Innovation

From soft grippers to intelligent robotic hands

Picking up a croissant without damaging it. Harvesting a delicate crop. Or assessing a product’s quality simply by handling it. These are effortless tasks for the human hand, but far more challenging for robots. Wagen..

HAS Food Experience 2026: trends in food and circularity

04 February 2026

Social connection and health are playing an increasingly significant role in food development. During HAS Food Experience 2026, students demonstrate how these themes come together. Under the theme The Circle of Food, the...

Foodvalley extends innovation budget for food SMEs

02 February 2026

In the coming years, funding will remain available for innovation and scaling in agrifood. Foodvalley is extending the SME Innovation Voucher Program until June 2029. This is being done in collaboration with Regio Deal F...

TechniShow 2026: 75 years of innovation

20 January 2026

From March 10–13, 2026, Royal Jaarbeurs will once again be the central platform for the manufacturing industry in the Benelux. TechniShow will celebrate its 75th anniversary—a milestone for the leading stage for industri...

New subsidy round for agri and food innovation

19 January 2026

The Dutch agri and food sector is among the global leaders. Companies provide millions of people with safe and healthy food every day and contribute to societal challenges such as climate change and the raw materials tra...

Why 80% of food innovations fail

05 January 2026

Why do so many food innovations stall within one year of launch? According to industry figures, at least eighty percent of all new food concepts fail. Not due to a lack of creativity or technology, but because of insuffi...

Tastings innovative fermentation permitted

27 November 2025

The Netherlands is taking another step as a frontrunner in food innovation. Tastings of products made through innovative fermentation are now permitted. This makes the Netherlands the first EU country to allow them. The ...

Kaly Chatakondu: 'From CO₂ to Superfoods'

24 November 2025

The key to greener nutrition is in the air. Literally — because the start-up Arborea converts CO₂ into microalgae by cleverly industrializing photosynthesis, without cutting down a single tree. An innovation that raises ...

These six Food Heroes are making an impact in 2025

21 November 2025

On Friday, November 21, the Ballroom of BlueCity Rotterdam fills up with food innovators, partners, and jury members. The energy rises as the Food Heroes of 2025 walk across the red carpet. Six people who, sometimes agai...

Nutriearth begins natural vitamin D3 production in France

29 October 2025

In Carvin, northern France, the moment has arrived: Nutriearth has opened its first commercial production site. The company produces natural vitamin D3 from edible insects — a first that aims to make the European market ...

Column Judith Witte: All senses switched to ‘on’

20 October 2025

We’re sitting across from each other, my husband and I, analyzing the color of the wine in our glasses. Soft yellow. We swirl it gently in the glass and take in the aroma. Full and rich. Time for a sip. I let the wine ro...

Peter Verstrate: ‘AI drives the future of cultivated meat’

20 October 2025

Peter Verstrate’s journey into cultivated meat, as co-founder and COO of Mosa Meat B.V., began in the early 2000s. More precisely, it started the day Willem van Eelen—widely regarded as the ‘The Godfather’ of cultivated ...

Vion wins Innovation Award for AI tackling tail biting

17 October 2025

On 15 October, Vion received the Innovation Award during the Dutch Pork & Poultry Expo 2025. The company won with its project ‘AI for a healthy curly tail’, which has been in development for three years. The award wa...

Cocoa farmers gain income from the whole fruit

19 September 2025

In Ivory Coast, a new facility now processes the often-discarded white pulp of the cocoa fruit. Kumasi Drinks and the Chocolonely Foundation, in collaboration with ETG/Beyond Beans, are working to create a more sustainab...

Solar Foods progresses Solein® approval process in the US

18 September 2025

Solar Foods has submitted a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) notification to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Solein®, aiming to receive a no questions letter confirming the ingredient's safety for its in...

Getting plant-based proteins to the consumer’s plate

17 September 2025

How do we make sure consumers actually buy and eat sustainable, protein-rich innovations? That’s the focus of the PLENTY project, which officially launched on 11 September with a hands-on event featuring product demos, c...