For over 25 years, NIZO has played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between fundamental knowledge and practical applications for the food industry. As a founding member of the Top Institute Food & Nutrition (TiFN) in 1997, NIZO has collaborated closely with other esteemed partners, including TNO, WUR, UM, and RUG. Together, we have achieved significant milestones, such as the first complete sequencing of Lactobacillus plantarum genome, and understanding protein formation. Moreover, NIZO’s contributions extend to health studies, including in-depth research on the role of folate and its production. Besides, active involvement in public-private research has provided countless professionals at NIZO with a remarkable career boost, fostering their personal growth and expertise.

Next Food Collective

Furthermore, as a partner in PCC (Protein Competence Centre), CCC (Carbohydrate Competence Centre) and SFI (Sustainable Food Initiative), NIZO ensured that the development of fundamental knowledge is always directly connected to valorisation. In today’s world, the societal and industrial challenges surrounding food production, consumption, health, and sustainability are becoming increasingly urgent.

Over the past year, a dedicated team has collaborated with the boards of PCC, CCC, SFI, and TiFN to revitalize public-private partnerships in the Netherlands. The outcome of this co-creation effort is: Next Food Collective. Their mission is to accelerate sustainable and healthy food innovation. Bringing together multinationals, small and medium size enterprises and knowledge institutes, Next Food Collective will provide a new impulse to public-private partnerships in the agri-food domain. This new collaboration will enable participants to more efficiently translate sustainable and healthy food innovations into products, services, and policies, while also coordinating large-scale national and international funding applications.

Like our fellow partners, NIZO is committed to ensuring the success of this initiative. The threat of fragmentation caused by overly complicated governance looms over our international position. Only through intensive collaboration, we can maintain our position as Europe’s most innovative ecosystem for food innovation. The official launch of Next Food Collective will take place on the 23rd of May 2023. We will be present at this event to extend our best wishes to the new director Marian Geluk, and her team. We are ready to contribute wholeheartedly to the success of the Next Food Collective!