Will your business still exist in 2050?

Innovation is important for the survival of your company. And that's not just the developments within your company, it also concerns the rapidly changing society we live in. We are working on a more conscious and sustainable society, for now and for the future. Niek Theunissen of LIOF talks about the developments within the agrofood sector. Peter Geurts of Finefield tells the story of the picking machine, developed by his company. An innovation that became even more valuable because of the Corona crisis.

You know the romantic picture: the farmer plowing the land with a horse at dawn, while the servants stand in the field in the background with the pitchfork in their hands. This was the situation in 1950. Completely different is the situation 100 years later, in 2050. Where drones fly over the fields, robots harvest the crops and the farmer is an expert in big data. What will the future bring us? And how can the agri-food sector prepare for this? Niek Theunissen, business developer at LIOF, tells it.

"As an entrepreneur you used to focus mainly on production," says Niek. That's no longer possible, as an entrepreneur you're more of a manager. You have more tasks, because you also have to take into account the pressure on prices, increasingly strict legislation and regulations and climate issues. In addition, you deliver, directly or indirectly, to critical consumers who have an increasing demand for healthy and sustainable products. It is a challenge to respond to this."

But according to Niek it is not impossible. "As an entrepreneur you have to engage in new developments outside your company. Only then will you be ready for the future. Innovating is necessary to survive." He identifies 3 areas in which he believes entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector can best develop.

1. Circular

Our food must be produced more and more responsibly. With low CO2 emissions, using residual streams and dealing responsibly with raw materials. According to Niek, data analysis is indispensable for this. He gives a few examples:

"Data gives you insight into how you can improve your own process. In the composition of pig feed for example. The pork sector now uses residual flows in its feed, such as bread that has passed its expiry date and may no longer be sold. Data shows that this works well. You need less feed than before. This data is necessary to compile the feed as optimally as possible."

"In greenhouse horticulture they also already work a lot with data. Not just in the production process, but also in the logistics process. For example, they measure how long a certain product can lie somewhere maximally or what the best method is for order picking of the food. This ensures that the product is of a higher quality when it eventually reaches the consumer."

2. Robotics and automation

"We are facing an increasing shortage of labor," Niek explains. "That's a terrible shame, because this means that fewer crops can be harvested, and we therefore have to deal with food waste. Robotics is a good solution for this. The milking robot, for example, has been around for a while. But other types of robots are also starting to appear on the market. Think for example of harvesters for cucumbers, peppers, apples, asparagus and blueberries. But there are also self-steering tractors that can plough or fertilize. These tractors work the soil in such a way that the soil remains fertile and workable longer. That is very impressive to see."

3. Collaborating with other parties

It is important for the agro-food sector to cooperate with other parties. Further on you can read about the development of a picking machine for blueberries. "As a berry grower, you would never have managed to build such a machine on your own. You need technical specialists for that," says Niek. "Fortunately, we in Limburg are very strong in the area of crossovers. That means that we can easily connect entrepreneurs with different specialties, such as technology and agro."

Getting beyond borders

According to Niek, it is very important not to stick to existing boundaries when looking for cooperation. "We are of course very close to the Belgian and German border. And that's why it's very good to cooperate with parties in those countries. There they do research and have expertise that can help us. And the reverse is also true, of course. The Netherlands is a front runner when it comes to innovation in the agro-food sector. Of course we can also offer them a lot. I therefore hope that we will be able to collaborate more and more with parties outside Limburg.

Begin at Kiempunt

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Niek also has tips for entrepreneurs who want to innovate. "Start in a low-threshold way. Orient yourself on what is already happening and what is possible. The online platform Kiempunt Limburg can help you with that. It brings together all sorts of entrepreneurs who are involved in the agri-food sector, from educational institutions to food producers and technicians. You can share knowledge with each other on the platform. There are also many examples of innovations and projects, such as the berry picking machine. But we also see on Kiempunt beautiful collaborations between entrepreneurs. I would say, take a look and sign up! Because by innovating and collaborating, your company will make it to 2050!"

Would you like to know what the future holds for your company?

Visit Kiempunt Limburg and get inspired. Are you looking for cooperation partners? Then contact LIOF and discuss the possibilities.

Bots for better berries

Machine builder Finefield developed a picking robot for harvesting blueberries. Peter Geurts is the owner of Finefield and also made the technical design for the machine. He explains, "It became increasingly difficult to find workers to harvest the berries. That was already the case before the corona crisis, but now it's even worse. The work is physically demanding and many foreign workers have gone home at the time of corona to be with their families. In addition, the demand for blueberries is increasing enormously because they have healthy properties. We had to come up with a way to harvest all the blueberries anyway."

Robotizing harvesting is not as simple as it seems

Cooperation is key

Without cooperation with others, the berry machine could not have been created. Peter explains: "Our company consists of 3 entrepreneurs, including a berry grower. And precisely because of this cooperation, we know how sensitive the picking machine needs to be." But they also sought cooperation with LIOF. LIOF introduced Finefield to other possible cooperation partners and provided financial support. The berry machine is a great example of what you can achieve when you look for each other.

Will your business still exist in 2050?