Last year Dinnissen Process Technology, Vitelia Feeders, Imtech Food & Feed and college HAS Den Bosch initiative to examine the development of a Feed Living Design Lab (FDL) was feasible.
Purpose of the Living Lab is a self-supporting facility (pilot-plant-cale) to establish where entrepreneurs and research institutes, teachers and students through knowledge and knowledge into new products and production are in the world of nutrition. The FDL has four core tasks, the test kitchen, test facilities, use of sensors and measurement technology and training and education.
The exploratory market research, commissioned by promoters conducted by HAS Knowledge, it appears that companies within the feed industry itself a (tight) to provide sufficient innovation. Although innovation in many companies is one of the spearheads shows innovation is traditionally trained. Innovation is primarily focused on cost.
Other major innovation themes from the research:
- To make a quantifiable sustainable food / farming (CO2 emissions and energy use in production and at animal level);
- Developing new products aimed at one end higher nutritional value and digestibility in relation to lower CO2 emissions and manure;
- The impact of technological choices on animal performance;
- Craddle to craddle: prioritizing complete grounding of residual square weather and commodity flows;
- The search for alternative resources available (such as horticultural-products from the root, tomatoes, peppers and pulp).;
- The application of health promoters such as antioxidants, beta-carotenes, probiotics and omega-3 fatty acids
Feasibility Study
Respondents indicate their need for (independent) R & D facilities and training opportunities to drive innovations. It gives 95% of respondents to the objectives of the FDL support. Following the market analysis conducted thus seems sufficient to support the realization of a FDL to justify. This is the hypothesis of the association confirmed.
The question is how likely a tight enough into a nine refer to. For the nine companies should have to realize the switchover and to be aware of the need for lengthy and specific innovations. Although companies agree on the need for sustainable innovations they remain strongly focused on "ad hoc" and cost driven innovation. Co-innovation within the sector, necessary for such a lab to successfully launch the next challenge.
What next?
Together with a number of stakeholders to examine how the parties now ambition is to achieve in practice. Working towards the establishment of a business come as the basis for further development of the FDL.
From late 2009, an initial pilot run in which various stakeholders to collaborate on new feeds using existing facilities. HAS Den Bosch from college students to work to feed with the latest innovative techniques. The results of this pilot project will be presented at the reopening of the site Vitelia IJsselstein in the spring of 2010.
