What is Food Tech Platform Finland?

Food Tech Platform Finland is the leading food focused research – business network with the ambitious aim of developing a Food System 2.0.

Our effort in this task is to facilitate the birth of science-based innovations and novel business propositions. This in turn is made possible by building an ecosystem of agri, food, tech, business and other actors that together can design, produce and deliver these innovations to the eager customers.

These actors come from the current business, the start-ups, the science and education communities and the public sector. A multidisciplinary approach is crucial in succeeding in the task.

FTPF is an Allied ICT Finland powered growth network.

Image: On the background, eight people sitting on grass in a ring and holding their hands together in the middle of their ring. On the front, under the title Food Tech Platform Finland operations, three numbered text boxes; 1. We identify interesting themes and questions on the food system arena and make them actionable for collaboration between the actors in the Food Tech Platform network, 2. We find and bring together diverse experts who together build experiments, pilots and prototypes of product and service concepts for in-depth understanding of the new food system opportunities, 3. We facilitate the start of new collaborations, and research and development projects so that scientists, business, startups, investors and governments can co-create new solutions for the food system 2.0.

About

Image: On the background, grass glimmering on the light of sun setting or rising behind some trees. On the front, graphic objects and text. On the left half of the image, under the title Food Tech Platform Finland, three circles with text in them, one on the top and two on the bottom. In the circle on the top, SUSTAINABLE FOOD, production & consumption. In the left cirle of the bottom row, SCIENCE as a source of new value & solutions. In the right cirle of the bottom row, TECH as an enabler for new value & solutions. These three circles are partially on top of each other, forming an union in their middle and there is a fourth circle in the middle of the formation. The middle circle has the text NEW BIZ = new value for the customer. On the right half of the image, A sustainable Food System 2.0 is most attractively generated by delivering new value to the end customer.


Our not-so-secret ingredients

Food Tech Platform Finland’s approach in seeking new business and growth opportunities is based on deployment of scientific knowledge, open collaboration and understanding the complex human-food relationship.

Image: hands holding oat grains

Food System 2.0

The vision and definition of the Food System 2.0

The next generation, sustainable Food System is regenerative, ethical, efficient and engaging. It is mostly organized into circular, closed loops. Its new models of operation and transactions are enabled by new agri- and food technologies. But foremost, it generates new, unprecedented value to the consumers.

Image: On the background, various vegetables, like radish, salad and spring onions, on shelves. On the front, a five level pyramid made of text boxes. Level 1 (top): The Sustainable Food System 2.0. Level 2: Regenerative, ethical, efficient & engaging. Level 3, this level is formed of three parallel sub-boxes. First sub-box on the left: new operational model = Circular economy. The sub-box in the middle: new consumer value = Food agency. The sub-box on the right: new operational context = City + locality. Level 4, New enabler = new tech. Level 5 (bottom), Food Security: Access, Availability, Stability, Utilization.

The 4 key components of the Food System 2.0

1. Enabled by advanced technologies

Image: A top view of some plants on the ground, above them a drone.

Technology will enable new operational models and participatory behaviors for various actors in the food system 2.0. The current scene is blooming with vertical farming, bioreactors, blockchain, AI and digital commerce. An array of both existing and to-be-invented technologies will be the stepping-stones towards the Food System 2.0, where food raw materials, energy and water will be utilized and recycled efficiently. Finland is on a strong growth path on the emerging disruptive technology of photonics. The advantages of integrating photonics into the agriculture, food processing, quality control and logistics are yet to be truly discovered. Food Tech Platform Finland co-operates closely with the Photonics Finland association in order to accelerate the adoption of photonics in the food system 2.0.

2. Delivering new value for people in the form of food agency and through new business models

Image: blurred green background, a left hand with a ring in the ring finger holding a single radish with some dirt on it.

As consumers/humans are deriving more and more value out of doing and participating instead of merely owning, the economy has started to gear towards new business models. The new wave of food co-ops in big cities, urban farming as well as the emergence of the platform businesses creating new markets for people’s skills and tools (such as driving a bike or a car) show how consumerism is evolving towards participatory and co-operational value creation by people themselves. This need for agency regarding one’s own food growing and production is an increasing consumer need. Those who can deliver new solutions to this need will create new business.

3. Organized into circular economies

Image: An aerial shot from above of thick leafed treetops, a circular track of road in the middle of the woods, two people walking on the right bend of the road.

The third vital component of the Food System 2.0. is the local, closed loop. As the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity leads to increasing scarcity of food raw materials and fertile soils, the Food System 2.0 will likely comprise by a number of various circular economies. They will attend to matching their carbon output with their carbon input. Consequently, the reach and scale of each circular economy is in part defined by the sustainable logistics that can be efficiently organized for the quickly perishable food materials.

4. Situated in the urban city setting

Image: A garden or greenhouse, completely or partially indoors. There's a round table with four chairs. On one of the chairs, a woman with a smoothie can on the table, using an Apple laptop computer.

As the ´Cities and circular economy for food` report by the Ellen MacArthur Institution insightfully acknowledges, 80% of world’s food is foreseen to be consumed in cities by 2050. This makes cities the essential focal points and cultural backdrop for the circular economies. It implicates, that the Food System 2.0 is by definition an urban system, served both by the rural lands residing close enough to the city, as well as by different novel food cultivation facilities midst the urban dwelling. This urban city context is the fourth critical component of the next generation food system. The modern Food System 2.0 will function in accordance with the city’s infrastructure and the demands of the urban social life of the city people.

News

Kiitos mielenkiinnostasi Food Tech Platform Finland –hanketta kohtaan!

Hankkeen aktiivinen toiminta on nyt päättynyt, ja pääset tutustumaan hankkeen tuloksiin sekä loppuraporttiin täällä. Hankkeen keskeisenä tavoitteena oli rakentaa korkeakoulut, tutkimuslaitokset sekä teknologian ja liiketoiminnan osaajat yhdistävä verkosto, kehittää kestävä ruokajärjestelmä 2.0 sekä luoda uutta kannattavaa liiketoimintaa ja työpaikkoja ruokaketjun ympärille. Kaikki hankkeen materiaalit jäävät tarkasteltaviksi verkkosivulle toistaiseksi. Mikäli olet kiinnostunut seuraamaan Turun yliopistossa tehtävää …

Save the date: 31.8.2021 klo 9–11 Food Tech Platform Finlandin loppuwebinaari

Food Tech Platform Finland kestävän ruokajärjestelmän jäljillä Food Tech Platform Finland -hankkeen tavoitteena oli kehittää kestävä ruokajärjestelmä 2.0 yhdistämällä tutkimus, teknologia ja liiketoiminnan osaajat. Kaksivuotinen hankkeemme on tulossa päätökseensä, ja tiistaina 31.8.2021 klo 9–11 järjestettävässä loppuwebinaarissa tulemme kertomaan, miten onnistuimme ja mihin suuntaan kehityksessä ollaan nyt menossa. Aamun mielenkiintoisista puheenvuoroista vastaavat: Mari Sandell (Food Tech …

Food Tech Platform Finland kestävän ruokajärjestelmän jäljillä

Globaalissa ruokajärjestelmässä on erilaisia haasteita. Ruokaa heitetään valtavasti hukkaan ja samalla moni ihminen maailmassa saa ruokaa syödäkseen liian vähän. Luonnon raaka-aineita ei hyödynnetä resurssitehokkaasti ja kestävästi. Ennusteiden mukaan vuoteen 2050 mennessä maailman väkiluku on kasvanut 26 % nykyisestä ja 80 % maailman ruoasta käytetään kaupungeissa. Ruoan tuottamiseen eivät riitä nykyiset keinot. Sekä ruoan tuotanto että …

Partners

University of Turku logo
European Union European Regional Development Fund logo
Food Chem University of Turku logo
Functional Foods Forum logo
Bastu logo
Raseko FoodLaboratory logo
Allied ICT Finland logo
Nordic FoodTech VC logo
Turku Science Park logo
Luke logo
Kekri logo
VTT logo
Photonics Finland logo
YritysSalo logo
Founder Institute logo