Change through innovation,Food Science and Technology

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Change through innovation
Food Science and Technology Pub Date : 2020-05-28 , DOI: 10.1002/fsat.3402_9.x

The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) supports collaboration between businesses and academia to encourage change through innovation. Jayne Brookman describes some of its activities .

KTN Activities in the food sector

The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) uses sector expertise to connect across industries, geographies and skillsets to change through innovation. The KTN AgriFood team works across the entire supply chain and links with other KTN teams to address cross‐cutting issues such as data analysis, digital technologies and robotics.

Most Innovate UK funding programmes have been set up to encourage collaboration between businesses or businesses and academia^[1^]. We work closely with Innovate UK as their network partner to promote their competitions and build communities of innovative businesses and researchers.

The types of events and support KTN provides evolves with the individual development and stage of maturity of topic areas, businesses or relationships. This can be as simple as providing introductions to like‐minded individuals within the research base in industry or academia; hosting small or larger meetings or workshops around a particular topic area; providing support for funding applications; growing communities or helping early‐stage companies find finance.

SMEs showcasing their technology at the FII2020 Bournville workshop

This article provides a snapshot of the types of activity KTN carries out to support the capability of businesses to work with other businesses or universities in the UK or Africa in the innovation space. It describes a number of recent activities highlighting KTN work with the food sector in the UK and overseas.

Food Industry Innovation Workshops

Earlier this year, KTN organised two Food Industry Innovation 2020 workshops with Innovate UK funding on topical areas encouraging collaboration between solution providers and problem holders. The events brought together start‐ups, SMEs and larger organisations to showcase Innovate UK funded projects, hear from a range of experts and provide networking opportunities.

Plant Based or Alternative Proteins

The first event featured Plant Based or Alternative Proteins as a topic for the meeting and was hosted by Mondelēz International at Bournville. Prof. Ian Noble (Head of Bournville technology Centre, Mondelēz, and Chair of KTN Food Sector Group) provided an analysis of the interesting and topical area of sourcing and using alternative proteins in manufactured goods at scale.

Factors that need to be considered when substituting proteins in manufactured goods include:

1. Scale‐up of supply chains

2. The replacement protein may not provide full functionality of existing form, e.g. egg

3. Some alternative proteins have conflicting ethical and environmental benefits, e.g. soya

4. Technical or processing issues may result from substitution, e.g. vegan mayonnaise

5. Texture and taste are key to the consumer and substitute proteins need to deliver against the consumers’ expected experience.

The workshop also heard from SMEs Entocycle^[2^] and Nandi Proteins about their experiences and progress within the field.

Entocycle is based in Central London and uses its location to advantage, producing insect protein for animal feed using food waste as a feedstock. They sell into a commodity market competing with fishmeal in the commercial fish feed industry, so have needed to use production innovation, such as data‐driven solutions and robotic arms, to compete on price. They are also investigating circular economy approaches to maximise profitability, developing the insect waste, frass, as a biofertiliser.

Nandi Proteins^[3^] is a technology company that uses natural processes to improve the physical characteristics of proteins within food and drinks. The company works with partners to develop higher value functional ingredients to reduce levels of fat, additives and gluten in processed foods made from plants. They have received support from Innovate UK to develop collagen‐derived fat replacers, whey‐derived bakery ingredients and plant‐derived gluten replacers. They commented that some end users are still primarily concerned with dry weight and protein content, suggesting a lack of understanding of substitution on end product characteristics known to be key for consumer enjoyment.

Perhaps the workshop participants were able to use these insights to respond to a Mentimeter poll asking for barriers to consumer acceptance of products with substituted protein ingredients, as they identified flavour and texture as the greatest hurdles (Figure 1).

**Figure 1**
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Results of a Mentimeter survey at FII2020 workshop

Figure 2 shows the SMEs that were able to spotlight their technology or approach at the workshop. The panel discussion and the opportunity for solution providers to meet problem holders during lunch and breaks allowed further debate and networking.

**Figure 2**
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SME Participants at FII2020 Bournville

Food waste

The second event was held at the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University and focused on food waste. Dr Gavin Milligan, representing WRAP, set the scene, outlining the social, environmental and economic challenges of reducing food waste. Three companies then provided case studies on how they were working to tackle food waste. Alison Wright from B‐Hive Innovations^[4^] described their approach to addressing food waste across the potato supply chain, from field to storage to extracting value from peelings. Lucas Westphal from Campden BRI^[5^] highlighted work on the application of novel fibres using vegetable by‐products and extraction of value from crustacean waste. Finally, Jonathan Hughes from Pennotec^[6^] outlined their approach to generating value from a range of materials including working with Canada on crustacean waste and using apple pomace to mimic fat.

A lively panel discussion included the topic of ‘What defines food waste?’ and highlighted the following points:

• There are technical and regulatory challenges in addition to technical ones in using food waste

• It is a challenge to utilise food waste in some operations, if the waste stream is not guaranteed to be food grade. A lot of work is needed to ensure food waste can be put back into the human food supply chain safely

• Exploitation of a food waste stream will often require a consistent supply, both in volume and quality, and this can be difficult to achieve

• The preferred solution for reduction of food waste is to stop it happening in the first place, but after that there is a waste hierarchy with various routes to reuse or valorise waste. Materials with highest value are highest priority although bulk replacers to reduce sugar and increase fibre are still desirable. The lowest priority is use of food waste as a fuel source

• Consumer waste in the home is a substantial challenge to reducing food waste but technology could help provide solutions.

A competition was held to provide an opportunity for innovative SMEs to showcase their products and services at the event (Figure 3). The programme was designed with care to ensure plenty of opportunities for networking between participants and the SME exhibitors. Follow up since the event has indicated that a number of collaborations have been started and KTN's role is to help however we can to support those fledgling relationships.

**Figure 3**
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SME Participants at FII2020, Sheffield

The next step for some of the early stage companies exhibiting at these workshops could be securing external investment to enable growth of their business or support for development of a particular innovation. KTN has run a programme of investment support for AgriTech businesses for the last three years and this year the scope has been extended to incorporate food businesses. This programme has built a group of supportive and knowledgeable investors interested in the sector and provides an intensive course for early‐stage companies to hone their business plans and presentations before engaging with investors. The 2020 programme was launched in March and will work towards the KTN AgriFood Tech Investment Showcase^[7^], supported by organisations interested in early stage companies across the AgriFood supply chain, Farm491^[8^] and Rabobank^[9^] on October 19, 2020 in London, if allowed with the COVID‐19 emergency.

Food Sector Group meetings

The Food Sector Group (FSG) is a long‐standing meeting convened by the KTN AgriFood team. It includes industry, academic, UKRI and governmental representatives and is currently chaired by Ian Noble (Mondelēz). IFST contribute to this group. We meet three times per year to discuss themes around the innovation space with a particular focus on how best to work together within a precompetitive framework for the benefit of the sector and the UK.

The FSG has produced a number of publications over the years considering the areas of food science and technology that are common across the industry and would benefit from support. The most recent publication was in February 2018 looking at the priorities and needs for pre‐competitive and industrial R&D in the food and drink sector with special reference to the Industrial Strategy published in 2017^[10^].

Mathematics study groups

KTN has led on the use of three‐day study groups for mathematicians looking at using mathematics to address key strategic areas of interest for industry^[11^]. Food has been a success story over the last few years. An initial study group meeting at Bath in 2017 considered models to understand the effects of climate change on cocoa production in Ghana in response to a request from Mondelēz. This was followed by work brought to the next group by PepsiCo on orange production in Florida and really blossomed into a number of collaborations from 2018. Two problems from PepsiCo in 2018 brought contracts, MSc projects and another opportunity for engagement across disciplines with an Integrated Think Tank at Bath University and interactions with other academic groups at meetings in Cambridge and Huddersfield.

A Clean Growth Study Group at the University of Nottingham funded by the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships programme ‘Modelling and Analytics for a Sustainable Society’ with support from KTN and timetabled for late April 2020 has been postponed due to the COVID‐19 emergency.

The Clean Growth Study Group^[12^] planned to work on a number of industry problems from areas as diverse as agriculture, food production and biotechnology, resource efficiency, water and sustainability. For this group, early stage career academics, PhD students and postdocs were particularly welcome, so it is hoped that the meeting can be rescheduled.

Sheffield Hallam University food research facilities

An initial study group meeting at Bath in 2017 considered models to understand the effects of climate change on cocoa production in Ghana in response to a request from Mondelēz.

The Diet and Health Research Industry Club and other research council‐funded programmes

KTN has coordinated the Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC) since its launch in 2007 by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The Club was established as a public‐private partnership to encourage increased engagement of the food industry into the UK research base and to strengthen the research communities serving the food sector.

DRINC has received two phases of funding with 25 research projects awarded in the first phase with funding to 2014 and a second, overlapping phase launched in 2012 with 18 research projects funded up to 2020. DRINC has also supported 30 PhD studentships. The Club has held 18 dissemination events since its inception with meetings usually held over two days to provide ample opportunity for industrial club members to interact with academic members presenting their research findings, generating numerous long‐lasting collaborations.

DRINC has been a successful example of what can be achieved by focusing research investment into a sector with industry collaboration^[13^]. The programme has delivered new research capabilities for the food and drink industry and has addressed significant research challenges associated with diet and health. It has also added a number of researchers into the sector who have begun their research careers with a greater than usual understanding of industry needs and issues. The projects have generated useful outputs, for example:

• Established that vitamin D3 supplements have greater health benefits than vitamin D2 in order to inform future biofortification of food products.

• Enabled UK academic research base participation in EU FP7 consortia, such as DAPHNE, SATIN, BIOCLAIMS

• Demonstrated that dietary supplements in dairy cows can deliver human health benefits by lowering the saturated fat content of milk.

• Resulted in new patent applications including, for example, the use of propionate inulin ester to reduce appetite and weight gain in humans.

• Developed a new methodology – the consumer expectation toolbox – which has been used by industry to explore the expected satiety of products.

• Generated new insights into differences in how probiotics modulate the immune system in young and old people, which can inform the design of functional foods across the lifecourse.

• Demonstrated that including alginates in baked goods can support weight management.

The Priming Food Partnerships initiative came out of the Research Councils considering other ways to support the interaction between businesses and universities in the food space. Three multi‐centre projects were funded with broad industry support^[14^]. The programmes were focused on:

• Multiscale models of digestion for nutrition and metabolic health led by Prof. Gary Frost at Imperial College, London

• Protein for Life: a dietary framework for healthy ageing led by Prof. Emma Stevenson at Newcastle University

• The Mouth‐Gut‐Brain model led by Prof. Lisa Methven at University of Reading

KTN has worked with these teams to help deliver outputs for this and other subsequent funding for these types of programmes including writing a white paper on the findings of the Protein for Life project^[15^] and supporting innovation activities, such as the BBSRC‐funded Food Hack 2020^[16^]. The Food Hack 2020 event, held at Imperial College Advanced Hackspace (ICAH) in White City, London, asked academic and industry participants to work together to design new food products which could help reduce diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the population. The hack is based on research from Imperial College London, Quadram Institute and the John Innes Centre Germplasm Resources Unit, which identified a natural genetic variation in peas with a positive impact on controlling blood glucose levels.

AgriFood Africa Programme

The AgriFood Africa Programme runs for five years until 2024 and is funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) via Innovate UK to help UK businesses use their technologies and know how to improve the AgriFood systems in Africa^[17^]. The Global Challenges Research Fund is a £1.5bn fund to support cutting‐edge research, which addresses the problems faced by developing countries. GCRF forms part of the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment.

Panel discussion at FII2020 Bournville workshop

Part of the funding for the AgriFood Africa programme was aimed at directly supporting early relationships to develop collaborations.

KTN provides the dissemination and coordination support to Innovate UK for the different parts of this work. We were due to take a number of UK companies and academics to South Africa and Kenya to meet research and implementation partners over the summer.

These missions have been delayed due to COVID‐19, however we are experimenting with new ways of promoting interactions between potential collaborators using a variety of digital approaches. We will be running ‘virtual missions’ in June over three weeks covering the Southern and Central Region w/c June 1, Eastern Africa w/c June 8 and Western Africa w/c June 15, 2020. If you are interested in joining any of the activities or are just curious to learn more about the African AgriFood system please visit our website^[18^].

The inaugural GCRF AgriFood Africa Programme event was held in London in December 2019 and focused on sharing success stories and lessons learnt from ongoing collaborative initiatives. Initial presentations provided an overview of how the new programme fits into the wider GCRF funding landscape, what it aims to accomplish and available opportunities. The second session showcased a number of collaborative R&D projects funded through the Innovate UK Agri‐Tech Catalyst scheme, which is part of the AgriFood Africa programme. Finally, an evening reception that included talks on concessional finance and corporate sustainability, wrapped up the first day.

The second day of the event was structured as a strategy workshop. Talks from stakeholders helped provide context for the programme and speakers shared examples and tips for effective networking, collaboration and dissemination. The rest of the day was dedicated to information gathering and discussion, as delegates were asked to share their insights and experiences using iterative rounds of real‐time surveys (via Mentimeter) and break‐out group discussions. We have written up the event and the lessons learnt by innovators in Africa and those in the UK working in African markets^[19^].

Part of the funding for the AgriFood Africa programme was aimed at directly supporting early relationships to develop collaborations; these Innovation Awards provided up to £40,000 to a UK university or Research Technology Organisation to work on a collaborative project to address the challenges of an African partner.

We were pleased to announce the first winners recently^[20^]. This simple funding model was based on one used many times by the KTN, most recently in the UK AgriFood sector for ten SPARK awards of £10,000 for universities to support innovative businesses^[21^].

中文翻译：

通过创新改变

知识转移网络（KTN）支持企业与学术界之间的合作，以通过创新鼓励变革。Jayne Brookman描述了其一些活动。

KTN在食品领域的活动

知识转移网络（KTN）使用行业专业知识来连接各个行业，地域和技能组，以通过创新进行变革。KTN AgriFood团队在整个供应链中工作，并与其他KTN团队联系以解决跨领域问题，例如数据分析，数字技术和机器人技术。

大多数英国创新基金计划都是为了鼓励企业之间或企业与学术界之间的合作^[ 1 ^]。我们与Innovate UK作为他们的网络合作伙伴紧密合作，以促进他们的竞争并建立创新企业和研究人员的社区。

KTN提供的事件和支持的类型随主题领域，业务或关系的个体发展和成熟阶段而发展。这可以很简单，例如为行业或学术界的研究基地中志趣相投的个人提供介绍；围绕特定主题区域举办小型或大型会议或工作坊；为资金申请提供支持；成长中的社区或帮助早期公司寻找资金。

中小企业在FII2020 Bournville研讨会上展示其技术

本文概述了KTN为支持企业在创新空间中与英国或非洲的其他企业或大学合作的能力而进行的活动的类型。它描述了一些近期活动，这些活动着重强调了KTN与英国和海外食品行业的合作。

食品工业创新研讨会

今年早些时候，KTN组织了两个“食品工业创新2020”研讨会，由英国创新基金会在主题领域提供资助，以鼓励解决方案提供商和问题负责人之间的合作。这些活动汇集了初创企业，中小型企业和大型组织，以展示由创新英国资助的项目，听取众多专家的意见并提供交流机会。

植物蛋白或替代蛋白

第一次活动的主题是基于植物的蛋白质或替代蛋白质，该会议的主题是由MondelēzInternational在Bournville举办的。伊恩·诺布尔（Ian Noble）教授（孟德尔兹Bournville技术中心负责人，KTN食品行业集团主席）对大规模采购和在制成品中使用替代蛋白质的有趣且热门的领域进行了分析。

在制成品中替换蛋白质时，需要考虑的因素包括：

1.扩大供应链

2.替代蛋白可能无法提供现有形式的完整功能，例如鸡蛋

3.一些替代蛋白质在伦理和环境利益上有冲突，例如大豆

4.替代可能导致技术或加工问题，例如素食蛋黄酱

5.质地和味道是消费者的关键，替代蛋白质需要与消费者的预期体验相抵触。

研讨会还听取了中小企业Entocycle ^[ 2 ^]和Nandi Proteins在该领域的经验和进展。

Entocycle总部位于伦敦市中心，并利用其地理位置优势，利用食物残渣作为原料生产用于动物饲料的昆虫蛋白。它们进入商业鱼饲料行业中与鱼粉竞争的商品市场，因此需要利用生产创新（例如数据驱动的解决方案和机械臂）在价格上进行竞争。他们还正在研究循环经济方法，以最大程度地提高利润，开发昆虫粪便-frass作为生物肥料。

Nandi Proteins ^[ 3 ^]是一家利用自然过程来改善食品和饮料中蛋白质的物理特性的技术公司。该公司与合作伙伴合作开发高价值的功能成分，以减少植物制成的加工食品中的脂肪，添加剂和面筋含量。他们已经获得了Innovate UK的支持，以开发胶原蛋白衍生的脂肪替代品，乳清衍生的烘焙原料和植物衍生的面筋替代品。他们评论说，某些最终用户仍然主要关注干重和蛋白质含量，这表明人们对最终产品特性的替代缺乏了解，众所周知，最终产品的特性对消费者的享受至关重要。

也许研讨会的参加者能够利用这些见解来回应Mentimeter的一项民意调查，该调查要求阻碍消费者接受含蛋白质替代成分的产品，因为他们认为风味和质地是最大的障碍（图1）。

图1
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FII2020研讨会的压力计调查结果

图2显示了能够在研讨会上重点介绍其技术或方法的中小型企业。小组讨论和解决方案提供商有机会在午餐和休息时间与问题负责人见面，这使我们可以进行进一步的辩论和建立联系。

图2
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FII2020 Bournville的中小企业参与者

食物浪费

第二场活动在谢菲尔德哈兰大学的国家食品工程卓越中心举行，重点是食物浪费。代表WRAP的Gavin Milligan博士作为现场嘉宾，概述了减少食物浪费的社会，环境和经济挑战。然后，三家公司提供了有关如何解决食品浪费的案例研究。B-Hive Innovations的Alison Wright ^[ 4 ^]描述了他们解决整个马铃薯供应链中食物浪费的方法，从田间到仓库，再到果皮提取价值。来自坎普顿BRI的卢卡斯·韦斯特法尔^[ 5 ^]着重介绍了利用蔬菜副产品应用新型纤维以及从甲壳类废物中提取价值的工作。最后，Pennotec的Jonathan Hughes ^[ 6 ^]概述了他们利用多种材料创造价值的方法，包括与加拿大合作处理甲壳类废物以及使用苹果渣渣模仿脂肪。

小组讨论热烈，主题是“什么定义了食物浪费？” 并强调了以下几点：

•在使用食物垃圾方面，除了技术挑战外，还存在技术和法规方面的挑战

•如果不能保证废物流达到食品级标准，那么在某些操作中利用食物残渣是一个挑战。需要做大量的工作来确保食物垃圾可以安全地回到人类食物供应链中

•对食物垃圾流的开发通常需要数量和质量都稳定的供应，这可能很难实现

•减少食物浪费的首选解决方案是首先停止食物浪费的发生，但是在那之后，存在着一个废物分类体系，其中有各种途径可以重复利用或利用废物。具有最高价值的材料是最高优先级，尽管仍然需要大量的替代品以减少糖分和增加纤维含量。最低优先事项是将食物垃圾用作燃料来源

•家庭中的消费者浪费是减少食物浪费的重大挑战，但技术可以帮助提供解决方案。

举办了一次竞赛，为创新型中小企业提供了在活动中展示其产品和服务的机会（图3）。该计划精心设计，以确保参与者与中小企业参展商之间建立联系的大量机会。该活动表明已经开展了许多合作，因此进行了后续活动，KTN的作用是提供帮助，但是我们可以支持那些刚刚起步的关系。

图3
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谢菲尔德参加FII2020的中小企业参与者

在这些研讨会上参展的一些早期公司的下一步可能是获得外部投资，以促进其业务增长或支持特定创新的发展。在过去的三年中，KTN一直在为AgriTech业务开展一项投资支持计划，而今年的范围已扩大到包括食品业务。该计划建立了一群对该行业感兴趣的支持者和知识渊博的投资者，并为早期公司提供了强化课程，以使其在与投资者接触之前先完善其业务计划和演示文稿。2020年计划已于3月启动，将致力于KTN农业食品技术投资展示^[ 7 ^]，如果对COVID-19紧急情况允许，在2020年10月19日由对农业食品供应链中的早期公司，Farm491 ^[ 8 ^]和Rabobank ^[ 9 ^]感兴趣的组织支持。

食品部门小组会议

粮食部门小组（FSG）是由KTN AgriFood小组召集的长期会议。它包括行业，学术界，UKRI和政府代表，目前由Ian Noble（Mondelēz）担任主席。IFST为该小组做出了贡献。我们每年召开三次会议，讨论围绕创新空间的主题，特别关注如何在竞争前的框架内最佳地合作，以使该部门和英国受益。

多年来，FSG出版了许多出版物，其中考虑了整个行业中常见的食品科学和技术领域，这些出版物将受益于支持。最近的出版物是在2018年2月，着眼于食品和饮料行业的竞争前和工业研发的优先事项和需求，并特别参考了2017年发布的《工业战略》^[ 10 ^]。

数学学习小组

KTN带领了为期三天的研究小组，供数学家使用数学解决行业感兴趣的关键战略领域^[ 11 ^]。在过去的几年中，食品一直是成功的故事。在2017年巴斯举行的首次研究小组会议上，应孟德尔兹的要求，对了解加纳可可生产的气候变化影响的模型进行了研究。随后是百事可乐公司将其在佛罗里达州生产橙子的工作带入下一个小组，并且从2018年开始真正进入了许多合作。百事可乐公司在2018年遇到了两个问题，带来了合同，理学硕士项目以及另一个利用Integrated Think跨学科参与的机会巴斯大学的Tank和在剑桥和哈德斯菲尔德的会议上与其他学术团体的互动。

由Leverhulme博士奖学金计划“可持续社会的建模和分析”资助的诺丁汉大学清洁增长研究小组在KTN的支持下，由于COVID-19紧急事件而被推迟到2020年4月下旬。

清洁增长研究小组^[ 12 ^]计划解决农业，食品生产和生物技术，资源效率，水和可持续性等领域的许多行业问题。对于这个小组，特别欢迎早期职业学者，博士生和博士后，因此希望可以重新安排会议的时间。

谢菲尔德哈勒姆大学食品研究设施

在2017年巴斯举行的首次研究小组会议上，应蒙代尔兹的要求，研究了模型以了解气候变化对加纳可可生产的影响。

饮食与健康研究产业俱乐部和其他研究理事会资助的计划

自2007年由生物技术和生物科学研究委员会（BBSRC）成立以来，KTN一直与饮食与健康研究产业俱乐部（DRINC）进行了协调，并与医学研究理事会（MRC）和工程与物理科学研究委员会（EPSRC）合作）。该俱乐部的建立是一种公私合作关系，旨在鼓励食品行业更多地参与英国研究基地，并加强为食品行业服务的研究社区。

DRINC已获得两个阶段的资助，第一阶段授予了25个研究项目，资助到2014年；第二阶段重叠阶段于2012年启动，到2020年资助了18个研究项目。DRINC还支持了30个博士研究生。自成立以来，该俱乐部已举行了18项传播活动，通常为期两天的会议为工业俱乐部成员提供了充分的机会与展示其研究成果的学术成员进行互动，从而产生了许多长期的合作关系。