This week, we have conversations with Lorraine Jansen, content marketing specialist at GNT Group; Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Broerse, Full Professor at the Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and project coordinator of FIT4FOOD2030; and Jacobine DasGupta, director of sustainability at Royal DSM.
We also have our weekly look at the global dairy markets with Liam Fenton at StoneX.
GNT Group says red is 2021’s top food and beverage color trend
Red is set to shake up the food and beverage industry in 2021 thanks to its ability to spark powerful emotions, according to EXBERRY Coloring Foods supplier GNT Group.
Red has long been an iconic shade in the worlds of cosmetics, beauty, fashion, film and design. As we approach 2021, GNT said red is now ready to invigorate the world of food and drink.
The global pandemic has taken consumers outside their comfort zones, leading them to break free from old habits and search for something new. GNT believes red can connect with this desire for discovery and help signal the start of a new era.
Associated with sporting dominance, red is a shade that signifies power and energy. It is globally recognized as the color of love, too, with the ability to fire up strong feelings of passion and desire.
GNT is also highlighting red’s ability to add a sense of excitement and exploration to food and drink, with its appeal among the Instagram generation providing another key reason for the shade’s growing popularity.
Maartje Hendrickx, GNT’s market development manager, said, “Red was the natural choice for our new Love Color with EXBERRY campaign. It epitomizes human vitality, creating energy, passion and positive action, and brings real excitement to food and drink products. Red is well known for its ability to command instant attention and it’s a color you won’t be able to ignore in 2021.”
With consumers demanding clean and simple ingredients in their food and drink, GNT offers a range of red EXBERRY Coloring Foods made from raw materials such as radish, carrot, sweet potato, hibiscus and berries including elderberry and chokeberry.
Like all EXBERRY products, GNT’s red shades are made from fruit, vegetables and edible plants using physical manufacturing processes and no chemical solvents. As a result, they can provide the perfect clean-label replacement for colorants such as the azo dye Allura Red AC and carmine.
GNT also controls the entire EXBERRY supply chain, enabling the company to guarantee all products meet its rigorous quality and sustainability standards as well as ensuring year-round availability.
Hendrickx added, “EXBERRY is based on the principle of coloring food with food, using plant-based pigments to unleash products’ full potential. Trusted by manufacturers all over the world, our Coloring Foods can deliver exceptional shades for practically any food and drink application.”
EU-funded Fit4Food2030 launches toolbox to make food systems more sustainable
The EU-funded project FIT4FOOD2030 has developed a set ‘Tools for transformation’ supporting professionals – change agents – working to make food systems more sustainable.
Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Broerse, Full Professor at the Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and project coordinator, said, “The tools that we have co-developed with a wide variety of stakeholders in ‘spaces for transformation’ will help researchers, research funders, policy makers and other ‘change agents’ doing research and innovation in a more effective way towards more sustainable and resilient food systems.”
The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility and complexity, with substantial impact across the food system, ranging from increased food losses and disruptions in logistics and distribution, to increased levels of unemployment, rising food costs, and decreased availability of and accessibility to (fresh) foods.
Bringing together a variety of partners across food systems, FIT4Food2030 looked specifically at the way in which research and innovation (R&I) is being done, and how this can become more effective in changing the system. The project partners have built on the evidence that R&I is more effective if the entire food system is considered instead of individual aspects in isolation (e.g. to include the nutritional needs of the population when diversifying crops), and when a wide diversity of stakeholders from society are consulted, also called ‘responsible research and innovation’ (RRI).
To facilitate the broad mobilization of local, national, international stakeholders and representatives from across the food system, FIT4FOOD2030 has developed ‘Tools for transformation’ for all food system actors to take on the role of facilitators or change agents.
During a two-day virtual conference recently, participants learned about food system challenges, and how to create synergies to apply responsible research and innovation, acting as a catalyst for food systems transformation.
FIT4FOOD2030 is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. It supports the European Commission FOOD 2030 policy framework and focuses on integrating responsible research and innovation in food systems transformation.
DSM strategic initiative to transform global animal nutrition and health
The need to provide enough animal protein for a growing population, while reducing the environmental costs of farming will require smart science and innovative solutions. To address this challenge, DSM Animal Nutrition and Health has in place a strategic initiative: We Make it Possible.
Its mission is to lead a robust and achievable transformation worldwide in sustainable animal protein production, and to accelerate solutions that will foster a brighter future.
“DSM is purpose-led and performance driven, and we know that the agriculture industry can transform itself from within,” said DSM’s Animal Nutrition and Health president Ivo Lansbergen.
“For too long, sustainability has been someone else’s problem, a problem for tomorrow. But it is not an impossible challenge. We believe we can make animal farming sustainable. Our need is to be providing a decent living for farmers and affordable proteins to the world population, all while reducing the footprint of animal farming. We Make it Possible is a commitment to tangible and actionable solutions that cater to the customers we care most about: people and planet earth.
Sustainability is in our DNA. We want to demonstrate our new vision, both within DSM and beyond, how we see the future of the farming industry and the role we want to play. This strategic initiative reflects our commitment not only to be part of the value chain but to be a change agent, steering the global conversations, connecting the various stakeholders of the farming ecosystem, thinking ahead, generating ideas and new ways of working. If not now, when?”
Aligned with five of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the strategic initiative is driven by six sustainability platforms that will address the major challenges facing the animal farming industry.
These are: improving the lifetime performance of farm animals; improving the quality of food while reducing food loss and waste; reducing emissions from livestock; making efficient use of natural resources; reducing the reliance on marine resources; and helping tackle anti-microbial resistance.
“DSM has a long and rich heritage in the sustainability arena, and it is on that basis that we operate as a purpose-led company. Companies can no longer delay this aspect. They must step up and embrace sustainability in all aspects: it is vital to the success of business, just as it is vital to everything else,” said Christie Chavis, vice president at DSM Animal Nutrition and Health.
“We will create value across three dimensions simultaneously: People, Planet and Profit.”
“By applying our science, innovation and sustainability leadership behind these key areas, we believe we can make a substantial difference to the sustainability of the animal protein industry,” said David Nickell, VP of Sustainability & Business Solutions at DSM Animal Nutrition and Health.
“At DSM, we are taking responsibility for our own role in protecting the planet, and have and continue to develop business solutions that enable the industry to make affordable and measurable improvements in the sustainability of animal protein, and we hope that many others will follow suit.”