A new collaborative platform backed by the Novo Nordisk Foundation has launched to accelerate the development of plant-based foods.

Plant2Food will bring together researchers and companies to explore food science challenges.

The platform is based on open collaboration, meaning that any knowledge or insights garnered through its activities will become available to everyone.

The universities and companies joining Plant2Food waive any claim to intellectual property rights, and everyone has the opportunity to further develop the results of research projects and potentially use them for commercial purposes.

Partners include Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, which represents companies, knowledge institutions and other organisations, and will focus on how to translate the research undertaken into practice.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation is awarding up to €27 million (DKK 200 million) to support the initiative over the next five years.

As partners in Plant2Food, Aarhus University, the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark and the Netherlands’ Wageningen University and Research will have access to the funds from the Foundation allocated for research.

“We need to rapidly develop foods that can feed a growing world population without over-utilising the planet’s resources,” said Claus Felby, senior vice president of biotech at the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

“Plant2Food creates a unique opportunity to make Denmark a leader in developing plant-based foods and ensure that we leverage the huge potential already existing in Denmark’s research community and companies and build networks with the best international experts in the field.”

Plant2Food will focus on developing knowledge about the properties of crops and how they can be used in food products, which can subsequently be applied further up the value chain.

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