With the presentation of the Food Valley Award Food Valley recognises the most innovative initiative in the food (and food-related) industry.  The jury has nominated three initiatives from the entries. The members of the jury for the Food Valley Award 2010 are:  J. Maat, managing director of Topinstituut Food & Nutrition (jury chairman), P. Buwalda, Manager Innovation Centre Food AVEBE, A. Mensink, Scientific Affairs foundation Food Valley, J. Nelissen, director of Newtricious B.V., H. Verhagen, head of the RIVM Centre for Food and Health and H. de Vries, former inspector for the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony during the Dutch Food Valley Conference on October 7 in Ede, The Netherlands.

 

Tight grip on the quality of apples and pears
Fresh vegetable products often go through complex supply chains on their way from producer to consumer. During export or long-term storage it is vital to make an accurate assessment of the product quality in order to avoid large volumes of unmarketable end-products. Five to ten percent of the harvest of hard fruits such as apples and pears is destroyed each year because the quality turns out to be substandard when the cold stores are opened. Apples and pears are harvested in a short time period and then stored under special conditions so that good quality, healthy fruit can be supplied all year round. The quality of the fruit after long-term storage strongly depends on its condition when put into storage, and that condition is determined by the growing conditions and time of harvesting. Together with other stakeholders in the fruit industry (auctions and growers) NSure has developed an innovative technology, based on analyses of gene activity. “The technology makes it possible to predict the optimum harvesting time and to determine immediately following harvesting whether a batch will be able to withstand long-term storage. High risk batches can be sold straight away or stored for short periods of time. That limits the financial risk for the grower and trader and improves the efficiency and sustainability of fruit production”, explains Monique van Wordragen, managing director of NSure.

The Zócijs, the healthier sausage roll
When it comes to ‘living more healthily and consciously’ the Netherlands finds itself on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, people are becoming more and more aware of the need to take exercise and eat healthily, but the Dutch also like the idea of a ‘nice snack’ on the other. It will come as no surprise that deep-fried croquettes and mince sausages and sausage rolls are in the top 5 favourite Dutch snacks. With a turnover volume of around 200 million pieces a year, the sausage roll is one of the Netherlands’ best-selling snacks, a number that continues to rise each year. But the sausage roll does not score well when it comes to the number of calories. That is what prompted Smilde Bakery in Edam, a division of the family firm Royal Smilde of Heerenveen, which produces pastries, snacks, seasonal confectionary and cake for the professional market, to set out to make a healthier sausage roll. “Together with RijnIJssel Vakschool Wageningen, Wageningen UR and Smilde Foods we developed the ‘Zócijs’, an equally tasty sausage roll with a good filling and crispy puff pastry that contains 25% less fat, 25% less salt and 25% fewer calories”, says Lex Burki, commercial director of Smilde Bakery.

Optimisation of animal welfare and efficiency in the veal supply chain
Innovation, supply chain efficiency and animal welfare are central elements in the VanDrie Group’s strategy of sustainable growth. The global market leader for veal has developed an innovative concept in which the entire supply chain contributes to achieving higher standards. “We believe that the innovations combined provide a stronger basis than individual innovations alone. The integral approach enables us to stand out in the development of new standards in supply chain efficiency and in the animal welfare area”, says Henny Swinkels, Director of Corporate Affairs. The overall concept targets aspects including: Comfort class lorries for climate controlled  transport of animals, the prevention of animal diseases and the development of an Animal Welfare Code that serves to ensure that animal welfare occupies an even more important position in the VanDrie Group. VanDrie Group is the first veal producer to gain accreditation for the use of the Beter Leven (‘Better Life’) hallmark of the Dierenbescherming (animal protection) organisation. The efforts of Dierenbescherming have helped to ensure that animal welfare in the veal supply chain of VanDrie Group has been given an even more prominent position. 

Food Valley Conference
The Food Valley Award 2010 is being presented during the Dutch Food Valley Conference “Money: Revealing Business Models in Food”. The central theme of this conference is: Are we still operating the right business model? The Food Valley Conference offers revealing insights into the business model of today and the future. Inspirational speakers including Jonas Ridderstråle (top management guru), Cees ’t Hart (CEO FrieslandCampina) and others will be telling us about the numerous ways in which companies can achieve the desired return on investment. Food Plaza is the central meeting place where activities and table meetings will be held throughout the day for and with the participants so that they can experience the innovations for themselves. For more information or to register immediately, go to www.foodvalley.nl/conference.