Welcome

We are happy to introduce 2 new team members:
Corinne Stämpfli starts as Communication Manager and takes over the tasks of Barbara Pokorny, who has accepted a new challenge to turn her hobby into a profession. We wish Barbara good luck and thank her for the time she spent together and for her commitment to Swiss Food Research.
"Fresh off the press Lucas Grob, who is doing his PhD in Food Process Engineering at ETH Zurich, joins us as Innovation Manager.
We wish them both much success and fun in our team.

Thai-Swiss Food Tech Forum

For the first time, the Thai-Swiss Food Tech Forum was held on April 28-29, 2021.

Swiss Food Research together with the Thai Innovation Agency Food Innopolis and the Royal Thai Embassy activated Thai Food Tech Start-Ups. These introduced themselves and connected with stakeholders of the Swiss Agro Food Ecosystem. Besides current market and technology trends, the event gave the opportunity to elicit the needs of both markets and identify common potentials. With the participation of FFF Fresh & Frozen Food AG, Switzerland Global Enterprise, and Swiss Asian Chamber of Commerce, there was an exciting thematic arc on "Doing business in Switzerland".

1. Ideation Campaign

The very first NTN Innovation Booster Swiss Food Ecosystems powered by Innosuisse challenge is now open! We are expecting creative solutions to answer the following question:
“How might we develop & exploit low processing technologies to produce healthier, more nutritious, and more sustainable food?”
Anyone with an idea for a creative solution can participate. Winning ideas will be awarded up to 1'000 CHF as well as free dedicated support. Two ideas will also be selected to participate in our first Design Thinking workshop. Idea submission is open until April 16, 2021.

Compass for the future

As the largest network in the agro-food ecosystem in Switzerland, we feel responsible for contributing to a sustainable food system. Together with all members, we are now working with a compass for the future - our Charter for the development of a holistic and sustainable food system.
It helps us to make the right decisions when supporting projects. In a dynamic environment, we also support charters of other like-minded and complementary organisations, such as the Charter for the Circular Economy and the Charter for the Digitalisation of the Swiss Food and Agriculture Sector.

India- Agri-Food Bootcamp 2021

Is your idea, your start-up ready for a quantum leap into the Indian market? Would you like to achieve more leverage on sustainibility through greater reach? swissnex, Innosuisse and Swiss Food Research offer an intensive start-up program to explore exciting opportunities within the fast-growing sector of the Indian agri-food industry. Start-ups can test and work out the potential and suitability in this market with a tailored boot camp.

UN FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT 2021

In 2021, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, calls for a Summit on Food Systems to raise global awareness and guide commitments and actions that will change food systems to not only eliminate hunger, but also reduce food-related diseases and heal the planet.

Switzerland, as a member of the UN, is preparing this summit at different levels and with different partners. The Permanent Representation of Switzerland to the FAO is launching the BITES OF TRANSFOODMATION initiative in 2020. This initiative brings together motivated, young innovators and culminates in an exhibition and discussion round in Rome in spring 2021 with the presentation of a manifesto for the future. Swiss Food Research is a partner and accompanies the initiative.

Next Generation of Swiss Food Ecosystems

In partnership with the Cluster Food&Nutrition cluster, Swiss Food Research has been awarded the lead in Innosuisse's NTN Innobooster "Next Generation of Swiss Food Ecosystems" for the period 2021-2024.

In an Open Innovation process, innovative ideas are designed, tested and validated through agile and collaborative methods in the areas of

• smart nutrition
• biomass valorization
• resource efficiency
• Circular Economy.
• sustainable packaging.

The NTN - Innovation Booster provides selected innovation teams with direct funds for this purpose.

Partnership with AVINA STIFTUNG

Swiss Food Research is proud to count on a partnership with the renowned AVINA STIFTUNG for the years 2020-2023. Under the chairmanship of Dr. Viktoria Schmidheiny, the Avina Foundation today focuses on the topic of sustainably produced, healthy nutrition. In accordance with the guiding principle "Foundation for the Food of tomorrow", the foundation aims to stimulate change by providing a platform for pioneers and promoting pioneering projects.

AVINA STIFTUNG supports Swiss Food Research in its mission to network specialists, researchers and doers and to act as a catalyst for innovative solutions. AVINA STIFTUNG and Swiss Food Research jointly promote innovation with the aim of establishing healthy and sustainable food as a new standard.