On Thursday, September 5, the Food Transformation Forum 2024 took place at Omnia, Wageningen University & Research, bringing together around 80 key decision-makers from across the entire food value chain. Participants emphasized the importance of collaboration and taking personal responsibility within their respective organizations for the next steps to drive progress and accelerate the ongoing food transition.
Key insights:
- Participants compared the food sector to the energy sector, noting that restoring biodiversity needn’t be more complex than CO2 reduction.
- Both within and between sectors of the food industry, collaboration needs to be improved.
- Driving the food transition is an iterative process consisting of many small and large steps.
- A key bottleneck is the search for perfect solutions and the postponement of actions that don’t lead to consensus.
- Chain innovation, nature-inclusive innovation, scalability, and knowledge sharing are key drivers of food system transformation, ensuring sustainability while safeguarding affordability.
- The importance of considering convenience for consumers when implementing new sustainable measures was clearly highlighted.
- Consumers are ready for more plant-based options and recognize the need to reduce meat consumption. However, they still need support in making informed choices, and there is still room for improvement when it comes to taste.
- Pointing fingers at the government doesn’t help move things forward. Support the government in a pragmatic way to ensure success, and take action together with others to make progress.
Moderator:
Hajar Yagkoubi
Contributors:
Alicia Abendroth Vosloo, EIT Food
Marieke Blom, ING
Guido Braam, Foodvalley NL
Marjolein Brasz, Foodvalley NL
Rens Buchwaldt, Wageningen University & Research
Caroline Duivenvoorden, Foodvalley NL
Marit van Egmond, Albert Heijn
Ernst van den Ende, Wageningen University & Research
Aart van Haren, PLUS Retail
Kees Jacobs, Capgemini
Han Kolff, PLUS Retail & HeadFirst Group
Kees Kraijenoord, Plukon
Kees Kruythoff, Summa Equity & former Unilever
Chris Lakens, Spencer Stuart
Dirk Lodewijk, Royal Koopmans
Diederik Samsom, former European Commission
Kiran Sanchit, ING
Ton van Veen, Jumbo
Gerda Verburg, Next Food Collective
Coen de Vuijst, Oliver Wyman
Willem van Weede, Vivera Foodgroup
Richard Zaltzman, EIT Food
Debora van der Zee-Denekamp, Unilever
Partners:
Capgemini
ING
Oliver Wyman
Spencer Stuart
Location:
Omnia, Wageningen University & Research
Read more in TF Magazine: Food Transformation Forum 2024
