What will the food of the future look like – and how can it be produced more sustainably, efficiently and competitively?
Food 2.0 is a extensive research program led by Valio Ltd. It brings together food industry companies, research organisations, technology providers and other innovators. The aim is to create a Finnish nature-smart food system in which growth, profitability and added value are built on the basis of sustainable production.
The programme develops, for example, new food products and ingredients, future production technologies, regenerative agriculture, and circular economy solutions. Collaboration is at the heart of Food 2.0: by combining expertise from across the food chain with research, data and technology, the programme can tackle challenges that no single organisation could solve alone.
Concrete projects across the food value chain
Food 2.0 includes research and development projects that turn the food system of the future into practical solutions. The projects explore areas such as new proteins and fermentation, the potential of oats and pulses, animal welfare measurement, the climate impacts of agriculture, and the use of side streams as valuable new raw materials.
For example, the FoodID project develops new protein and fat solutions through fermentation. MetaFerm explores how oats, peas and faba beans can be used to create tastier and nutritionally improved fermented products. FABulOATS, in turn, focuses on developing the properties of oats and faba beans to better meet the needs of the food industry.
Circular economy projects look for new uses for production side streams. AlgaCircle studies the potential of microalgae as raw material for food, feed and other products, while VALABio explores how side streams from dairy and meat production could be refined into valuable ingredients for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
Primary production also plays an important role. CARBON+ generates more accurate information on the climate impacts of agriculture, while projects focusing on animal welfare develop new ways to measure, verify and utilise welfare data throughout the food value chain.
What all these projects have in common is the aim of turning research into practice – into new products, technologies, operating models and business opportunities.
Food 2.0 has an ambitious goal: to strengthen the competitiveness of the Finnish food sector, increase exports and build a more resource-efficient food system in which great food and sustainable growth go hand in hand.
Food 2.0 demonstrates what the renewal of the food sector can look like at its best: research, bold experimentation and new innovations from farm to fork.
