Business Finland has granted additional funding to Valio, with which Valio will expand its Food 2.0 research program launched in 2024. The aim of the program is to build a food system in Finland where competitiveness is based on sustainable production and innovation. The expansion aims at increasing productivity and food industry exports through smart production, consumer and customer understanding, new sustainable business models and the circular economy.
“The expansion of the Food 2.0 project is of great importance for the entire food sector. Renewal requires courage and risk tolerance at every level, from primary production to the consumer making choices in the store, but also brings unique opportunities: Finland has the potential to grow into a food country larger than its size, and export not only sustainably produced food to the world, but also a wide range of food innovations and expertise,” says Annikka Hurme, CEO of Valio.
Expansion opens up new opportunities
With the expansion of the research program, Business Finland has granted Valio additional funding of EUR 10 million in addition to the EUR 10 million granted in 2024, and is preparing to fund additional research projects in the business and community ecosystem formed by Valio with EUR 30 million in addition to the previous EUR 20 million.
The expansion will focus even more strongly on bringing technology, digitalization and collaboration into the food chain. The expansion will also connect consumers and business customers more strongly as part of the reform of the food system.
“The aim is to extensively develop the productivity of the entire food system. One practical example is the development of new solutions for the future factory environment, where operational efficiency is based on significantly more advanced foresight and overall data management. Another example is good news for the consumer: better use of market information creates even more relevant product innovations for Finland and international markets. The third example relates to primary production – what the farm will look like in a few decades’ time, and how to progress towards it on the farms systematically here and now,” says Harri Kallioinen, SVP, Research and Product Development at Valio.
The food system is renewed through extensive cooperation
From the very beginning, the goal and operating model of Food 2.0 has been interdisciplinary and -industrial cooperation. The food system is a broad entity that involves more than just the food production chain from the field to the table: it comprehensively covers food production, processing, distribution and consumption, as well as waste treatment. In addition to food, the food system includes their production inputs, such as energy and nutrients, as well as production side streams, such as straw or manure.
”It is clear that no single food system operator, even a large company such as Valio, can turn the entire system in a new direction on its own. In the early stages of the project, we have quickly exceeded our goal of getting companies, research organizations and other communities involved in the project, and with the expansion, we aim to further grow this ecosystem, ”says Kallioinen.
Valio’s original goal, set in 2024, was to include at least 100 organizations in the Food 2.0 ecosystem during the five-year program. The goal was already achieved in the first year, and currently the ecosystem includes more than 200 companies and organizations. There are 26 ongoing research projects and the goal is to further increase the impact. The expansion aims to have 250 members in the ecosystem, a total of EUR 185 million in research and development investments from various sources of funding, and an annual increase in exports linked to the food system of EUR 1.5 billion by 2032.
