Region West Partner Event in Edinburgh: “We must now work harder if we want to inform the public about sustainability and nutrition!”

From discussions about sustainable packaging, to the future of the EU-Green Deal, and not forgetting the newest topic of pet food, EIT Food’s community dived into multiple conversations across the Edinburgh conference.

The 1st evening of the two-day event was dedicated to EIT Food Strategic and Delivery Partners, offering the opportunity to have personal conversations with members of the EIT Food Board. Following the reception, all partners were invited for a festive dinner, where Thomas Engel, a member of the Supervisory Board, and EIT Food CEO Richard Zaltzman gave a warm welcome and introduction. The keynote of the evening was Garlich von Essen, who worked for a long time at the European Commission and European Parliament in different roles, before becoming Secretary General and CEO of Euroseeds in Brussels.

Garlich passionately spoke about the past and the future of the Green Deal and pointed out the new situation after the votes in the European Union: “We must now work harder if we want to inform the public about sustainability and nutrition. Because of new political conditions in Europe, demonstration by the farmers and the ongoing war, people are no longer taking up our issues so easily and openly or are elementary issues such as the cost pressure on farmers and consumers simply taking center stage?".

However, EIT Food has so many success stories to report on the transition to a better food system, as well as important new scientific findings, that there are many good arguments for continuing to convince people of the importance of the path we have taken.

Garlich von Essen: "Let us all be even more active in tackling this task and communicate with people in an understandable language and with easily comprehensible examples”.

Garlich, himself a farmer who has owned farmland with his family in the north of Germany for generations, had a lot of sympathy for the farmers' protests, as they also addressed the true value of food more clearly. "Consumers only see the small price and can't grasp the entire food system at the same time”.

The main conference (held the following day) started with a Welcome from EIT Food CEO Richard Zaltzman: “We all work in different places and positions to change our food, but we need more engagement and more new funding coalitions to have a faster result in changing the food system into a healthier and sustainable one!”

The event's main purpose was to come together and network within the EIT Food community, to provide insights and learn from one another as to how we can make the food system more sustainable. The event, moderated by Laura Elphick and Frank Horlbeck from EIT Food West, focused on two main topics within EIT Food’s net zero mission: “Packaging for sustainable and safe foods” and “Producing healthy, nutritious food using regenerative agriculture” and the sub-genres within them.

Starting the day with the panel discussion “How do we keep delivering the food we need, at a quality and price that doesn’t cost the earth and feeds the population appropriately”, moderated by EIT Food Director of Partner Recruitment, Jayne Brookman, created conversation around the wide field of challenges.

Dirk Holste, Deputy Head of Center, Health amd Bioresources at the Austrian Institute of Technology, part of the panel on stage, pointed out that science in general is faster with solutions and therefore needs more support from the governments in Europe and networks like EIT. Startups are also game changing for the sector, which another panelist Cathy Hutz, Co-Founder of the EIT Food awarded startup Infinite Roots, discussed with the audience. Lesley Mitchell, Director of Policy at the Sustainable Food Trust in the UK and a specialist in system change for sustainable future, also pointed in the direction of the farmers throughout the discussion, who must ensure healthy nutrition, but require more support from politicians and fair prices on the food market to do so.

The panel agreed that collaboration is key for delivering the food we need at appropriate quality and price, and that many stakeholders across the industry can make incredible changes.

Various groups discussed the topics “Packaging for sustainable and safe food” and “Producing healthy, nutritious food using regenerative agriculture” at the roundtables (a format with ten attendees on each table) following impulse presentations by Damien Jourdan, Danone, and Harry Langford, UK AgriTech Centre, as well as from Ieva Hofmane from the startup Mimica. Mimica’s bump solution aimed to inspire attendees to think about how we could support disruptive packaging solutions to market and scale.

Harry Langford spoke about the links between regenerative agriculture and food quality, presenting the pathways such as stress response, soil structure and function, and microbiome-mediated uptake efficiencies, with examples from the UK AgriTech Centre.

There was a great deal of content and perseverance in all the discussion rounds, and EIT Food colleagues recorded the results for follow-up reporting. For example, Damien Jourdan from Danone spoke about EIT Food’s regenerative innovation portfolio. Damien explained how the co-financed portfolio was designed to bring together different industry players to develop regenerative agriculture across multiple landscapes in a pre-competitive way. This encouraged attendees to learn more about the regenerative innovation portfolio and to also think about how other local initiatives could support the scale-up and adoption of regenerative farming across Europe. 

Pitches from EIT Food startups and Edinburgh startups gained great attention in the afternoon: “Litte Inca” from London about healthy nutrition for children, “Quas” from Edinburgh, with their health-focused drinks, “Crover Tech” about their “grain-swimming robots”, “Alberts” from Belgium about sustainable robotic solutions for fresh smoothies (made from leftovers) and “Mimica” from the UK, with their “Bump” that shows when food spoils.

Towards the end of the day, a panel discussion regarding pet food took place, a topic discussed for the very first time at an EIT Food event. “What role can pet food play in the food systems transformation”? Although pet food production is essential for our companion animals, the different production processes can have negatives impacts regarding greenhouse gases, high water consumption and the use of large agricultural areas.

The panel consisted of Prof. Andrew Knight and Prof. Peter Alexander and was moderated by an EIT Food Region West Key Account Manager, Alicia Abendroth. Prof. Peter Alexander from the University of Edinburgh presented the idea of a circular system for farms whereas Prof. Andrew Knight from Griffith University advocated for purely vegan pet food, sharing facts and figures to support his ideas.

Ending the night with a relaxed dinner and a surprise from a traditional bagpiper in the center of the city, Joanne Burns from the Food and Drink Federation Scotland joined EIT Food at the dinner venue to give the final speech of the night. She touched upon nutrition and dietary goals, and mentioned how FDF Scotland are now part of a new project alongside 40 very well-known associations to change the food system for a healthier and sustainable future.

EIT Food is about innovation, whether this be production innovation, business models, technological, economic, social and more. The organisation prioritise collaboration and will continue working passionately and supporting the wider community.

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