News
Nominees for Dutch Food Valley Award 2010
announced
NSure's tight grip on the quality of apples and pears,
Smilde Bakery's healthier sausage roll and VanDrie Group's
optimisation of animal welfare and efficiency in the veal supply
chain have been singled out by the Dutch Food Valley Award jury as
the most distinctive initiatives in the areas of innovation,
cooperation and Corporate Social Responsibility in The Netherlands.
And these are the three innovative nominees for the Food Valley
Award 2010.
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.
