The future is plant-based, and the transition to sustainable food systems is an essential part of this. Brabant is joining forces to take a leading position in this transition in the coming years. The focus is on scaling up ingredients that make plant-based food tasty, nutritious, and affordable.
The ambition of the Province of North Brabant, the Brabant Development Company (BOM), and REWIN West Brabant is to make Brabant the scale-up hotspot of Europe. “Brabant is ideally located between the food innovation hotspots of Ghent, Delft, and Wageningen and also has virtually the entire chain in place to efficiently produce plant-based food innovations,” say the originators of the plans. However, a missing link in the chain is locations where start-ups can scale up their ideas and thus bring them to market faster. Brabant is jumping into that gap and will commit to scaling up plant-based food start-ups.
Not on its own
“In Brabant, we are working on smart solutions to our societal challenges, such as the protein transition,” said provincial executive Martijn van Gruijthuijsen. “Under the motto ‘Brabant, the Scale-Up Plant of Europe,’ in five years, we want to be known nationally and internationally as the scale-up hotspot for plant-based startups. I am confident of this, thanks to our unique combination of a robust agrifood sector and a strong high-tech manufacturing industry.”
“Developing a functional food ingredient is already challenging, but scaling it up to a commercial version requires a lot of knowledge, skill, and capital,” said Brigit van Dijk-van de Reijt, CEO of BOM. “Startups cannot do that entirely on their own. The scale-up plant provides the knowledge, facilities and network to cash in on the opportunities that plantbased offers for Brabant. In this way, we can offer plant-based food as a realistic alternative and smartly market our knowledge and innovations (internationally).”
Network
Brabant will facilitate a network of accessible pilot, demo, and full-scale facilities. In addition, long-term sector-specific support will be set up for start-ups in the scale-up phase. Existing companies can also join the initiative and, for example, use part of their capacity to collaborate with start-ups. The partners will also work on international positioning, acquisition, and collaborations with international startups. Where possible, BOM will invest in participating food startups.
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