19 Jan Changing the food ecosystem: inspiring conversations at DLD Conference
DLD Conference is Europe’s leading event on innovation, digitization, and science.
Under the motto “Beyond NOW”, the 3-day event took place last week, hosting over 1,500 thought leaders and top executives from more than 50 countries, to learn and discuss frontier technologies, the future of work, health, food, and climate action, among others.
Our founder Henrik Stamm Kristensen was one of the guest speakers and participated at the round table “Changing the Food Ecosystem” with David Bucca, CEO of Change Foods, Olaf Koch, from Zintinus, and Dr. Manon Sarah Littek, Founding Partner of Green Generation Fund, to discuss the future of food systems.
Do we have the resources to feed all people on the planet with healthy and nutritious food products using food ingredients from sustainable global supply chains? All participants agreed that transforming the global food system is one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century. It must be done by visionary and committed people and organizations from soil to mouth.
Henrik highlighted that “big conglomerates produce 20% of the world food but take 80% of the value, and have built the position on brands and superior control of historic supply chains, and that is one of the main reasons for the actual inequality in food distribution and food quality.
This was the starting point of the implementation of a distributed network of multi-localized production hubs to facilitate more efficient and sustainable food production with the purpose of feeding all people in all places.
Henrik explained: “We patented a portable plant, the Portable Powder Blending, and installed the first one in India in 2011, helping food companies launch new food products in less than 90 days, based on sustainable local raw materials, like ragi, reducing costs and empowering local entrepreneurs”.
Blendhub is now offering Food-as-a-Service, fostering transparent and accountable supply chains, creating innovative food products, digitizing food quality, and focusing on making food products accessible and affordable for consumers.
Alternative proteins were another topic of discussion. David Bucca, CEO of Change Foods, explained how technology can help innovate plant-based products and transform the future of food.
Olaf Koch, the partner at Zintius, emphasized the importance of food tech to optimize food production, especially in countries with little self-supply. And he noted that “we need to build a coalition with the people that can make this change happen”.
So did Satya Tripathi, from the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet: “Will we be able to make the global food system sustainable? It can only be done by building strategic partnerships, by focusing on action and we are doing exactly that empowering regenerative agriculture in India”.
In short, at the DLD Conference discussions focused on how to design a more sustainable future for the planet. The food industry is key in this transition and technology is our great ally.
Watch the full video here