09 November 2022
Happy and proud to announce that Jesse ‘t Lam, one of our Brave New Food co-founders and partners, was one of the keynote speakers at the yearly Nationaal Food Congres (National Food Congress) 2022 in the Kurhaus, Scheveningen, The Netherlands.
Every autumn, approximately 300 participants at directory level in the primary food retail and manufacturing industry come together. The Mission of the Nationaal Food Congres is to contribute to raising the management qualities of Dutch food retailers and manufacturers to a higher level. Every year, high-profile speakers from both The Netherlands and abroad make an appearance during the Nationaal Food Congres.
Jesse was able to share our main mission of stimulating collaborations between a thriving community of innovative startups/scale-ups, and leading food corporates, retailers, distributors, impact investors and knowledge partners.
“We mostly need to think and talk about the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation within the food industry and how ‘distorting the market’ in an innovative way might be difficult, especially as a large and established organization, but how it is in fact: the only way,” said Jesse. “For that, there are endless opportunities and chances for established companies, also when we look at some of the main challenges in the food industry. Think about food waste, current food not meeting healthy and nutritional needs, the wish and will for more plant-based food, and the growing demand of sustainable packaging.”
For that, he gave several inspiring start- and scale-ups examples during the keynote that are currently leading the way, from alternative proteins such as Redefine Meat and Those Vegan Cowboys, to innovative technology such as Clear and Verdify (in which we both played a part in setting up a collaboration and setting up further funding).
The keynote didn’t just end there, because it left some attendees inspired and willing to talk further. Some feel responsible to stimulate entrepreneurship, change and innovation; others are looking for concrete solutions and possible collaborations. We’re open to talk to them all. Can you only imagine what future collaborations and challenges will bring in the future. We’re looking forward to it!
Get in touch too with Jesse or one of the other Brave New Food members!