Innovation at Its Best

5 Years of Food Valley Awards

The ceramic sculpture given to Food Valley Award winners represents the Food Valley region: the heartland of Dutch food innovation. Art by industrial artist Olav Slingerland.

New products increase the overall profit margin Innovation through concentration Believing is seeing Innovation is hard work Build a sturdy diving board for leaping into the unknown Our strength is our chain-oriented approach We anticipate changes in the market You have to fall in love with an idea Company researchers have to be

translators first and foremost Real innovation is a matter of trial and error Innovation is in our DNA

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story reveals how the innovator experienced the journey, from the drawing board to market introduction and beyond. The Netherlands is a world class player in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship. Read on to discover how influential experts see the country’s innovation climate. Get a glimpse of the innovative strength the Netherlands has to offer.

Do you have innovation coursing through your veins? We hope this publication inspires you to attend the next Food Valley Conference. An excellent opportunity to join the Food Valley network and meet the new Food Valley Award winner.

Roger van HoeselDirector, Food Valley

The Food Valley Award was established to stimulate innovation in the food industry. For the past five years, we have presented this award to distinctive food industry innovations that exemplify Corporate Social Responsibility and cooperation between various levels of industry and research. An excellent chance for organizations to showcase their best and brightest.

As we look back on five years of awards, we see stories that illustrate the strength and diversity of Dutch agro-food expertise. Behind each innovation is a team with great tenacity. People who have to overcome many obstacles and who focus tremendous energy on transforming their ideas into reality. Their path is not easy. It requires character and a clear vision of the future.

Today we are proud to revisit the stories behind each award winner and runner-up from the past five years of Food Valley Awards. Each

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The Driving Force Behind Innovation

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Table of Contents071115192326313538434750555962677175798287919495

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Valess, the Healthy Alternative to MeatHealthy Juice from Vegetable WasteNo-oil Deep FryingEnriched Eggs to Combat Eye DiseaseETENIATM, Tailor-made TexturesThe Netherlands is Full of PioneersNovarin®, a Healthy Margarine ConceptFood Jet Printer for Digital DecorationNo Need to Reinvent the Wheel Every TimePhages Fight Pathogenic BacteriaComplete Proteins from PotatoesFuture Generations also Deserve a Good LivingPlant Sensors in HorticultureRadio Waves Radically Cut Sausage Production TimeBuild Strong Knowledge Networks for InnovationFrom Waste Streams to Green PowerUV Light Protects CropsTeff, Traditional Cereal Launched in EuropeSustainably Grown Apples with Higher YieldYou Have to Keep Pedaling to Stay AheadGreenports, Sustainable Innovation in Greenhouse HorticultureCold Plasma SterilizationInnovation Earns RecognitionFood Valley

“Valess was thought up by a retired sous-chef who had worked at the Amstel Hotel. At the age of 80, he created a new, fibrous material from milk protein and algae. A great meat replacement, he thought. So he approached FrieslandCampina, and we agreed. Feasibility studies showed there was a market for a healthy, tasty alternative to meat. Of course, there were already other meat replacements on the market, but none with the fibrous texture typical of Valess. This texture approximates the mouthfeel we associate with meat.

The first part of the production process has a lot in common with the production of cheese. We separate the protein in the milk from the rest. Then we add dietary fiber from algae to the protein. At that point, the product still tastes very neutral, so you can easily add aromas and spices. A major plus is that Valess is healthy and low in

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Valess, the Healthy Alternative to Meat

A healthy, tasty alternative to meat made of milk protein and algae. Valess was launched in 2005 as the first meat replacement with the same mouthfeel as meat. Thanks to Valess, the Food Valley Award went to dairy manufacturer FrieslandCampina.www.valess.com

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fat. By adding iron and vitamins we’ve given it the same nutritional value as meat. Valess also scores highly in terms of environmental friendliness and sustainability.

We introduced Valess in 2005, targeting meat eaters from the outset. Vegetarians are already used to a meatless diet, so they’re less keen on a meat replacement. Since then, Valess has also been introduced in Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. We’ve only made slight changes to the original formulation to improve the taste and texture. We’ve also expanded the line of Valess varieties. Valess is an innovation in the purest sense of the word. It’s neither an extension nor a re-invention of an existing product. Winning the Food Valley Award boosted FrieslandCampina’s innovative image. It had a catalytic effect, spreading innovative thinking throughout the company. People started improving production processes and packaging. Innovation keeps you focused on being distinctive. And in the cheese market you have to be different, because competition is stiff and profit margins are small. New products like Valess allow us to increase the overall profit margin, enabling us to pay our dairy farmers a better price for their milk.”

Cleem KöllmannProcess Development ManagerFrieslandCampina, Tilburg

“New products increase the overall profit margin”

“In the old days, people prepared most of their vegetables at home. Water used for rinsing and cooking was poured down the sink, vegetable waste and leftovers were fed to the chickens or ended on the compost heap. These days, consumers eat a lot of preprocessed vegetables. This results in 500 million kilos of vegetable waste in the Dutch vegetable processing industry alone. This waste contains many high-quality components that would be a shame to throw away.

Working with TNO, we designed a factory that can turn this liquid vegetable waste into high-quality vegetable juices and natural dyes. These juices are used for Riedel’s tomato and vegetable juice and Zonnatura’s all-natural vegetable juices. The dye extracted from red beet juice is used to color blackberry sorbet and to enhance the color of red meat.

We also designed a mobile installation for solid waste streams, enabling us to work on-site at a vegetable processing company. This cuts out transportation costs and reduces chances of spoilage during transport. Our mobile installation consists of four containers, one for each stage of the process: preprocessing, pressing, sterilizing and cooling.

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Healthy Juice from Vegetable Waste

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“Innovation through concentration”

Commercial vegetable processing creates 500 million kilos of waste every year. It would be unwise not to reuse the nutritious components in these waste streams. Provalor BV designed a process for turning vegetable waste into high-quality vegetable juices, mixes and dyes. It won the company the 2006 Food Valley Award.www.provalor.nl

Thanks to our technology, vegetable processing companies can produce more sustainably. They supply us with the vegetable juices and we market them. About 95% of our juice is exported to Germany, France, Spain and Belgium. The Dutch market is still relatively small. Consumers here prefer fruit juice to vegetable juice, so that’s a big challenge. One big plus to vegetable juice is that it contains fewer calories than fruit juice. This makes it attractive for juice manufacturers to add a vegetable juice to their mixes.

In innovations, the first 80% of the process goes fairly smoothly. But then you start hitting the first bumps and teething problems. Then it becomes a matter of not giving up. Winning the Food Valley Award has generated a lot of free publicity. That has helped us secure additional funding, enabling us to continue to develop our ‘Innovation through concentration’ concept. The name doesn’t just refer to the pressing of vegetable waste. It also refers to our belief that a company needs to focus, in terms of time, energy and money. You have to dare to make a choice.”

Paulus KostersDirectorProvalor BV, Vijfhuizen

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“The market for fried snacks is gigantic. In the Netherlands alone, 600 million frikandels (deep-fried sausages) are sold each year. Lowering the fat content of French fries and other fried foods can help reduce obesity. We saw it as a challenge to maintain the pros of frying – the taste and crunchy texture – while eliminating the con: the frying fat. In regular deep fryers, the product is coated in a thin film of fat that is continually replaced by another film. This generates the strong heat needed to create a crunchy crust. Our High Tech Frying® (HiFri®) method also creates a film, but uses hot air and steam rather than oil. Products prepared in our fryer contain 10-12% less fat. Air and steam are circulated in a closed circuit, using half the energy of a regular deep fryer. We spent a long time fine tuning the fryer’s user-friendliness and optimizing product quality. Now, HiFri® snacks are just as tasty and crunchy as snacks deep-fried in oil.

In 2007 we won the Food Valley Award, a sure sign we were on the road to success. The prize really enhanced our name recognition

No-oil Deep Frying

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At least as crunchy as deep-fat fried snacks, with a much lower fat content. With the no-oil High Tech Frying® method, snacks contain 10-12% less fat. This innovation won the Food Valley Award in 2007.www.hifri.com

“Believing is seeing”and meant that suppliers were willing to put their trust in us, which shortened time to market. The HiFri® is currently used by company canteens, schools and institutional kitchens. We are particularly popular with companies who have Corporate Social Responsibility high on their agenda. The HiFri® requires a 10,000 euro investment. A company canteen earns this back in two to three years.

Companies must continually adapt to new developments and keep finding new opportunities; otherwise their competitors will quickly leave them behind. This is why we are continually innovating. The HiFri® has just been introduced, but we are already working on a second generation. Our secret is our way of thinking. For most people seeing is believing, but we have turned this around: “Believing is seeing.”

Ariaan VerdaasdonkDirector HiFri® BV, Breda

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“Newtricious is always on the lookout for products that can contribute to people’s health and well-being. So when the Maastricht Teaching Hospital (AZM) signaled a dramatic increase in patients suffering from Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD), we saw an opportunity to develop a new type of treatment.

ARMD is a serious and irreversible eye disease. Degeneration of the macula – the yellow spot in the middle of the retina – causes blurry vision or partial blindness. ARMD is the main cause of visual impairment in adults older than 55. Almost half of those over 65 are affected to some extent. Research has shown that carotenoids – natural pigments present in eggs, spinach and flowers – can slow down or stabilize the disease.

In cooperation with research institutes and business partners, we developed carotenoid-enriched eggs. We think the body absorbs these nutrients more efficiently from eggs than from a food

Enriched Eggs to Combat Eye Disease

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Newtricious BV hit upon the idea of enriching chicken feed with Marigold pigments. The result: carotenoid-enriched eggs that help prevent Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). ARMD is the main cause of visual impairment and even partial blindness in adults over 55. This innovation won the company the Food Valley Award in 2008.www.newtricious.nl

supplement. Therefore we use a special method to mix natural pigments from Marigolds into chicken feed. The pigments end up in the eggs. AZM has studied the effect of the eggs on volunteers. The results are promising: high concentrations of the pigments are present in the eggs and more readily absorbed by the body than the same pigments in vegetables and food supplements. Shortly after this study, in October 2008, we won the Food Valley Award. This gave new impetus to our cooperative efforts and generated lots of media attention.

We didn’t launch the product immediately. We still need more studies to substantiate our health claims well enough to satisfy the authorities. Innovation is hard work. Success isn’t handed to you on a silver platter. The trick is to see things in a different light and to calculate the risks. Working with partners whose competencies are complementary to your own can lead to great things. But all parties must be willing to invest and to keep a close eye on the market.”

Jos NelissenDirectorNewtricious BV, Oirlo

“Innovation is hard work”

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“The consumer wants products with excellent properties that are also healthy, preferably without any chemical additives. Our range of plant-based ETENIA™ ingredients plays into this trend. ETENIA™ gives products like yogurt, cake, croissants and cream cheese a rich, creamy texture. This allows food manufacturers to lower the fat content of their products without compromising sensory quality. Thanks to its unique gelling properties, ETENIA™ is a good alternative to gelatin in products like wine gums.

ETENIA™ is a hydrocolloid, combining the molecular structure of amylopectin with the hydration properties of a gum. Such a hydrocolloid can only be produced with the help of amylomaltase, an enzyme designed specifically for this purpose by DSM. Producing ETENIA™ is simple: Mix potato starch with water and the enzyme, then dehydrate the mixture and deactivate the enzyme. There’s no requirement to declare it on the label as an E number, because it’s just potato starch. ETENIA™ is cheaper and its production more sustainable than the gums and proteins most often used as thickening and gelling agents.

ETENIA™, Tailor-made Textures

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Creamy yogurt, low-fat cake and non-gelatin wine gums. ETENIA™ – an ingredient based on potato starch – helps food manufacturers meet several consumer demands: health, wellness and ingredient safety. AVEBE was awarded the 2009 Food Valley Award for this innovation.www.avebe.com

“Build a sturdy diving board for leaping into the unknown”AVEBE has always been an innovator and will remain so. We work by leveraging our core competencies. We know what we’re good at and find partners with complementary strenghts. That’s how we build a sturdy diving board for the great leap into the unknown. AVEBE knows all there is to know about potato starch and thickening agents. DSM specializes in cultures and enzymes. We are both well versed in food ingredients and additives. TNO and NIZO food research have also contributed substantially. TNO was the first to recognize the enzyme and its specific effect, while NIZO did the sensory evaluations and studied the application of ETENIA™ in yogurt.

Winning the Food Valley Award underscores how much fun innovation is. The prize has generated publicity and in turn, a lot of commercial interest. We’re not done developing. More and more products can be improved with ETENIA™. But we can only make these improvements if we listen to our customers. Can our solution be integrated into their production process? Is food safety guaranteed? Many ingredients have a life cycle of decades. Potato starch lasts even 100 times longer. So we need to come up with something good.”

Piet BuwaldaManager, Food Innovation CentreAVEBE, Veendam

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“There is a real pioneering spirit in our country. Just look at companies like Unilever, FrieslandCampina and Cosun. This spirit makes us a pretty influential player in the international food sector. Our greatest strength is our chain-oriented approach; we cooperate with other parties further up and down the supply chain. This concept is deeply rooted in Dutch business and has made us one of the pioneers of tracking & tracing. For example, the veal sold in our stores is fully traceable. We know where the calves were raised and what they were fed.

As jury chairman for the Food Valley Award, I have seen many impressive innovations over the past five years. Awards like these are a great incentive for innovation. All nominated companies notice the beneficial effects on their marketing. And such an award also has a unifying effect, just like in sports.

Over the next few years, the food industry faces three major challenges: contribute to a longer and healthier life, do more with less, and promote systems innovation. The last of these means

“The Netherlands is Full of Pioneers”

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developing new concepts and connecting the food chain with the health chain. Systems innovation goes beyond product and process optimization.

We can only meet these challenges if we work more efficiently, use our resources more creatively, and interlink our production chains. I don’t just mean the vertical production columns, from seed to cutlet, from farm to fork, but also horizontal connections. For example, links between the food and chemical industries or the packaging and food manufacturing industries. Food producers also need to seek alliances that are less self-evident. That’s the way to expand Food Valley into a Food Delta in the widest sense of the word.”

Rudy RabbingeChairman of the Jury, Food Valley Award

Rudy Rabbinge is Chairman of the CGIAR Science Council and Professor of Sustainable Development & Food Security at Wageningen University and Research centre (Wageningen UR). From 2004 to 2009, Rabbinge was chairman of the Food Valley Award jury.

“Our strength is our chain-oriented approach”

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“People love cookies, cakes and croissants, but these foods tend to contain a lot of trans fats and saturated fats. Improving their fatty acid composition may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Over the past few years, the bakery industry has managed to reduce trans fat content considerably, but saturated fat content is still too high. Saturated fats are particularly difficult to cut back in croissants and puff pastry. If you lower the trans fat content, you usually have to increase the saturated fats proportionately. Otherwise the product loses shape and functionality.

Novarin® is the first margarine concept that offers a solution. It enables you to reduce saturated fat content in baked goods by at least 33% while maintaining functionality and sensory characteristics. Your production process need not be adjusted. The concept is based on five building blocks: unhardened fats (virtually trans fat free), reduced saturated fat, reduced fat, natural ingredients, and a fatty acid composition that justifies nutritional claims such as ‘reduced saturated fat’ or ‘Health-conscious Choice’. Food manufacturers can choose one or more building blocks for their products.Novarin®,

a Healthy Margarine Concept

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Romi Smilfood developed a new generation of margarines for the bakery industry. Bakery manufacturers can reduce saturated fat content in their products by 33% or more. Without compromising functionality or organoleptic properties, and using the same production process. This innovation earned Romi Smilfood a nomination for the 2009 Food Valley Award.www.novarin.eu

“We anticipate changes in the market”Romi Smilfood is a flexible, non-hierarchical organization. That’s our strength. Our goal is to provide solutions and anticipate changes in the market. Novarin® was developed largely in-house. We asked our processing equipment supplier to help us scale up the pilot model to industrial size. And we worked with an ingredient supplier to develop the ‘Health-conscious Choice’ building block for cakes. Currently, we’re working with TNO and several industrial bakeries on new applications.

The baked goods section doesn’t hold many surprises. Innovations are scarce. We thought it odd that retailers didn’t ask for healthier products. As we know from more innovative categories, health-beneficial products can add great value. An argument that convinced many retailers to include bakery products with a healthy fat composition. Since the launch in 2008, we’ve received a lot of positive responses from manufacturers in the Netherlands and abroad. The fact that we’re one of the Food Valley Award nominees has certainly helped.”

Karin VisserProject Manager, Industry Romi Smilfood BV, Heerenveen

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“The idea popped into my head when I was researching micro-dispensing techniques. It turned out there was no method for printing food stuffs directly onto other food products. Conventional printing technology required expensive, custom-made templates to be changed manually. Existing digital installations were unable to keep up with the speed of industrial production. An alternative was needed.

And here we are. We designed a food jet printer: a print head capable of transferring digitally changeable templates of edible products onto a moving surface. You can either print edible substances onto other food products or as products in their own right. During the printing process, the templates do not touch the food products and changeovers are done in a closed system. This guarantees food safety and cuts down on rejects and cleaning costs.

We didn’t want to use edible inks and opted to use food in its purest form. But how do you get such viscous products to flow, let alone turn them into tiny droplets? Eventually we succeeded in printing

Food Jet Printer, for Digital Decoration

“You have to fall in love with an idea”

De Grood Innovations developed a food jet printer which can print edible substances onto other food products or as products in their own right. The printer is efficient, hygienic and widely applicable. It can even print with food stuffs as thick as peanut butter. Ample reason to be nominated for the Food Valley Award in 2009.www.foodjet.nl

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products as thick as peanut butter. The printing speed is high: seven print heads can print 100,000 cookies per hour. Such great results are only possible by working very closely with specialists, having state-of-the-art testing facilities at your disposal and a great deal of tenacity. In a way, you have to fall in love with an idea. Like we did.

The food jet printer is currently used in the European bakery, dairy and ice cream industries and has been tested by various important food labs. The US market is showing an interest as well. Our name recognition is growing and our method is more widely accepted, thanks in part to our nomination for the Food Valley Award. We’re continuing to expand in terms of both equipment and applications. We’re working with suppliers of raw materials and food processing equipment on increasing the printing resolution even further and on applications for even thicker liquids, like real chocolate. We’re also investigating possible applications outside the food industry, such as ceramics, cosmetics and textiles. It’s our ambition to position an innovative technique that is applied as widely as possible.”

Pascal de GroodDirectorDe Grood Innovations BV, Nijmegen

“No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Every Time”

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“Internationally, the Netherlands has a good name when it comes to innovation. We have a particularly strong reputation in terms of cooperation between business, universities and government. In this respect we’re a world leader. This is our famous ‘polder model’ at work; we like achieving things through cooperation and consensus.

To be a valuable partner in a cooperative effort, you must focus on your strengths. Wageningen University has already done that. It has deliberately restricted its focus to Life Sciences. In a sense, the same is true for business. It’s important for innovation purposes to choose the fields you’re good at. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel every time. It’s an illusion to think your company can come up with totally new products in all areas.

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Company researchers have to be translators, first and foremost. It’s imperative that they translate existing (outside) innovations into new applications that can benefit the company. Take Nestlé’s research into brain development, for instance. We’re trying to determine what role nutrition can play in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s. We’ve deliberately sought cooperation with excellent research groups, such as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

The Food Valley Award is mainly an incentive for small businesses. It allows them to stand out in a field dominated by large, international players like Nestlé and Unilever. The acid test is later, when you see whether your product sells or not. Because that’s the bottom line of innovation: it increases revenue. Otherwise it’s not an innovation, but merely a good idea.”

Peter van BladerenVice President, Science & ResearchNestlé, Lausanne, Switzerland

Peter van Bladeren is Vice President of Science & Research at Nestlé. Based in Lausanne, he has been responsible for the company’s research projects across the globe since 2002. The company’s research takes place in four fields: Nutrition, Food Science, Consumer Science, and Quality and Safety.

“Company researchers have to be translators first and foremost”

“Phages have been preying on bacteria for millions of years. At EBI Food Safety we realized these bacteria-eating organisms could be harnessed to improve food safety. We engineered LISTEX™ – a bacteriophage that quickly and effectively consumes Listeria monocytogenes. Actually, we’re just lending nature a hand by specifically attacking pathogens.

Eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can result in listeriosis, a disease that kills nearly one in three patients. Cases of listeriosis in the EU have increased sharply over the past few years, to more than 1,500 per year. The rate of increase also seems to be accelerating. Aside from Listeria, other pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and Campylobacter are a growing threat to public health and a costly problem for the food industry. Food manufacturers must comply with ever stricter food safety regulations. Existing bactericides no longer work properly. More and more foods are sold in ready-to-eat and ready-to-drink form, increasing chances of contamination. Improved hygienic practices kill many bacteria, giving the strong survivors a chance to multiply.

The bacteriophages that EBI Food Safety grows are effective bacteria killers, but harmless to humans, animals and the environment.

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Phages Fight Pathogenic Bacteria

It took EBI Food Safety five years to design a bacteriophage that attacks and kills the pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes, thus beating evolution to the finish line. This fresh approach to an age-old natural phenomenon earned the company a Food Valley Award nomination in 2008.www.ebifoodsafety.com

LISTEX™ is the first bacteriophage product to receive the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). In the Netherlands, the product was given a green light in 2009, and customers have already come to regard our technology as the new ‘gold standard’. We work with the world’s most renowned specialists in the field of bacteriophages. We’ve increased our range of products with phages that prey on Salmonella and the hospital bacterium MRSA. And there are many more potential applications.

Innovation is in our company’s DNA. We will continue to focus on perfecting our Listeria product. We assume we have to solve 80% of the problems in the last 20% of a development project. For example: we know from experience that approval procedures take a long time. But as long as you submit your application on time and communicate clearly about its status, everything will turn out okay.”

Mark OfferhausDirectorEBI Food Safety BV, Wageningen

“Innovation is in our DNA”

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“AVEBE has been producing starch from potatoes since the early 1900s. Since the 1970s the company has also been isolating protein from potatoes for application in animal feed. Potato protein has a high nutritional value and shows the same characteristics as animal protein in several applications. Research shows that its emulsification and foaming properties and solubility are even better than those of animal protein. Potato protein is more hypoallergenic than the functional protein isolates from soy, wheat (gluten), milk and chicken eggs. All these advantages make it worthwhile to develop applications for potato protein. Our bottleneck was the isolation process: how do you isolate protein from potatoes without excessive loss of functionality? Proteins are fragile and require great care. One of our subsidiaries, Solanic, developed a separation method that makes it possible to adsorb the proteins. We run the raw potato juice along an electrically charged rod. The oppositely charged protein molecules adhere to the adsorbent surface, while the liquid runs off. Then we turn off the current and rinse off the protein particles.

Potato protein costs about the same as animal protein, but you need less of it to achieve the same effect. This may help reduce total cost. Besides, manufacturers who use these proteins can maintain their products’ ‘clean label’ status. A specific fraction of this protein

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Complete Proteins from Potatoes

In late 2007, AVEBE subsidiary Solanic introduced a commercially viable potato protein at least as functional as animal protein. A true breakthrough, this was the first potato protein fit for human consumption. An innovation that clearly deserved its nomination for the 2008 Food Valley Award.www.solanic.nl

has a protease-inhibiting – and therefore satiating – effect. We see possible applications in the dieting industry, although more research is needed to confirm that. We were Food Valley Award nominees in 2008 and that has helped generate interest in our innovation. We’re now working with various food manufacturers to develop new potato products, ice creams, baked goods and meat products. Our proteins are used to replace milk proteins in sausages and pâtés. Milk proteins contain allergens and cost more than potato proteins. Potato proteins can also be used as a gluten substitute in breads and cakes. The resulting products are less dry than those in the existing gluten-free range.

Innovation is one of AVEBE’s mainstays. The added value we offer sets us apart. It’s crucial to strike a balance between market pull, responding to demand, and technology push, or creating demand. The latter is particularly difficult. You have to be very convincing to get customers to change a successful formulation. But our discovery has helped us win them over.”

Jaap HarkemaMarketing managerSolanic BV, Veendam

“You have to be very convincing to win over the customer”

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“Future Generations also Deserve a Good Living”“The Netherlands has many advantages: high-level education, a

strategic location and a strong position in research and technology. And several of the key areas in our economy are strong too. The food industry is one of these areas. Decades of focusing on food and agriculture has given us great expertise.

The food sector is very well organized and produces a large percentage of this country’s innovations. A chance to win a prize like the Food Valley Award encourages innovation by individual businesses and the industry as a whole. It puts good examples in the limelight.

Future generations also deserve to earn a good living. That’s why we’ve established the Dutch Innovation Platform: to ensure a sustainable, strong economy. This platform advocates greater

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investment in knowledge and innovation, particularly during an economic crisis. That comes first. Other problems can be solved later. It’s important that we offer multinationals an attractive investment climate.

The Dutch food industry has made headway in this respect. Danone decided to bolster its R&D activities in the Netherlands and Asian businesses are showing great interest. Innovation – and the research and education it requires – are at the top of the political agenda. Innovation is our forte. It’s what we’ve always excelled at.”

Robbert Dijkgraaf Member of the Dutch Innovation Platform

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Robbert Dijkgraaf, Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), won the Spinoza Prize in 2003. He is President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and a member of the Dutch Innovation Platform. This platform was established in 2003 by the Dutch government with the aim of strengthening the Netherlands’ capacity for innovation.

“Innovation is our forte”

“Growing plants in greenhouses is a very precise process. You have to control and attune temperature, light and humidity in the greenhouse very carefully. We devised a method for monitoring this process more closely. The Multiple Imaging Plant Stress (MIPS) system shows you how your plants are doing and what climate adjustments you need to make in your greenhouse. This can increase yield by 10-30%. The system also allows you to weed out disease-prone plants at an early stage.

So far, MIPS is mainly used to locate disease-prone plants. First we spread a pathogenic agent among the plants. Then the robot uses fluorescence and thermal imaging to measure the plants’ stress. The screen shows how badly the plant has been affected by a disease or pesticides. Without MIPS, this would not become visible until several days later.

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Plant Sensors in Horticulture

A graphic representation of the health and quality of your plants. This is what Multiple Imaging Plant Stress (MIPS) offers. Plant Dynamics BV, a Wageningen spin-off, developed this technology in cooperation with Plant Research International. MIPS was nominated for the Food Valley Award in 2007.www.plant-dynamics.nl

MIPS is unique in its ability to generate images that combine both color and temperature as well as plant fluorescence and vitality. It’s not quite as simple as pressing a button and seeing whether a plant is okay or not. It takes considerable expertise to interpret these images correctly. We’re working hard to improve the system’s user-friendliness. That’s the biggest challenge of innovation: to keep improving your product and coming up with new applications. For example, we’ve developed a vitality monitoring system based on MIPS. It maps the diseases, vitality and growth of plants in closed growing chambers. In a way, it acts as an automatic coach for plant production.

At Plant Dynamics we involve end users in our research from an early stage. That’s our strength. No matter how great your idea is: if the growers won’t use it, it gets you nowhere.”

Ad SchapendonkDirector/ResearcherPlant Dynamics BV, Wageningen

“The biggest challenge is continually improving your product”

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“On a visit to a meat processing plant, I noticed how much manual labor went into making sausages: filling and tying off links, hanging the links, transporting them to the cold store. The whole process is very time consuming; it takes anywhere from four to six hours. There’s got to be a more efficient way to do this, I thought. So we designed a machine that continuously produces sausage links in four to six minutes.

Our main innovation is the use of RF technology: heat treatment with radiofrequent waves. The raw meat mixture is stuffed into a 32 ft. tube. RF waves in the tube heat the meat homogeneously for two minutes, and then keep it for two more minutes at the temperature prescribed by hygiene regulations. Ready-to-eat sausage comes out at the other end. No need to use casings, which cuts down costs. But

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Radio Waves Radically Cut Sausage Production Time

Making sausages in less than six minutes is possible, if you use the continuous sausage stuffer designed by Sonder Food Systems BV. This innovation was nominated for the 2007 Food Valley Award. The sausage is heated using radiofrequent waves, a system patented worldwide. It guarantees big savings on energy and labor, improved hygiene and longer shelf life.www.sonder-bv.nl

the greatest savings are in energy and labor costs. Another advantage is that the production process is much more hygienic, because the involvement of human hands is eliminated. This increases shelf life.

RF technology has been around for a while, but is still not widely applied in the food industry. It takes a lot of time and money to incorporate the technology into applications that work. To do so, we cooperated with good specialists and an end user. They contributed vital knowledge and shared the risk and costs. Cooperation keeps you on your toes. As an innovator you tend to see your product as a work in progress, while the end user simply wants a machine that works.

The pilot phase was successful and we’re now selling the machine. Our prospects on the market are good; several major meat processing companies have shown an interest. Our pilot shows that return on investment takes only a year and a half. And taste panels agree that RF-prepared sausages taste just as good as the sausages consumers are familiar with.”

Herbert SonderDirectorSonder Food Systems BV, Hengelo

“Cooperation keeps you on your toes”

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“Build Strong Knowledge Networks for Innovation”“Dutch industry stands on the shoulders of giants. Agro-food is a

sector we’ve always excelled in, just like electrotechnical engineering and water management. The food industry has a turnover of about 50 billion euros per year. Its 20% export share makes it one of the largest exporting industries in Europe. Dutch businesses earn most of their money abroad. If we want to maintain our competitive edge internationally, we have to continue to innovate. If you stand still, you stagnate.

A prerequisite for innovation is that you use and mobilize all available knowledge to its full potential. This means you need to build strong knowledge networks. That’s why the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs has invested more than 125 million euros in the Food & Nutrition Delta innovation program over the past decade. Our goal is to turn the Netherlands into the number one food region in Europe. The first leg of the program - the Top Institute Food & Nutrition - carries out basic research into products and processes. The second leg, the Food and Nutrition Delta, ensures that insights

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gained through this research are translated into actual applications and inspires SMBs to innovate. Many prominent food companies and research institutions are taking part, such as TNO, Wageningen UR and NIZO food research. The innovation program has yielded more than 150 application-oriented innovation projects, 85% of which are SMB initiatives. The program has been warmly embraced in the Netherlands.

That other countries also think highly of the Netherlands is apparent from the large number of foreign students at Wageningen University, our own agro-food ‘Harvard’. Prizes like the Food Valley Award put role models for innovation in the limelight. A particularly good example is Newtricious, winner of the 2008 Food Valley Award. Jos Nelissen and his people simply thought: how can we create added value with our eggs and who can help us achieve this? Newtricious shows how you can put knowledge in a network of research institutes and businesses to use.

The Netherlands can become even stronger and smarter by ensuring that all the necessary conditions for innovation – from taxation systems to education – are excellent and remain so. We have to become one of the world’s best places to work and live.”

Chris BuijinkSecretary GeneralMinistry of Economic Affairs, the Netherlands

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Chris Buiijnk has been Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs since 2007. He previously worked at Senter, now part of the ministry’s AgentschapNL, as Director General of Enterprise & Innovation and as General Director. AgentschapNL offers incentive programs and funding to Dutch-based businesses, knowledge institutions and government, with the aim of encouraging sustainability and innovation. In 2009, Buijink was co-presenter of the Food Valley Award.

“We have to continue to innovate”

“The vegetable processing industry is scaling up enormously. Mass production is creating more and more waste streams and trimmings. At the same time, the demand for sustainable energy is growing. At Laarakker, we put two and two together. Using a whole new concept, we built an installation that converts organic waste streams into biogas through an environmentally friendly process. We burn the gas to generate heat and electricity. We use the heat to dry our own vegetables and herbs. The electricity is fed back into the grid. Our bioconversion installation processes about 120 million kilos of biomass from the vegetable processing industry each year. This produces 20 million kW of electricity: enough to cover the annual power consumption of 6,000 households.

Our installation is unique in the sense that nothing gets wasted. In ‘regular’ bioconversion processes you always end up with some form of waste. We were looking for more complete degradation. We purify the sludge and water mix that’s left over after fermentation in a centrifuge. We use the water for washing vegetables and

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From Waste Streams to Green Power

Processing vegetables and potatoes generates great amounts of trimmings and large waste streams. EcoFuels, established by Laarakker Groenteverwerking, came up with a sustainable solution for this organic waste, converting it into heat and electricity through fermentation. EcoFuels was nominated for the Food Valley Award in 2006.www.ecofuels.nl

sprinkling the plants we grow. The solid residue is sold to potting soil companies, which use it as a peat replacement. It may sound a bit idealistic, but we’re proud that we’ve managed to close the chain; it’s real ‘cradle-to-cradle’ thinking.

Our company couldn’t do without innovation. We have very specific expertise and a very limited market. That’s why we have to build and improve all our own equipment. I enjoy that. Technology is my passion. It’s great to try and solve a problem you’ve run up against. The secret of a good innovation is: dare to be strong-willed. Don’t meekly follow external consultants. Trust your own gut feelings. As an entrepreneur you know best.”

Frank van LaarakkerDirectorLaarakker Groenteverwerking BV, Well

“The secret of innovation is daring to be strong-willed”

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“The idea started with the Brazilian greenhouse plants that were put outside to catch a little sun every day. And it was complete when I saw how the Danes killed weeds along the railway tracks. After 25 years of experience in foreign nurseries, all the pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place. It led to a totally new agricultural technique: using low dosage UV light as a fungicide.

Agriculture has been fighting fungi such as mildew and Phytophthora for centuries. Fungi are a problem particularly in greenhouses, horticulture and humid climates. They cause plant diseases and are hard to eradicate. Many growers use expensive fungicides that are bad for the environment. But chemical treatments leave residues. The authorities have sharply decreased the maximum allowable

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UV Light Protects Crops

“All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place” Clean Light developed an environmentally

friendly, cost-saving technology for killing fungi on crops without leaving any chemical residue. The technology is based on UV light, which kills fungi just like the sun. This revolutionary technology earned Clean Light a nomination for the Food Valley Award in 2006.www.cleanlight.nl

residue levels and food safety inspectors frequently check for compliance. UV light crop protection offers a solution.

The idea of using UV light as a fungicide is not entirely new, but in the past dosages were very high. This not only killed the fungus but also the plant. Clean Light works with lamps that only emit the cleansing part of the UV light. The light works quickly and efficiently, at only 2-3% of the usual dosage. The treatment results in higher product quality and fewer discarded plants, as our customers can testify. The innovation is environmentally friendly, residue-free, and safe.

We went from idea to market within one year. It’s a boyhood dream come true. For a young, dynamic business like ours this means having to work really hard to convince the market. Listening to our customers is our number one priority. Our technology is now being used by apple and fruit growers and spraying equipment manufacturers in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, USA and Canada.”

Arne AikingDirectorClean Light BV, Wageningen

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“Ethiopians are phenomenal runners. Their extraordinary sports performance is largely due to teff, a traditional cereal from Ethiopia. Teff boosts endurance and helps athletes to recover quickly after exerting themselves. The cereal is used to make injera, a yeast pancake that is a staple in the Ethiopian diet. In 2000, a literature study into new cereals for Europe showed that teff wasn’t being grown here. We saw it as an excellent candidate.

We had the seeds brought over to the Netherlands and started experimenting. As it turns out, the crop grows just fine in the Dutch climate. Teff contains many minerals, complete proteins and starch and it keeps well. Research has shown that wheat bread containing 30% teff is perceived to be tastier than other wheat breads. Teff is also gluten-free, and therefore a great alternative for celiac disease patients. It’s an excellent supplement to the gluten-free product range. It can be used to bake tasty gluten-free bread for instance.

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Teff, Traditional Cereal Launched in Europe

“Train yourself to be patient”

An old cereal with new properties. That is how Hans Turkensteen describes teff, the Ethiopian cereal he introduced in Europe. Teff is rich in minerals, complete proteins and starch, and it’s gluten-free. Teff is tasty and can be used in bread, cake and cookies. The cereal was nominated for the 2006 Food Valley Award.www.teffcentre.nl

The market showed an immediate interest in teff. We increased production from 600,000 kilos in 2003 to 800,000 kilos in 2004. Bread, cookies and cake containing teff are selling well in Europe and the USA. In Germany, teff rolls are popular with customers of artisan bakeries. There is another side to the coin, however. Market developments were slower than we anticipated. It took food manufacturers two to three years to get ready to launch teff products. We had invested in research for years, but we were seeing too little return. Just goes to show you: if you want to innovate, you have to believe in yourself and keep your feet planted firmly on the ground. Success depends not only on the innovation itself, but also on funding and whether the market is ready for your product. You have to train yourself to be patient. Success will come. In 2008, the manufacturer of Roley’s gluten free teff products won the British Award for Best Free From Food Product. That makes me proud.”

Hans TurkensteenCo-founder of teff in Europe

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“Regular apples won’t earn you much anymore. Profit margins in the fruit growing sector are negative. That’s why Inova Fruit BV decided to focus on developing new, high-yield varieties that are more sustainably grown. Plant Research International was involved from the outset in 2001. Together we developed apple varieties that are mildew-resistant so they need less fungicide. That cuts costs and it’s better for the environment and public health.

We use what nature has to offer. There are wild apples that are mildew and scab-resistant. But if you cross those with other apples, as in classical plant breeding, then you also introduce undesirable genes. It usually takes about four to five generations of crossing to arrive at a good apple. That means waiting about 40 years.

This process can be shortened by at least 30 years using our innovative plant breeding methods: DNA marker assisted breeding

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Sustainably Grown Apples with Higher Yield

Inova Fruit and Plant Research International breeds new apple cultivars. The company uses two innovative plant breeding methods: DNA marker-assisted selection and cisgenesis. This significantly shortens time to market. The resulting apple varieties can be grown more sustainably and have a higher yield. In 2006, this innovation was nominated for the Food Valley Award.www.inovafruit.nlwww.pri.wur.nl

and cisgenesis. In the former, we select apples with desirable traits based on DNA research. We can do this with 2-week-old seedlings. Cisgenesis goes a step further. In the lab, we ‘copy’ the desirable genes as it were, and introduce these into the new cultivar without transferring any bacterial genes. This is done through genetic improvement. We use natural apple genes only. This method is just as safe as classical plant breeding.

We’re aiming to present the first cisgenetic scab-resistant apples in 2012. We’re currently involved in a dialogue with the Dutch and European authorities on allowing these apples onto the market. To us it’s a given: growth in the fruit growing sector goes hand in hand with innovation.”

Henk SchoutenSenior ScientistPlant Research International, Wageningen

“Growth goes hand in hand with innovation”

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“You Have to Keep Pedaling to Stay Ahead”“Innovation isn’t just important to the food industry, it’s crucial.

After all, the Netherlands is not the cheapest production country in the world. So we’re actually dependent on our ability to innovate. That’s also why the Royal School of Agriculture – Wageningen University’s predecessor – was initially set up in the late nineteenth century. At that time, Europe was flooded with cheap wheat from the United States. The Netherlands was one of the few countries not to close its borders. Instead we ‘fought back’ by throwing ourselves into innovation.

At Wageningen UR, we conduct both basic and applied research. We develop new concepts and help adapt them for practical applications. That means working with businesses in the food industry. We have to, because real innovation is a matter of trial and error. Science conducted in an ivory tower doesn’t work, especially not in our sector. At the national level, we’re involved in fishery research, veterinary research and horticulture research, all in different parts of the country. Internationally, we’re very active too. We’ve started up a large

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bioenergy project in Brazil and an agro-food Center of Excellence in Chili. We don’t mind exporting knowledge. As long as we make sure the Netherlands stays ahead of the game. Besides, we also learn a great deal there: knowledge we can import here.

The agro-food sector is of huge importance to the Netherlands. It’s responsible for 10% of our national income and employment. And 25% of our exports. If we don’t keep innovating all the time, those percentages can quickly shrink. It’s just like a pack of cyclists: you have to keep pedaling to stay ahead.

Pedaling has never been a problem in the Netherlands, particularly because of the well-oiled cooperation between the business community, research institutes and government. There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world. If you look at the food supply chain, you see plenty of great innovations. Take the greenhouses: until the 1980s they were energy guzzlers. Now they produce surplus energy. Or take the development of 0% fat custard and yogurt that still tastes creamy. Isn’t that great?” Aalt DijkhuizenChairman of the Executive BoardWageningen University & Research centre

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Aalt Dijkhuizen has been Chairman of the Executive Board of Wageningen UR since March 2002. Previously Dijkhuizen was Managing Director at Nutreco responsible for the Agri business group, Northern Europe and Corporate Director, Food Safety.

“Real innovation is a matter of trial and error”

“In the 1990s, vegetable and plant growers used giant furnaces to heat their greenhouses. If it got too hot inside, they simply opened an extra window. A cheap method, but not exactly good for the environment. There were no economically viable energy-efficient alternatives. Science occasionally came up with some technical wonder, like the ‘closed greenhouse’ that was almost totally solar powered – but in practice these ideas did not gain wide acceptance.

But then the Horticulture Marketing Board (Productschap Tuinbouw) and the Dutch Agricultural and Horticultural Organization (LTO Nederland) asked the Knowhouse Innovation Center for solutions that would offer vegetable and plant growers new opportunities: ‘Future-proof greenhouse horticulture’. We created an alliance of research institutes and businesses, formed a focus group of growers to provide feedback and got started.

Cooperation resulted in the Greenport greenhouse, a smart concept that linked existing climate control techniques. For instance, excess solar heat is extracted from the greenhouse and stored in the ground. In summer, this helps cool the greenhouse; in winter it’s pumped back in for heating. The technology makes it possible to reduce CO2 emissions by 40-55%, enabling the horticultural sector to achieve its climate goals. Growing crops in a Greenport is nothing

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Greenports, Sustainable Innovation in Greenhouse Horticulture

“Innovation is more than mere technology”

The Greenport greenhouse generates 40-55% less CO2. Good for the environment and profitable for the grower. Greenports are the result of the ‘Future-proof Greenhouse Horticulture’ project, an exceptional cooperative effort between research institutes, business and horticultural growers. Knowhouse Innovation Center spearheaded the project, which was nominated for the 2005 Food Valley Award.www.knowhouse.nl

like growing in a conventional greenhouse. So we also provided a lot of crop growing guidance.

Greenport growing is profitable: CO2 concentration, light, temperature and humidity in the greenhouse are all carefully attuned to the plants’ growth stage. This increases yield, which means growers earn back their investments. Residual heat can be used by neighboring businesses or buildings. The ultimate Greenport example is located in Venlo, at Joep Raemakers. This grower’s greenhouse supplies heat to two nearby nursing homes. In 2009, the greenhouse used less than half the energy of a similar-sized conventional greenhouse, while yielding over 20% more tomatoes.

The most innovative aspect of our ‘Future-proof Greenhouse Horticulture’ project was the close cooperation between research institutes, businesses and growers. We inspired trust by making clear agreements about how we would split the profits. Without that trust we would never have found a grower willing to try something so radical. The 2005 Food Valley Award nomination has made the alliance even tighter. The partners were so inspired that they continued innovating together after the project was over. And scores of other growers have adopted parts of the concept, even in conventional greenhouses. That makes us proud.”

Rinus van de WaartDirectorKnowhouse Innovation Center, Horst

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“We had been looking for a new way to sterilize packaging materials such as bottles and cans. The industry usually uses steam or hydrogen peroxide, but we didn’t want that. You use a lot of energy creating steam and with hydrogen peroxide you need a lot of water for rinsing. At Wageningen UR they were experimenting with cold plasma technology. That appealed to us right away. We decided to develop that method further and we got it to work. Our equipment rinses bottles and cans with a plasma created by discharging nitrogen gas, the main element in the air we breathe. It’s done at low temperatures, so it’s energy efficient. There’s no chemical residue and no water is needed to rinse the packaging materials. This technology is much greener than conventional methods.

But customers didn’t exactly come knocking down our door. Although we could prove the technology worked, there was room for improvement. Sterilization took too long, for instance. We are

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Cold Plasma Sterilization

Sterilization of bottles and cans without water or chemicals. It can be done. With energy-efficient cold plasma technology from OMVE Netherlands BV, specialized in smart equipment and processes. The innovation was nominated for a Food Valley Award in 2005.www.omve.com

now able to supply much more intense plasma, which considerably shortens the treatments. We expect the method to be made suitable for surface treating leafy vegetables, fish and chicken.

Cold plasma sterilization is being researched all over the world, but every research group has its own methods. That’s not conducive to development of the field. So, we’ve built a demonstrator which allows every research group to produce and optimize plasma in a standardized way.

Innovation is a mind-set. You have to be driven to lead, and you must cooperate and be willing to take calculated risks. The whole OMVE staff is involved in R&D. Even the salespeople. Our motto is: know your strengths. In the West, we can’t make a profit from cheap stainless steel bulk products. Those can be made much more cheaply in countries like China. Our potential lies in the development of smart equipment for improving processes and products.”

Govert van OordDirectorOMVE Netherlands BV, Schalkwijk

“Know your strengths.”

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Food Valley Food Valley stimulates innovation in the Dutch agro-food sector by partnering knowledge with enterprise, based on the needs expressed by the business community. We offer

answers to questions from entrepreneurs support for project development assistance in establishing innovative food companies in the region support for developing spin-offs and start-ups opportunities for innovation through the Food Valley Society

Contact information

Stichting Food ValleyAgro Business Park 106708 PW Wageningen+31 (0) 317 42 70 95info@foodvalley.nlwww.foodvalley.nl

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Innovation Earns Recognition Over the past five years, many inspiring innovations have been presented to the jury of the Food Valley Award. We would like to thank the innovators for participating in this competition. We would also like to express our appreciation for the great commitment shown by jury members. Their incisive analyses and elaborate consultations have ensured that innovation receives the recognition it deserves.

We owe gratitude to the members of the jury:

The members of the Food Valley Advisory Board Rik Eweg, former Municipal Executive Councilor, City of Wageningen Anne Mensink, independent Life Sciences consultant and Senior

Scientific Officer at Food Valley Hans Verhagen, Director, Center for Food and Health at RIVM

(Dutch National Institute for Health and the Environment) Hugo de Vries, former Inspector, VROM (Dutch Ministry of Housing,

Spatial Planning and the Environment) Toon Wassenberg, Director, Animo Agri Business BV

Special thanks go to Rudy Rabbinge, Professor, Wageningen UR and Chairman of CGIAR’s Science Council, for five years of dedication to Food Valley as chairman of the jury.

ColophonCommissioned by Stichting Food ValleyCopy Lisette de Jong & Heidi KlijsenDesign Roel DalhuisenTranslation Word’s WorthPrinting Drukkerij Macula Editing Jolanda Wels

Co-finanCed by the european union

Know your strengths The biggest challenge is continually improving your product We have to continue to innovate Growth goes hand in hand with innovation The secret of innovation is daring to be strong-willed Train yourself to be patient All the pieces of the puzzle fell

into place You have to be very convincing to win over the customer Cooperation keeps you on your

toes Innovation is more than mere technology Innovation is our forte