Biotechnology investment creates the food of the future
Earth's population is growing while arable farmland is limited. Innovation in alternative food sources will thus be crucial to feed the planet sustainably in the future. With the help of new bioprocess technologies, such as fermentation, it is possible to develop sustainable ingredients and products that are both tastier and healthier than those currently available. Recently started Tetra Pak and Lund University Collaboration Biotech Heights which can play an important role by being an open innovation environment where there is access to world-leading laboratory and equipment for both research and industry. In this regard, Tetra Pak and Lund University share an ambition to develop the potential of bioprocess technology.
“Biotech Heights will of course be about sustainable food but also about so much more than food,” says Josefin Ahlqvist, one of the project leaders at Lund University. There will also be all the side streams from food that can be used for everything humans need and that can make us independent of fossil raw materials.
Through Biotech Heights, it will be possible for both larger and smaller companies to develop new processes. Tetra Pak and Lund University both have advanced infrastructures that are fit for purpose — but can complement each other.
— On Chemicentrum There are laboratories suitable for starting their research, as well as equipment for experiments on a slightly larger scale. In addition, there is Tetra Pak's infrastructure for trials on an even larger scale,” says Emma Nordell, project manager at Lund University. For us at the university, we need to package the infrastructure we already have through the Kemicentrum scale-up halls so that we can open them up to external users.
This presents great opportunities.
“We will quickly build much more knowledge,” says Josefin Ahlqvist. This is a concrete variant of the idea of biorefinery where we can create synergies around raw materials, production methods and technological development. We will be able to put in place systems to connect companies around food production with other industries and in this way we will think long-term from the very beginning in how we can use a raw material for the greatest possible efficiency.
Biorefinery consists of a range of processes, technologies and solutions that are used together to convert biomass into new, green and climate-friendly products. With biotechnology, the production of new and sustainable food can increase while making full use of all the tributaries for other production.
“In Lund, we know precision fermentation and work a lot to develop that work,” continues Josefin Ahlqvist. The fermentation could mean that the food industry could make use of different crops than they can today. Biotech Heights will be a very special knowledge center with all the elements needed from raw materials to infrastructure and technological development. It's going to be a completely unique place.
Biotech Heights was also selected as one of eight innovation platforms in Sweden funded by Vinnova to create system-level innovation for a sustainable and competitive food system. In this, Biotech Heights will be an innovation platform and facilitate expected and unexpected collaborations between organizations from both industry and academia. It will be about solutions to both technical and non-technical challenges and will be a focal point for everything that is required around the operations to grow. In addition to Lund University and Tetra Pak, players here are Future by Lund.
“We are moving an industry and this means opening up a new area,” says Peter Kisch, operations manager at Future by Lund. We will focus not only on food and material production, but also on business models, law, new markets and consumer research. The companies are part of something larger and share knowledge, information and risk.
It will also be an opportunity to act more jointly so that small and large companies can be part of the context in the field. By working together, we will be able to raise, for example, policy issues and legal aspects, even higher up among decision-makers.
The environment of the innovation platform is also conceived as a way to share knowledge and give birth to new opportunities.
“This will create more projects and we at Lund University will have to work on solutions to more real problems from industry and with more partners,” says Emma Nordell. We already have great research expertise in this area and with this environment it will grow.
A series of mobilisation meetings with all possible actors — such as food companies, policy makers, equipment companies and consumer organisations — awaits.
Already now it is good to contact Emma and Josefin if you are interested in joining.
The innovation platform Biotech Heights as a project
Financier: Vinnova
Financing: 3.5 million kr.
Project Time: 18 months
Partnerschappen: Lund University, Future by Lund, Tetra Pak
Project Manager: Emma Nordell
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