There is urgency to radically improve the sustainability of our food chains. Macro trends show that the world population will grow to around nine billion people in 2050. Rising welfare will change the food consumption patterns; the intake of dairy products, meat and other high quality proteins will increase. At the same time, the availability of clean fresh water and fertile soils will be under pressure due to climate change effects.
Food & Biobased Research has the mission to design and develop radical innovations that make our food production chains more sustainable and healthy. This is in line with the Wageningen UR guideline ambition to double the agroproduction in the 21st century with half the environmental impact.
Inefficient food chains
There are several proofs that our current food chains are highly inefficient. To produce two to three thousand kilocalories of digestible food – required for one person every day – forty to fifty thousand kilocalories – mainly fossil based – are used as input. Thirty to forty percent of all the perishable goods produced are going to waste somewhere in the chain.
Design of sustainable fresh chain concepts
We are internationally leading in the design of sustainable fresh chain concepts and the development of innovative solutions. For instance, at Food & Biobased Research a technology was developed – and implemented globally – to make refrigerated containers at least fifty percent more energy efficient by controlling the temperature based on product needs. Furthermore, mild preservation, sustainable packaging and separation technologies are enhanced to achieve more sustainable production processes. We also design closed loop supply chains, aimed at preventing wastage and making optimal use of biomass, both for food and for biobased products. Another key area of our research is the development of sustainable protein structures and products that match with consumer needs.
Sustainability
We experience that more and more businesses are changing their mindset about sustainability. Companies and governments are increasingly committed to take the leading position in achieving a sustainable food chain. There is strong evidence that a strategy to become a sustainable organization, helps businesses to improve their market position.