ADM Switzerland wins Fi Europe Innovation Awards for its new alt-protein ingredient made out of peas.

ADM Switzerland wins Fi Europe Innovation Awards for its new alt-protein ingredient made out of peas.

Winning in best Ingredient Innovation this year, ADM’s ProFam Pea provides a cleaner, less bitter taste experience than other pea proteins and reduces the need for masking or top notes.

The plant-based boom is one of the top 2021 global industry trends identified by ADM, and it is reaching new heights in Europe where more than 50 percent of consumers identify as flexitarians. 

FI Europe Innovation Awards recognizes an organization or company that has submitted the best ingredient or process in terms of sensory and physical properties or application costs. Winning in best Ingredient Innovation this year, ADM’s ProFam Pea provides a cleaner, less bitter taste experience than other pea proteins and reduces the need for masking or top notes.

Latest News

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem and be partof the journey!

EPFL Spin-off Plastogaz awarded CHF 85K to further its research in sustainable disposal of plastic waste

EPFL Spin-off Plastogaz awarded CHF 85K to further its research in sustainable disposal of plastic waste

Plastogaz, a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), has developed a technology that uses powerful catalysts to selectively convert mixed plastics that cannot be recycled into methane.

Plastogaz is a technology company founded in 2020 that focuses on the development of new processes for the circular economy. Awarded CHF 85’000 by Tech4impact to further its research, the swiss startup is developing a technology that has the potential to considerably reduce the greenhouse gases resulting from the disposal of plastic waste (e.g. through incineration). 

Almost 100 project teams responded to the first call for proposals launched by Switzerland Innovation together with Tech4Impact and partners from the Swiss economy. Six projects were selected based on their degree of innovation, sustainability and technology. The topics addressed by the award-winning projects range from reducing water consumption to renewable heat generation and the improved usability of electronic waste. 

The Plastogaz™ process

The original Plastogaz technology transforms plastic waste into grid-compatible methane. The technology can be declined into other products for other markets. For instance, the startup claims is can also transform mixed plastics into naphtha, which is used in turn to produce new plastics. In the long term and thanks to it’s innovative process, the company aims at converting heterogeneous feedstocks into a single, ready-to-use molecule.

Tech4Impact: A Boost for Innovation Projects

The Switzerland Innovation Tech4Impact initiative aims to help pioneering innovation projects addressing one of six selected UN Sustainable Development Goals achieve a breakthrough. In order to qualify for a subsidy, the proposed project must be based on an advanced technology that will reach maturity and application within the next three years.

The award-winning project teams are to receive a CHF 85,000 grant. The funds are designed to give the innovation projects a considerable boost, make them ready for market launch or allow them to embark on further development. The subsidies are financed by the following innovation partners: ABB, Credit Suisse, Die Mobiliar, economiesuisse, Interpharma, Schindler, Swiss Re Foundation, Swisscom, UBS and Zurich Insurance.

More information is available at: www.sitech4impact.ch

Latest News

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem and be partof the journey!

REM Analytics: Uncovering new applications in microbiome, certification and food safety

REM Analytics: Uncovering new applications in microbiome, certification and food safety

A science is only as good as its measurement tools. Based in Monthey (Canton of Valais), REM Analytics offers solutions for measuring genetic composition in mixed DNA samples. 

DNA analysis, particularly when applied in microbiome, has the potential to provide breakthrough solutions in countless industries. Swiss startup REM Analytics is looking at microorganisms through the lens of DNA to uncover new opportunities in personalised nutrition, precision medicine, food authenticity, agriculture and more.

We sat down with founder and CEO, Dr. Paulo Refinetti, to ask three questions about what they’re working on.

SFNV: What’s the founding story behind REM Analytics; and what made you pick this specific field of innovation?


Dr. Paulo Refinetti: REM Analytics started as a company at the end of my doctoral research project at EPFL with co- founders Prof. Stephan Morgenthaler, Dr. Anna Surowska and Dr. Per Ekstrom in 2017, but the underlying inspiration comes from the work done in the 1980’s by our friend and mentor Prof. William Thilly on Cycling Temperature Capillary Electrophoresis (CTCE).

 

I am a statistician, and during my PhD I was attempting to model cancer and tumour growth in humans. This was difficult, but the problem was not in the modelling or statistics the project involved; the challenge came from the lack of sufficiently accurate data. It was at this point that I realised that the measurement tools we use in life science do not provide us with the quality data we require, and this is the limiting factor on much of scientific progress. My PhD supervisor and co-founder, Prof. Morgenthaler, introduced me to the work of Prof. Thilly on CTCE, which is a method for detecting, characterizing and quantifying variations in genetic sequences using mutational spectroscopy. This realization that we can find genetic mutations struck me as something very powerful, and I was convinced that CTCE could become the measurement tool that was missing in biotech. At this point the idea and technology was raw, so I worked with Stephan and Per on enhancing CTCE with bioinformatics and robust mathematical models, and with Anna on putting all the pieces of the ‘business puzzle’ together to launch our technology as a company.

CTCE, following all our innovations and improvements, became what we like to call Advanced Testing for Genetic Composition (ATGC). ATGC is the DNA-analysis platform we’re based on, and it provides the most advanced method of genetic analysis available. The result is REM Analytics. 

 

Tell us more about the solution you’re developing: at what stage of product development are you?

P. R : DNA analysis, particularly when applied in microbiome, has the potential to provide breakthrough solutions in countless industries. If we start looking at organisms or microorganisms through the lens of DNA, there are opportunities to offer new solutions in personalised nutrition, precision medicine, skincare, food authenticity, bioprocess management or even agriculture. The exciting thing is that these fields of research are still largely unknown and undiscovered. This genetic information available to companies in pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture and cosmetics is a valuable strategic asset. By fully leveraging this information, leading companies can gain a competitive edge while maximising the success, efficiency and Net Present Value (NPV) of their R&D projects. REM Analytics’ provides an end-to-end research & development service to do just that. We translate raw biological samples into actionable data that is user-friendly for research teams.

Our research and development service is unique due to the capabilities of ATGC, our proprietary genetic measurement platform. ATGC does not use sequencing and thus can achieve a high-throughput, strain-level resolution and unrivalled quantitative accuracy. It is also highly versatile, allowing us to customize the analysis to your specific questions. Providing solutions always begins with us listening. We extensively discuss with our partners to understand their objectives and challenges and we tailor our analysis accordingly. Then we run the customized analysis from our fully operational labs in Monthey, Switzerland.  

 

What’s coming next for REM Analytics ? 

P.R : Our main focus over the coming months will be to successfully complete the series of projects we are currently running with various partners. These projects have been a great opportunity for us to really adapt our technology and experience to diverse fields of application, and fine-tune small features of our analytical platform, notably the IT back-end. We are also looking forward to meeting and discussing with leading, innovation-driven companies and institutions who are seeking to improve their R&D efficiency and integrate cutting-edge biotechnology to differentiate and prove the efficacy of their products.

Over the long-term, the vision is to scale our capabilities, by developing more core technologies that can be deployed to other domains of life sciences. These would be developed as our own solutions and would be spin-offs of our model and technology.

 

Find out more:

REM Analytics is located in the BioArk in the Swiss canton of Valais, a region with a long tradition in life sciences.

 

FOR TECHNOLOGY-RELATED INQUIRIES

contact Paulo Refinetti

FOR BUSINESS AND PARTNERSHIP INQUIRIES

contact Anna Surowska

 

Latest News

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem and be partof the journey!

Le Canton de Fribourg joins the SFNV.

Le Canton de Fribourg joins the SFNV.

The Canton of Fribourg has joined today the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley association, whose aim is to increase the international visibility and networking of the Swiss agri-food sector.

At today’s general assembly, the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley (SFNV) association welcomed the Canton of Fribourg as a new member. Together with the canton of Fribourg, Agroscope and the Food & Nutrition Cluster have also joined the association. Thanks to its proven skills in this sector, the Canton of Fribourg can make a significant contribution to the development of this network and help shape its future development. 

“Bioeconomy and the agrifood sector represents an essential pillar of the Fribourg economy. Becoming a member of the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley is moving in the direction of a development strategy for this sector beyond cantonal or even national borders.” adds Olivier Curty, Director of Economy and Employment at the State of Fribourg.

The SFNV is very happy to welcome the Canton of Fribourg as a member, a central player in the food industry in Switzerland, and an essential bridge between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland“, welcomes Christian Nils Schwab, President of the Executive Committee of the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley.

Fribourg: one of the most dynamic cantons in the agrifood sector

The canton of Fribourg aims to be a Swiss leader in the food industry and is characterized by an impressive density of food companies of national and international dimension. As a result, this sector has importance in terms of employment and an added value that greatly exceeds the Swiss average. The dynamism of the sector is also reflected in both private and public investments. Thus, the expansion of the Nespresso plant in Romont (with its center of excellence) represents an investment of 160 million francs and the creation of 300 jobs. Micarna has also just announced an investment in one of the most modern poultry processing plants in Europe with 500 jobs.

In addition, Fribourg, which already hosts the Food & Nutrition Cluster with nearly 90 members, will also host the NTN Innovation Booster “Next Generation of Food Ecosystems” from next year, a national network focused on nutrition, the circular economy and sustainable packaging.

The State of Fribourg, for its part, invests and continues to invest in the bioeconomy and its sites for agro-food innovation such as the AgriCo Campus in Saint-Aubin (FR), dedicated to the creation of value in the fields agriculture, nutrition and biomass. The Agricultural Institute of Grangeneuve is developing its competence center for raw milk, and thanks to the upcoming establishment of the new Agroscope headquarters, the number of employees of the Federal Institute will increase from 130 to 450 employees.

This ecosystem dedicated to the food industry also benefits from synergies with the University of Fribourg, the Swiss Integrative Center for Human Health (SICHH), the Swiss NanoAnalytics of the Adolphe Merklea Institute as well as the HES-SO.

This whole environment is particularly favourable to innovation, since it creates a permanent emulation between actors with varied expertises and backgrounds. The meeting between the rich agro-food traditions of our canton and companies at the forefront of research offers exceptional opportunities“, notes the State Councilor of Fribourg, Didier Castella, in charge of agriculture

International visibility thanks to the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley

With its membership, the canton of Fribourg will be able to strengthen the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, on one hand thanks to its many skills as well as its function as a link between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland. On the other hand, Fribourg will benefit from the international influence of this young and dynamic network, founded in spring 2020 by the canton of Vaud, Nestlé, the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne and the EPF Lausanne.

State Councilor Olivier Curty: “We consider the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley to be complementary to the Food & Nutrition Cluster. The main objective of the cluster is to strengthen cooperation between the various regional and national actors in the food sector. The Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, for its part, will make our skills and our wealth in the food sector visible at international level.

Renseignements

Olivier Curty, Conseiller d’Etat, Directeur de l’économie et de l’emploi, T +41 26 305 24 00

Jerry Krattiger, Directeur de la Promotion économique du canton de Fribourg, T +41 26 304 14 00

Fathi Derder, Directeur de la Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, M +41 79 469 61 48

We consider the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley to be complementary to the Food & Nutrition Cluster. The main objective of the cluster is to strengthen cooperation between the various regional and national actors in the food sector. The Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, for its part, will make our skills and our wealth in the food sector visible at international level.

Olivier Curty

Director of Economy and Employment, State of Fribourg

The SFNV is very happy to welcome the Canton of Fribourg as a member, a central player in the food industry in Switzerland, and an essential bridge between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland.

Christian Schwab

Chairman of the Executive Committee, Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley

This whole environment is particularly favourable to innovation, since it creates a permanent emulation between actors with varied expertises and backgrounds. The meeting between the rich agro-food traditions of our canton and companies at the forefront of research offers exceptional opportunities

Didier Castella

State Councilor of Fribourg for Agriculture

Latest Members

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem and be partof the journey!

Agroscope: Switzerland has everything it needs to become a global hub for food, agriculture, and nutrition innovation

Switzerland has everything it needs to become a global hub for food, agriculture and nutrition innovation

A conversation with Agroscope’s Dr Fabian Wahl

From where Dr Fabian Wahl is sitting – Agroscope’s Liebefeld research station, for the curious – Switzerland is already well on its way to becoming a global hub for innovation in food, agriculture and nutrition.

Agroscope’s Head of Food Microbial Systems believes the country has the winning combination it needs to achieve this goal: forward-thinking and highly qualified researchers, a robust economy and a high number of engaged companies in multiple, interconnected sectors are all driving this trajectory.

Wahl has been leading the Food Microbial Systems strategic research division at Agroscope’s Bern-Liebefeld site since 2018. Agroscope is the Swiss Confederation’s centre of excellence for agricultural research, and an influential contributor to the fields of sustainable farming and food across Switzerland. With sites and research stations all over Switzerland , Agroscope operates via a decentralised infrastructure which takes into account the regional differences across the Swiss agro-environmental system.

The German native, who also sits on Agroscope’s Executive Board, is both galvanised and pragmatic about the issues facing the Swiss food, farming and nutrition sectors, whether that’s investigating the effect of fermented foods on human gut bacteria, achieving greater agricultural self-sufficiency or – this year’s hot topic – the intersection between COVID-19 and nutrition.

In a special interview to mark Agroscope’s new membership of the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, Wahl discusses the diversity of Agroscope’s contributions to Swiss agriculture, food and nutrition – from field to fork to fermentation inside the body.

Dr Fabian Wahl

Head of Food Microbial Systems and Member of the Executive Board at Agroscope

Agroscope is a Swiss governmental body dedicated to agricultural research. Our work encompasses the entire food and agriculture ecosystem nationwide. We study the whole process from primary production to food processing, nutrition, including how food interacts inside the human body. There are 17 strategic research fields in the 2018-21 Work Programme spanning issues as diverse as the development of sustainable proteins, making Swiss agriculture climate change-proof and lowering the risks of bacterial food contamination.

My research group works on food microbial systems, delving as deeply as possible into the human body. My team studies how microorganisms within food interact with the human digestive system. How do bacteria help – or hinder – us? We study how we can add fermented cultures to foods to improve their taste, quality and safety. We look at processed convenience foods, which are more likely to be contaminated by bacteria. And we ponder whether we can use bacteria to make plants more disease-resistant or to improve the level of micronutrients in fruit. This focus on microbes, while current, is not new – it is a huge part of Swiss history. We are in fact custodians of the oldest, largest collection of bacterial cultures used in the fermentation of food, the Liebefeld Kulturen.

We scrutinise all stages of a food product’s journey, from planting to plate to palate. Let us take milk as an example. It is used in famous Swiss cheeses like Appenzeller and Gruyère, so it is an essential component of the Swiss food ecosystem. We start by studying the cows, to ensure they are producing the highest standard of milk possible. Then we look at how the milk is processed and how to maintain its quality during manufacturing. We examine its microbial content as it is made into cheese and onwards, as it is digested by the human body.

Swiss cheese is world-renowned. Now we are also applying this knowledge to other food types, like fermented plant products.

Fermentation in food has been one of our major focuses since 2015.

After all, Swiss cheese is world-renowned.We have long been active in the dairy sector. Now we are also applying this knowledge to other food types, like fermented plant products. Containing over 10,000 strains, our exclusive collection of bacteria allows us to modify the nutritional profile of food products with fermentation, increasing their nutritional value. We are also investigating whether fermented foods have positive health benefits. How does fermented food impact human gut flora? And – just as important – does it taste good? Eating good food should not be a chore, like refuelling your car; it should be a joy.

Fermentation Tank | Envato © 

Swiss people have an emotional connection to their landscape and the food it yields.

We are a small nation and we are immensely proud of our landscape. We appreciate our mountains and our lakes; we know where our food is produced. We want to protect these assets for future generations. Our work at Agroscope builds on this essence of ‘Swissness’. We are lucky that these topics are valued within Swiss society.

The Swiss can afford to be early adopters. When it comes to innovation, you need to be prepared to think outside the box. However, being able to afford to innovate is just as important. Early adoption is always more expensive. It starts with the luxury sector, before costs gradually come down over time. Switzerland is a wealthy country and so having the investment and resources to bring about change is really what makes Switzerland stand out.

Switzerland is pretty self-sufficient. Our small country provides around 60 percent of its own food. We produce our own meat, wheat, and dairy. We are an outlier compared to other small countries, which generally produce less of their own food. The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying transportation restrictions have shown just how important local food production is.

The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying transportation restrictions have shown just how important local food production is.

Swiss Food Industries | Agroscope © Jürg Waldmeier

COVID-19 has made the link between diet and health plainer than ever.

While most people experience a mild illness, those with certain risk factors like diabetes, obesity or coronary heart disease are more likely to develop serious complications. Most of these illnesses have a complex network of causes, but poor nutrition is a significant risk factor. With improved nutrition – especially personalised nutrition – you can manage many of those risks. Nutrition is gaining more and more traction among the general population, and we are addressing this need, asking and answering the question of how we can all benefit from advances in nutritional science and consume healthier diets. With food and nutrition, your target group really is the entire population.

New technologies like vertical farming and aquaponic systems will allow us to produce food hyperlocally.

Swiss startups are already working in these areas. This year the vulnerability of global supply chains became immediately clear. This is one positive among the many negative aspects of the pandemic. There will be more emphasis on where food is produced, reducing transportation and pivoting to regional produce. Other countries are scrambling to catch up whereas we are well-placed to lead the way. We have already been doing it for years.

As a result, we boast world-leading companies and institutions. We are home to world-renowned research institutes like ETH Zurich while the Nestlé brand is a household name around the world. There is also an incredibly active startup culture that is constantly driving innovation. These companies sit alongside 60,000 small to medium-sized farms, which – supported by Agroscope – have the tools to initiate sustainable change in food production and agriculture. All the cards are in our hands.

Agroscope has partnered with ETH Zurich on a pioneering research study. The NutriExhalomics project aims to develop a breath test to analyse the effects of certain foods on our health. We hope this non-invasive and cost-effective test will provide immediate, real-time information on health. The research will support clinical diagnostics in medicine. We know human breath can contain very early signs of some illnesses, especially those affecting the lungs or the digestive system.

This study, and many others, champion cooperation between scientific disciplines. At Agroscope we bring together innovators from an array of different disciplines. This is an attractive prospect for trailblazing researchers who are keen to join interdisciplinary teams. We combine teams of agronomists, economists and molecular biologists to work together on one challenge, sharing their differing views on the same subject.

Agroscope’s new research center | Posieux, Fribourg

Our new laboratory in Posieux is scheduled to open in 2024. 

As well as being a cutting-edge research facility, the site will become Agroscope’s centralised campus and management headquarters. Having our labs in one place will bring incredible opportunities for interdisciplinary projects. An on-site Biosafety Level 3 classified pilot plant will give us exciting opportunities to research food safety – we will even be able to conduct experiments on the bacteria on original-size cheese wheels!

Agroscope is not a lonesome player on the field. More than anything, I want to emphasise how important it is to see our organisation as an active, engaged participant in the Swiss research landscape. Our focus is on evidence-based analysis, knowledge transfer and a highly integrated network. In normal years, we hold many seminars and events to channel our knowledge to  farmers and scientists. I think Agroscope’s membership of the SFNV will only facilitate and enhance this goal, as well as helping us to connect with new partners.

Switzerland has everything it needs to become a global centre for food, agriculture and nutrition innovation. The three biggest contributing factors to innovation are a supply of motivated researchers, engaged industrial companies and startups, and sufficient funding. We have all three. We are ready to go! In fact, I would say we are already well on our way.

✉️ Subscribe to SFNV newsletter

48h to rethink a world with less meat: How I participated in my first Hackathon by Swiss Food Research

48h to rethink a world with less meat: How I participated in my first Hackathon by Swiss Food Research

Last week I participated in the 48h Makeathon: Meat the Future organized by Swiss Food Research.

Following the design-thinking approach combined with expert inputs to foster innovation in one of the most pressing challenges the world food system is facing: our meat consumerism. Participants worked in preformed teams to create new business ideas that would help reduce meat consumption and presented them to expert judges at the end of the event.

Christel Michel

Intern, Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley

 Challenge Brief – Social & cultural dimension

Eating and diets have a strong socio-cultural and psychological link – Taking this into account, what can help to successfully rethink meat consumption habits?

  • Day 1. Setting the scene through presenting the topic through various speakers presenting their research and development in the area. This concrete data served as a strong basis to drive the teams.
  • Day 2. The most intense of the days. Full on idea creation and prototyping.
  • Day 3. Finalization and presentation of solutions.

Tackling global food challenges with a collaborative and diverse team

I was blessed with a wonderful team, full of knowledge, each of us bringing our own spark and expertise from different fields, food science, business, nutrition and hospitality.

We received the “highest social impact” award. Our project, “Beyond MEATing” focused on empowering companies to boost employee engagement and reach their sustainability goals even though people work in home office. With our slogan : Connect. Act. Have fun.

To do this we wanted to create a platform to unite home-office workers through their love of food, but not just any food. We would send employees a plant-based mystery box to conjure up meals of the future, all locally sourced, all sustainable. It is pertinent and a valid business opportunity as companies must push CSR to concrete actions, no more greenwashing.

Although a logistically complex project, the after effects would work positively on many levels.

  • Engaging local farmers for ingredients, 
  • Making plant-based ingredients accessible and socially accepted 
  • Reconnecting and reviving life within the home 

… All of this through one movement. Beyond MEATing. Prized with a further 15 hours of coaching from Swiss Food Research, we now have the option to try and bring our idea to fruition. 

Exploring ideas and discovering new solutions

Through design thinking processes you can go from a 50 idea mindmap to a 1 idea pitch within less than 48 hours. All you need is a diverse team of motivated people and a time crunch, and the tool “miro” we used was a great help to visually map everything out. You can very quickly produce a relatively solid business plan. So if you have an idea, go for it!

Overall, what I found most impressive over the workshop was the passion and sheer quantity of ideas all participants had. It  gave me hope that despite having many worldly issues to tackle, we are not missing ideas or motivated individuals that truly want to take them further and solve problems.

I feel inspired and more engaged than ever to tackle the food crisis through a new and innovative business. 

Latest News

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem and be partof the journey!

Sign In

Register

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address, you will receive a link to create a new password via email.