Canned vegetables manufacturer and NPM portfolio company HAK is to promote innovation, education and entrepreneurship in plant-based nutrition. HAK is the market leader in beans and as such it is collaborating with Schouten Europe (producer of vegetarian products and meat substitutes) and the HAS University of Applied Sciences to establish a Plant Proteins Training Centre. The objective of the centre is to achieve Triple Helix cross-pollination among the business community, students and the government.
The idea for this collaboration arose within the Green Protein Alliance (GPA) of which both HAK and Schouten Europe are members. With the support of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (het Voedingscentrum), this alliance of market players and non-profit organisations is dedicated to promoting increased consumption of plant proteins through targeted activities. The Plant Proteins Training Centre is the first concrete initiative being launched under the banner of the GPA.
HAK and Schouten Europe are entering into a long-term cooperation with HAS. They will support a range of activities through this partnership, including the development of an undergraduate minor programme in ‘A plant-based future’. Both companies will also provide input for chain-wide (‘from farm to fork’) projects in which students will work in multidisciplinary groups. They will furthermore provide guest lectures and graduation projects for students (from both HAS and other educational institutions) in the fields of horticulture (the local cultivation of exotic legumes for example), product development and commercial opportunities in plant-based nutrition.
Developing new ideas
HAK CEO Timo Hoogeboom explains that his company possesses vast knowledge on how to prepare beans easily and deliciously. Hoogeboom: ‘We see it as our responsibility to pass this knowledge on to the new generation of food technologists, food designers, agricultural specialists and business managers.’
