Together with more than 100 Foodvalley partners, The Green East and Province Overijssel we held a hybrid Protein Community event about ‘Redefining the protein industry’. The event took place at The Green East, Raalte.

During the event, we looked back at the developments in the past five years within the protein transition. We also looked at the future, the role of sustainable energy and market data. Together we dove into the trends of meat replacements, technology shifts (what is the impact on existing machines and techniques?), plant-based dairy, new business models with locally produced products, self-sufficient, upgrading from raw materials to ingredients and connecting with processors. 

Skyrocketing

Demand for alternative proteins has skyrocketed in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue growing. This encompasses enormous potential for new business opportunities and sustainability alike. However, production demands higher quality ingredients, but availability of knowledge, technology and facilities lags behind. This roadblock is occurring more frequently throughout the entire chain, from resource production to processing and distribution, slowing the rate of new product introductions to consumer markets.

The Protein Community

In The Protein Community partners can partner up on ideas and find inspiration from each other. Foodvalley NL provides professional community management with proper scouting of new community partners, organising and preparing community sessions. Partners are informed on our latest initiatives and can provide direct feedback. On top of that they get access to our innovation platform, for facts and figures, partners, funding opportunities and facilities.

Interested in joining The Protein Community? Contact Leo Koning for more information.

An exclusive The Protein Community event ‘Redefining the Protein Industry’ will be held on Thursday 16 June from 14.30 – 16.45 CEST, in cooperation with the province of Overijssel. Our TPC event will be hybrid. Protein Community Partners are most welcome to attend our event at The Green East, Drosteweg 6 – 8, Raalte. Please indicate at registration if you want to attend the event on site or online. Note: there is room for approximately 50 partners, full is full.
For partners attending the event online, a live video link will follow.

Programme

Opening

Jeroen Willemsen (Foodvalley) and Eddy van Hijum, Deputy at the Province of Overijssel

Deep dive into

1. Meat: The journey from a meat production company to a successful 100% plant-based meat analogues food group.

Bobeldijk Food group, Remko Vogelenzang

2. Dairy: What are the ingredients for product development and market introduction for new plant-based dairy products? https://bit.ly/3ts0rHT

Boermarke, Reynier Varvik

3. Technology: How to transform production facilities for meat and dairy products into high tech facilities for plant-based products?

GEA, Engeering for a better world, Gerben Kiers

4. Market Data: Facts and figures about plant-based products that Redefined the Protein Industry including future projections and trends.

Mintel, Global market research, Rick Miller (UK)

5. Local production: Production and development of plant-based products in high-tech laboratory.

The Green East, Erik Doorenspleet & Rubisco Foods, Sjoerd Jansen

Foodvalley NL produces a series of podcasts in 2022. In this series, you can listen to candid conversations between different game changers on topics concerning a more resource-efficient, healthy and sustainable food system. With insights, tips and inspiration Foodvalley NL offers insights to professionals who want to work on the transition to a sustainable food system. What developments has the protein transition made in recent years? Where are we now? And what place will plant proteins have in the future? 

About the podcast series

Restoring the protein balance, towards a sustainable balance in the production and consumption of animal and plant protein. The ‘protein-rich’ Netherlands has been working on the protein transition since 2000. Efforts by all chain partners have helped accelerate the transition. The experiences, insights and visions offer support and inspiration for the future. What have we learned in the past 20 years and how can we shape the protein transition in the next 20 years? In short: 20 years of protein transition in the Netherlands, from 2000 to 2040.

Fermentation is our future! In cooperation with BOM and Province Noord-Brabant, The Protein Cluster kicked off this year’s events with a hybrid event on the surprising world of micro-organisms. This recap gives you an impression of inspiring companies and food producers who tell about the latest fermentation techniques, flavours and innovations. Discover the science behind fermentation and learn how to start and grow your business. Watch the recap video below.

TPC partners are exclusively invited to attend the online introduction of our brand new platform Foodleap on 11 May from 10.00 – 11.00. Learn how Foodleap brings you the latest insights on market trends, potential clients and business opportunities like funding, accelerator programmes and open calls. Join our Foodleap introduction and discover how Foodleap benefits you. Register through our e-mail invitation.

Important: register max 2 persons from your organisation. Both people will receive login details for their Foodleap account after the introduction.

An exclusive TPC event will be held on redefining the protein industry. Please save the date, 16 June, and keep the afternoon free in your agenda. More information will follow soon.

Last week, in cooperation with the BOM and the Province of Noord-Brabant, we held our exclusive TPC event Accelerating fermentation. For the first time, we broadcasted our event live from a brewery: The Protein Brewery in Breda. The aim of the event was to explore the vast possibilities of fermentation. At the event, we heard from leading companies and food producers about the latest fermentation techniques, flavours and innovations. Together, we discovered the science behind fermentation and learned how to start and grow our business. 

A quick selection of quotes from some of the inspiring speakers: 

Bart Smit of FerMentor; “Knowing that there are so many amazing microbes, which can be applied to so many substrates in a range of processes; you can imagine that the solution space for fermentation experts to work with, is huge, giving many opportunities.”

Marieke Smidt of Duplaco: “The good news with fermentation is that we harvest every day. We are not dependent on weather conditions, climate conditions, we don’t have to put our production site on agricultural land. With very little space, we can produce a serious amount of algae and therefore also a serious amount of protein. And we can do that on a daily basis!”

What’s next?

Our next TPC event will be held on 16 June, 2022 on redefining the protein industry. Please keep 16 June free in your calendar. More information will follow.

Are you not a TPC partner but interested in becoming one and participate in our network and events? Please contact us.

The Protein Cluster, an initiative of Foodvalley NL, is now called The Protein Community. Together with a renewed look of the website and brand style, the new name will ensure a more relevant positioning of Foodvalley NL. With the name change, Foodvalley NL wants to focus on the active involvement of TPC.

“With this new name we emphasize that the only way to keep up with accelerating the Protein Shift is to work as a community. To deliver innovative protein solutions to serve consumers around the world. By calling our network a community, we make it clearer to our members and beyond who we are, what we do and what we want,” says Innovation Lead, Jeroen Willemsen. “It is important to clearly communicate that the basis of TPC is to maximally use our combined experience, creativity, facilities and networks.”

Partner up and find inspiration in The Protein Community

The Protein Community (TPC) is the biggest protein community from The Netherlands. Worldwide, they have more than 100 TPC partners. Members partner up on ideas and find inspiration from each other. TPC makes this possible by providing the right support and by creating a mix of cross-sectoral organisations working on the same topic. As result TPC accelerates the protein transition and its innovations.