A new, open collaborative platform, Plant2Food, just gained major support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The funding will help to accelerate the development of plant-based foods with up to €27 million ($26.9m) over the next five years and to optimize collaboration across the various sectors within plant and food science.
“Plant2Food creates a unique opportunity to make Denmark a leader in developing plant-based foods and ensure that we leverage the huge potential already existing in Denmark’s research community and companies and build networks with the best international experts in the field,” says Claus Felby, senior vice president of biotech at the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Plant2Food will include researchers and companies that will collaborate and explore some of the most difficult challenges within plant and food science. They will then share the new knowledge across sectors without taking out patents on the results. This knowledge will then become available to everyone, creating a cycle so that more companies and researchers can benefit from the same knowledge, and potentially use them for commercial purposes.
Novo Nordisk believes the key to accelerating this transition is developing a greater selection of tasty, nutritious and sustainable plant-based food products that are also affordable to consumers.
Plant2Food already has some strong partners. One of these is Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, representing small and large companies, knowledge institutions and other organizations working within the food and bioresources sector in Denmark.
Director Lars Visbech Sørensen said: “The food industry is pursuing new, innovative solutions within plant-based foods to meet a growing market. For example, there is a high demand for new ingredients that are grown in Denmark and can contribute to an improved taste experience.
“This is precisely why we need research into new ingredients and varietal development of existing protein crops that have good cultivation characteristics in the Danish climate. An improved ingredient base can contribute to the whole plant-based food industry becoming a new position of strength for the Danish food industry.”
