News and Events

Lessons from the Netherlands

July 29, 2020

In March 2020, a joint FoodHQ-Foodvalley NL Innovation Scan looking at activity in the emerging proteins sector was released.

This scan examined the ecosystems in both New Zealand and the Netherlands.  It arose from FoodHQ’s strategic partnership with Foodvalley NL, and was the result of FoodHQ’s Amos Palfreyman spending 3 months in the Netherlands working closely with their analysts.  

The scan clearly showed that there is a higher level of activity in emerging proteins in The Netherlands, and it tends to be more coordinated and at scale.  There are a number of reasons for this, including proximity to markets, government policy, and access to capital. However, a key difference was the level of connectivity within the sector and the strong links between academia, industry, and government. These strong links enabled companies to enter precompetitive consortia, connect quickly to scale up facilities and engage with players the whole way across the value chain.

The Innovation Scan is freely available to anyone in New Zealand, just email amos@foodhq.com.