Would you like to find out if the ReThink Protein Challenge'2 is something for you and why should you join? Ask a question and meet other students who are looking for a team? Join the info-meeting to learn the answers to all you questions about this cutting-edge international student competition!

Bonus: during the meeting dr.Stacy Pyett (WUR) will talk about the most important challenges of that protein transition is facing at the moment to ignite your problem-solving mindset.

About dr. Stacy Pyett
Stacy works at Wageningen University & Research as Program Manager Proteins for Life. In that role, she is responsible for engaging with industry and academic partners to advance research in the protein field.

Click here to watch back the Webinar

Substituting animal-based protein is one of the big challenges of our time. In this webinar, prominent experts from Wageningen University & Research will introduce you to two different ways of tackling the problem: the production of plant-based meat substitutes and the development of new forms of protein in the form of novel foods.  

Atze Jan Van der Goot will talk about Plant Meat Matters, a project on plant-based meat substitutes that closely resemble the texture, taste and nutritional composition of meat products. Such products would make the transition away from animal proteins almost seamless to the consumer, therefore holding great potential.

Ingrid Van der Meer will talk about her research on duckweed, or water lentils, a novel food in Europe and an extremely promising new source of protein that could soon be a part of our diets. She will take us through the process of discovering, developing and getting a new form of protein approved at the European level.

This exciting webinar will be a great opportunity to learn about the sustainable future of food. It will provide you valuable knowledge and a source of inspiration on your way to the ReThink Protein Challenge’2.

You can watch back this event here.

This event marks the official start of the ReThink Protein Challenge'2.

Whereas you are a Challenge participant, partner or a by-stander passionate about protein transition, you are welcome to join!

The highlight will be the table disucssion with selection of renowed guests about the urgency and feasibility of the protein shift. Can solutions of the Challenge's participants help accelerating the transition? Winner of the first edition of the Challenge, Edgar Suarez-Garcia will share his story.

During the Kick-off Event we will also introduce the Challenge, the partners and the organizing team. And of course we will kick-off this international student competition in a spectacular manner!

Watch the replay of the webinar here

Many efforts in the transition to sustainable protein are directed towards scientific and technological issues such as the discovery of new forms of protein and increasing the efficiency of protein production. But what about the impact that this transition will have on society at large and on non-human beings such as animals? In this Webinar, prominent experts from Wageningen University will introduce us to this social perspective on the protein transition that is so crucial to reach sustainability.
 
About the speakers

Jessica Duncan is an Associate Professor in Rural Sociology at Wageningen University. She is committed to social justice and is widely recognized for her expertise on the politics of sustainable food system transition. Her main research focus concerns the practices and politics of participation in food policy processes.
 
Bernice Bovenkerk is an Associate Professor at the group of Communication, Philosophy and Technology of  Wageningen University. She has recently been granted a VIDI grant from the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research on a project titled ‘Anthropocene Ethics: taking animal agency seriously’. Her research interests concern issues in animal and environmental ethics and political philosophy

49 teams from 41 universities in 18 countries have joined the ReThink Protein Challenge'2. After the exciting first round, on 3 March we will reveal which top 30 teams will make it to the second round.

And there is more to look forward to:

- Fabiola Neitzel (team SWAP, winner first edition) will present her exciting start-up

- Laurice Pouvreau (WUR), Wim Hilbrands (DSM) and Alejandro Amezquita (Unilever) will discuss the most promising innovations in the field of protein transition

- Sergiy Smetana (DIL), member of the Selection Committee, will share insights on this edition's entries

Wherever protein transition is your passion or your proffession, you do not want to miss this event:)

Watch back the event here.

About the webinar

On 25 March starting at 14.00 hrs, René Draaisma and Alessia Ermacora from Unilever will present their cutting-edge work towards creating improved plant-based products. René Draaisma will introduce Unilever and share insights on alternative protein routes using Sun-based options, Microbial fermentation, Cellular agriculture and Precision fermentation. Alessia Ermacora will focus on the challenges and potential solutions when developing flavors for plant-based applications. It will be an unique opportunity to hear first-hand stories from the market leader in plant-based products and ask them questions.
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Alessia Ermacora is a project manager at Unilever, where she is responsible for the research program around flavour for plant-based applications. She has a PhD in Food Chemistry and her main areas of expertise are food safety (contaminants), food quality and shelf-life (lipid oxidation) and flavor (plant-based applications).

René Draaisma has a background in Biochemistry and Biotech. He has worked for over 22 years within Unilever R&D as research scientist, project leader and product owner on many different topics all related to biotechnology. Finding sustainable solutions using biotech is his biggest passion.

Futuristic and consumer-ready products tend to take the spotlight when talking about the transition to sustainable protein. However, in order to make this transition work, alternative solutions are needed at all levels of food production systems. In this exciting webinar, experts from WUR will introduce three such solutions to consider all aspects of sustainability and include circular economy aspects in the transition.  

Dr. Hasmik Hayrapetyan will present a multi-criteria assessment platform for the agro-food industry to integrate environmental, health, economic and social aspects at the early stages of food development. Esther Hogeveen will talk about the importance of post-harvest conditions and technology on the protein content of plants. Finally, Peter Geerdink will introduce leafy agricultural side streams as a new source of plant-based proteins. 

Hasmik Hayrapetyan is a food microbiologist at Wagenigen Food & Biobased Research (WFBR) at Wageningen University and Research.   

Esther Hogeveen has several years of work experience at Philips as a plant specialist. Since 2015 she is Project lead/Researcher at the Post Harvest Technology Group at Wageningen Food & Biobased Research. Focus in her projects is to find solutions to maintain quality in the supply chain of fresh produce and recently also other types of biomass. 

Peter Geerdink is a food technologist at Wageningen University and Research, where he is involved in process development and scale-up processes.  His expertise is mainly focused on separation technology and process development for plant protein production. His main work field are new protein sources, biobased products and process side-stream valorisation 

About the webinar

Do you want to know more about plant-based cheese? Those Vegan Cowboys are developing new vegan foods that are indistinguishable in flavor, structure, nutritional properties and values from  milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter.

They take the next step in dairy production by joining forces to produce a new plant-based cheese. In this webinar, we will discover that the production of vegan dairy alternatives is sustainable, with a significant reduction of water, land and CO2 emission of at least 5 times lower compared to cow milk. Furthermore, Those Vegan Cowboys strive for healthy products with less saturated fats, which are suitable for people with lactose intolerance.

• ​​​​​​​Niko Koffeman is a founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Those Vegan Cowboys​​​​​​​.

• ​​​​​​​Will van den Tweel (alumni Wageningen University) is an experienced entrepreneur and Project Director of Those Vegan Cowboys.

This event is organized in collaboration with the University Fund Wageningen (UFW). UFW invests in the strengthening of the contacts between WUR and her alumni, businesses and relevant social organisations. As such they contribute to the relevance and quality WUR’s domain: healthy food & living environment.

• Sergio Ooijens, a purebred engineer who graduated as a mechanical engineer in 1999, but can now call himself Head of International Marketing and Communications at Lely and Head of Processing. .

• Jannet de Jong, programme manager Startups at Lely has a  background in neuropsychology with experience in innovation, startups, international development and business development.

In January 49 teams from 41 universities in 18 countries on 5 continents have joined the ReThink Protein Challenge'2. Their mission? To come up with a cutting edge solution to accelerate protein transition.

On 3 June, after six months of exciting struggle, Wim Hilbrands (DSM, chair of the selection committee) will reveal the Finalists of the Challenge, the top 12 teams who make a chance to win a prize pool of € 15 000!

As a prelude to this moment Gerda Feunekes (The Netherlands Nutrition Centre) and Marleen Onwezen (Wageningen Economic Research) will discuss the consumer perspective on protein transition.  Their will reflect on factors that influcence consumer readiness to buy alternative products, discuss strategies to motivate people to change their diets and explain why we want to eat vegan but fail to eat less meat.

In January 49 teams from 41 universities in 18 countries on 5 continents have joined the ReThink Protein Challenge'2. Their mission? To come up with a cutting edge solution to accelerate protein transition.

After two selection rounds twelve Finalists remain in the game. Some of the promising ideas include a protein snack for children made in 3D printing technology from by-products of the livestock processing, protein-rich nut flours sourced from regenerative agroforestry, and a lipid ingredient identical to milk fat produced through precision yeast fermentation.

On 25 June, in a nerve-wracking finale the winning teams will finally be revealed. Six best teams will present their innovative idea to the world. The jury, consisting of high-level representatives of DSM, Lely, Bayer, Avebe, IFF and GEA, will react to the presentations and decide which teams will scoop up the €6000 prize for the prototyping and €3000 prize for the ideation category. Also the on-line audience will get a chance to cast a vote.

Tune in to get inspired by out-of-the box ideas of the future change-makers and to find out who will win the Challenge!