New solutions for the food of the future
Southern Sweden has gained a focal point where bioprocess technology can be used to drive innovations in sustainable food and material production and to develop new bioprocess technologies, such as fermentation. Genome Biotech Heights which was launched in the fall of 2023 by Lund University and Tetra Pak stakeholders from, for example, industry and academia have a base to develop the area through cooperation. Biotech Heights will bring together a diverse process lab environment of 1,400 sqm at Kemicentrum in Lund, where there is extensive expertise and opportunities for meeting places for startups, scale-ups, investors and other experts who can work together to create and scale new solutions and business models in biotechnology.
In their opening speech, Marie Sandin (Tetra Pak) and Annika Olsson (LTH) set the tone for the day when they talked about “Collaboration is key”.
- One of Tetra Pak's strengths is that we can work with innovations in a long-term perspective, says Marie Sandin. The cooperation between Lund University and LTH has been there for decades, but we have also collaborated with many of your other players. I see that together we can make a difference now in really delivering the food of the future.
Marie Sandin explained that Tetra Pak was started over seventy years ago - and that there has been cooperation with Lund University for at least fifty years. Lund University of Technology (LTH) was founded in 1961 and has approximately 10,000 enrolled students.
- At LTH we want to create and explore for the benefit of the world — and we cannot do that alone, which is why collaboration is so important to us, says Annika Olsson. Some parts of our research, aimed at making a global impact, need to be done through collaboration with industry. Through the Biotech Heights platform, students and researchers can have the opportunity to experiment and get in touch with the research and innovations of the future.
The basis of the Biotech Heights initiative is that the population of the Earth is growing, while the limited arable agricultural land should provide raw materials for both food and the bio-based materials of the future. Innovation in alternative food sources will be critical to feed the planet's population sustainably in the future. With the help of new bioprocess technologies, such as fermentation, it is possible to develop sustainable ingredients and products that could be both tastier and healthier than those currently available.
- Through Biotech Heights, we create better conditions for students and researchers to work with the food of the future, continues Annika Olsson. Another reason why this collaboration is important is that innovation and research often go hand in hand. In the collaboration, we have great expertise both in companies and at the university and together with the great interest that I see today in Biotech Heights, there are good conditions to create something really good together.
Tetra Pak's vision is to make food safe and accessible to people all over the world, and through Biotech Heights this work can be amplified.
- At Tetra Pak, we work daily to preserve the good; food, people and the planet. Biotech Heights demonstrates concretely how we invest in these promises for the future across the entire value chain. We work here with a collaborative mindset, testing and experimenting,” says Marie Sandin. It's really about having an open mind when it comes to collaboration and to drive and believe in research and innovation. Of course, we all want to see results, and that means some of us will go into projects and partnerships. We see this as the first phase of a long, good journey.
During the day, a number of experts from academia, industry and various organizations participated, which provided the participants with a good basis for further work in the field.
The keynote speaker was David Hunt, from the international think tank Good Food Institute Europe. He gave an overview entitled “Developments in biotechnology and the future of food” with insights into what this could mean for Biotech Heights, including alternative proteins, new foods through fermentation and challenges in scaling up operations in the field. Josefin Ahlqvist (LU) and Emma Nordell (LU) gave visions of what Biotech Heights is and can become and Ida Svensson from Tetra Pak presented an in-depth look at why Tetra Pak prioritizes biotechnology and the food of the future.
More perspectives on the work were given by Joakim Gullstrand and Thomas Kalling from the School of Economics at Lund University, Lena de Maré from Tetra Pak, Eva Nordberg Karlsson from LTH and Lauri Reuter from Nordic Foodtech VC. The afternoon was devoted to collaboration in the form of workshops where the participants reflected on the potential of fermented foods and materials, as well as the challenges and opportunities that these pose to the food system. The day ended with a guided tour at Kemicentrum with Ola Wallberg and Mattias Alveteg (LTH).
The day was organized by Lund University, Tetra Pak and Future by Lund.
Fact box based on the press release 17 October 2023
Tetra Pak and Lund University launch new research hub to drive innovation in alternative proteins and foods
Biotech Heights is a new research hub that aims to create an open innovation environment with a focus on bioprocess technologies.
The collaboration represents the shared ambition of Tetra Pak and Lund University to develop the potential of bioprocess technology to meet the need for sustainable food and material production.
Biotech Heights will house state-of-the-art research and education, infrastructure from lab to industrial scale, and facilitate collaborations between organizations from both industry and academia.
