development of innovative technologies and products.24

3. University of Sheffield: Institute for Sustainable Food

The vision of the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food is driven by the unprecedented pressure on the agri-food system due to the fact that a rising population, along with global demographic and dietary shifts, are changing the food we consume and how we consume it. This places greater demands on the systems that supply our food.25

Their view of striving for a sustainable future of food is uniquely complex and comprehensive. To quote their website, “achieving a sustainable food future is as much a socio-cultural problem as it is technological”. The approach provides an understanding of the global nature of the food system, while appreciating that its impacts can be both local and global in scale.26

With this in mind, the institute employs researchers from various backgrounds, drawing on world-leading research from the social sciences, the arts and humanities, and engineering, coupled with some of the UK’s most advanced technology.27

4. University of Copenhagen: PhD. course – Innovation towards plant-based consumption

The University of Copenhagen offers its PhD students a course focused on Innovations in plant-based consumption. The course “addresses the current challenges posed by an unsustainable food system in need of fundamental disruption to become a provider of improved health, environmental sustainability, equity, and prosperity to all.” 28 They acknowledge a growing demand for “healthy, sustainable and ethical plant-based foods.” 29

The course concentrates on developing a more flexible, dynamic, and sustainable food system by addressing some of the key global challenges faced by the EU food industry, namely consumer engagement, consumer behaviour, and consumer perceptions of food.” 30

The PhD course is relevant to society, industry, and consumers in general, as well as to the field of food science. It will constitute a platform for UCPH’s participation and contribution to shaping the food scene in Denmark and the EU. The course is inscribed in the Gastronomy 2025 strategy of the Danish Ministry of Food and Environment, as well as in the EU FOOD 2030 agenda.31

Course content includes the role of plant-based diets in the prevention of chronic disease, the evidence from cohort studies, consumers segments and plant-based food consumption (vegetarians, flexitarians, vegans and omnivores), innovation in plant-based foods, food processing,, citizen organisations, and promotion of plantbased diets.32

5. University of Copenhagen: Seedfood – Functional and palatable plant-seed storage proteins for sustainable foods

A project titled ‘SEEDFOOD: Functional and palatable plant seed storage proteins for sustainable foods’ is focused on turning rapeseed protein from animal feed to highvalue food protein, thus creating another substitute for animal protein in foods. “A lot of rapeseed is grown in Northern Europe, so there is a huge untapped potential in rapeseed proteins if we can solve some of the problems that currently prevent them from being used for food,” explains Marianne Nissen Lund, Professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen, who leads the Seedfood project.33 The project will thus exploit new sustainable technologies for the isolation of proteins in order to remove components that reduce palatability and digestibility.34 Lund has received a grant of DKK 55.9 million35 from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, an independent Danish foundation with corporate interests36 that is managed by fully owned subsidiary Novo Holdings A/S.37

6. University of Helsinki: Leg4Life Project

The Leg4Life project (Legumes for Sustainable Food System and Healthy Life) aims to increase the cultivation of legumes that flourish in Finnish conditions (peas, fava beans, lupins, clovers) and promote their wider use in food and feed.38

Legumes can play a key role in reducing the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture, as well as decreasing imported protein in animal feed and reducing meat consumption in human diets. The project claims that it’s possible to simultaneously improve both environmental and human health without jeopardising the economy.39

Legume cultivation has a long global history, but consumption levels are low in Europe. The project’s goal is to develop “cultivation methods, animal-feeding solutions, and processing methods that result in tasty and easy-to-use legume products for consumers, as well as for food services”. 40

Leg4Life is a joint project of the University of Helsinki, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland and runs from 2019-2025. The project is funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland.41 Leg4Life collaborates with numerous stakeholders from primary production, food and feed industries, health, environmental and agricultural politics, and consumer organisations. It aims to achieve a comprehensive societal change towards a healthier food system and climate-neutral food production and consumption by increasing the use of legumes. There are five extensive work packages in the project that cover the entire food chain from field to dinner table, all researching legumes that thrive in Finnish boreal conditions.42

The Wageningen area in the Netherlands is often nicknamed ‘Food Valley’ in recognition of the breakthroughs in agri-food tech being generated by startups, science institutes, NGOs, and companies in the area.43

Unilever has opened a New Food Innovation Centre on the Wageningen campus, named ‘Hive’ for its location among leading academic research centres, startups, and external partners.44

The company will lead various food-innovation programmes, focussing on plant-based food ingredients as well as on meat alternatives, sustainable food packaging, and nutritious food. The aim is to come up with innovations that will make food healthier for people, our planet, and the global food system.

Unilever CEO Alan Jope, commented: “We need a fundamental transformation of the food system if we are to feed more than 9 billion people sustainably and nutritiously. Malnutrition, obesity, climate change, and food waste are issues that can only be addressed if we work in partnership to accelerate technology and innovation. Having a global research and development centre in Wageningen will enable us to do exactly this.” 45

8. Wageningen University & Research: Research programme- protein transition

Wageningen University & Research is looking for ways to increase the availability, diversity, and acceptance of new and existing protein sources. They recognise the current depletion of natural resources and growing demand for animal-derived protein as a key problem. They also stress the problematic nature of the current distribution of protein, where there is over-consumption and scarcity at the same time.

They stress that “shifting diets in high-income countries to proteins from plants, is needed to transition towards a sustainable, equitable, and balanced food system. A more plantbased diet in line with global dietary guidelines is also healthier. Everyone can contribute to this food system of the future: from farmer to industry professional to consumer.” 46