Over 50 delegates from the cell-cultured protein industry came together yesterday for the official opening of the world’s first dedicated food-grade powder production facility for cell feed at Nutreco in Boxmeer, The Netherlands.
Nutreco officially opens first cell feed production facility
Opening the event David Blakemore, Nutreco CEO welcomed the community and talked to the importance of continuous innovation and collaboration in the industry to tackle to challenge of feeding an ever-growing global population sustainably, and the leading role Nutreco is taking to support the industry’s growth.
We recognise the possibilities in cultivated protein and think this industry holds tremendous potential. One of the biggest challenges it faces though is how to feed the protein cells cost-efficiently, sustainably and at very large scale. At Nutreco, we believe we can create cell culture media with a lower cost and enable the industry to scale up and bring to the masses something that is currently only available to a limited few.
Keynote speaker Emeline Fellus, Senior Director, Agriculture and Food at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) kicked off a packed agenda with a discussion around food centricity to our health, culture and wellbeing, and to our planet and socio-economy. Reflecting on the history of agri-food systems, she shared “our current agri-food systems were designed to deliver affordable, accessible, and safe food to a growing global population. However, the system built to maximise efficiency and caloric supply regardless of resources use no longer fits the values or challenges of the 21st century.”
Expanding on the need for change, she stated “as our planet faces increasing environmental pressures, the approach to protein sourcing and consumption must change. We need a balanced approach—one that diversifies the proteins we source, makes traditional animal protein production more environmentally friendly, and diversifies consumption towards alternatives with a lower impact on nature while ensuring we meet demand.”
In closing, Emeline acknowledged the potential challenges for the alternative proteins industry including the need for global and international regulations and policies to support the transition, also bringing in consumers as well as ensuring a just transition for farmers.
Mireille Bombeld, Director Food Transition Team, Rabobank talked about their vision to help the industry grow as a prominent financer in the alternative protein industry.
Attendees also heard from Nutreco partners Lou Cooperhouse, Founder, President and CEO BlueNalu, Maarten Bosch, CEO Mosa Meat and Ernst van Orsouw, CEO Roslin Technologies as well as from Nutreco industry experts in the areas of bridging innovation from aquaculture to cell feed, feeding cells from the farm to the bioreactor and ultra-specialty ingredients discovery and production.
The facility was officially opened by Ricardo Kandelman, SHV Executive Board Member. Attendees were given a tour of the new facility and Masterlab, Nutreco’s global laboratory in animal feed and premix analysis.
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