The advantages of organic farming go far beyond the advantages to one’s health when consuming the products. In addition to helping with the current problem of climate change on our world, organic farming is the key to achieving food security. While it is generally considered common knowledge that organic food has health advantages because it is produced without the use of synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, or genetic alteration, including synthetic flavors, colors, sweeteners, or preservatives, organic food also contains more antioxidants, minerals, and healthful fatty acids, as well as lower amounts of resistant bacteria and nitrates. Taking these benefits from raw materials to the final product lies in the hand of the manufacturers.
An Ambitious Plan to Develop Sustainable Proteins
According to the Good Food Institute (GFI), The latest Horizon Europe funding call is “a treasure trove of opportunities for sustainable protein researchers”. Scientists exploring for ways to create plant-based, cultured meat, and fermentation-based foods that can compete with traditional meat, seafood, and dairy have a lot to gain from the European Commission’s recent announcement of the flagship program’s 2023–2024 work schedule.
The EU’s EUR95.5bn Horizon Europe research and innovation funding initiative aims to combat climate change, advance scientific excellence, and increase the competitiveness of the region globally. The program is ideal for researchers studying sustainable proteins because of its strong emphasis on open science, which enables results to be made available to everyone, and on large, multi-partner research collaborations capable of tackling a wide range of challenges. In addition, the large budgets involved mean the scale of what can be accomplished is impressive.
As a supporter of this program, the GFI has managed to lobby for the inclusion of three important topics in the Horizon Europe plan: Cultured meat and cultured seafood – state of play and future prospects in the EU aims to reduce the high costs of infrastructure and raw materials needed for cultivated meat, scale up in a cost-effective way and evaluate and improve the economic viability and sustainability of this new food; Microbiome for flavor and texture in the organoleptic dietary shift includes creating fermentation-based ingredients to improve the flavors and textures of plant-based meat, dairy and fish products, piloting new precision fermentation techniques and developing new biomass production methods; Impact of the development of novel foods based on alternative sources of proteins will assess the environmental potential of foods including algae-based products and microbial proteins, as well as production cost and consumer acceptance.
Focusing on Cleaner Ingredients
Frozen herbs are a health and sustainability benefit for the food industry, Herbafrost representatives point out. Because of regional crops in the immediate vicinity of Herbafrost’s factories, the company can reduce its carbon footprint and produce „cleaner” products this way. Both Herbafrost’s conventional range and its range of organic products are cultivated with the greatest care and processed into a ready-made product. The range of herbal drops, both conventional and organic, is growing steadily. “An absolute added value to our range is the IQF herbal mixes, such as Italian Mix, Provence Mix and Salad Mix. They are perfect for elevating your dish to the next level,” Herbafrost representatives say. “Especially the Mix garlic/parsley is booming, being ideal for barbecue and dressings. Also strongly catching on are the herbal drops. They are ideal for juices, dairy, and sorbets. Our herbal drops have a nice smooth and very fine structure and an intensive taste.”
Diet as an Essential Part of People’s Lives
“We are a very purpose-driven company. That means all what we are doing is coming from a very clear vision of the company, which is satisfying and improving the life of people’s special nutrition needs,” says Hannes Berger, who on January 1 became CEO of Dr. Schär Global. “We are looking at people who have gluten intolerances, metabolic disorders, who have, let’s say, other kind of diseases or conditions or intolerances. That’s where we are in. We are not a trend-driven company. We are dedicated to what we call our core consumers. These are people suffering from celiac disease, people who have gluten intolerances, and the company is now expanding into target groups like those who are suffering from IBS, which is irritable bowel syndrome. These people have a significant reduction in their pain when they are going on a gluten free diet.
“A veteran of the company is becoming the CEO” – This is how he describes taking on the new role. “I’m entering in my 18th year with the company. I spent the last nearly six years in the US. However, I started with Dr. Schär after working for Kraft Foods, Mondelez, and other companies,” Hannes Berger says. “So, when you ask me how it feels, well, simple answer, it’s like coming back home, because I grew up here. When I walk in this building, in this beautiful building here, it’s like I’m walking back home.” When he came to Dr. Schär, the company was making close to EUR80m in revenue, and now we it is heading towards more than EUR500m. “We have defined the strategy for 2025 two years ago, and I was part of the process, so it’s nothing new for me. But of course, with my arrival, we are going to do some adjustments in terms of where we are focusing the biggest attention in our portfolio, where the biggest opportunities are currently in, because in developing the strategy in 2025, we were at the beginning of the COVID. There was a complete change of the landscape, a change in how to do international business, globalization, disruption in supply chain. That means that over the last two, three years going through the COVID and coming out, and now the war in Ukraine, we had to do a lot of adjustments. We had to stop doing some things and we started doing others. So, I want to regroup the company around the strategy and focus it back where we want it to go,” Hannes Berger adds.
He is currently the CEO of Dr. Schär Global, while also still holding the role of CEO for North America. Regarding the last few years, he believes Dr. Schär successfully navigated that period. “I think we are a good example of a company who managed COVID pretty well. One of the biggest challenges were how we could ship the product from A to B, especially from Europe to North America and how to deliver the product to our consumers. We had to make sure that we can deliver, and doing that was a very difficult task, but we were able to manage it with a very professional supply chain management. The second big challenge was workforce. It was extremely difficult to find people for night shifts and day shifts, 24 hours, in our 11 factories,” he adds. The company is just coming out from a huge expansion project in North America, where in October it nearly doubled its. “So, we are now in the face of ramp up of efficiency, new products, and we are planning even another additional investment in North America. We have other sites in Spain. So generally speaking, we are trying now, or we are leveraging and doubling capacity in our existing plants rather than going for additional ones.”
The company also has an ongoing sustainability program and one of main targets is to reduce waste, to reduce packaging. “We historically had more packaging than other food products for a simple reason, because we have products who have a shelf life, when we are talking about bread of 4 months. To give them a very safe packaging, it needs to fulfill some criteria. So, what we are doing now is to reduce that part of packaging to make sure that we have less waste, a better footprint. The other area is the biodiversity, that’s an area where we are doing a lot, we are using very different ancient grains to make sure we play our part in biodiversity. These are, let’s say, the big ones, but there is much more to come to become neutral,” Hannes Berger concludes.
To read the entire article, please access your complimentary e-copy of Frozen Food Europe January-February, 2023 issue here.