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Biosolutions can significantly contribute to improving shelf life and food safety, thereby reducing food waste. Ideally, MICROORC may enable us to identify biosolutions that are better than those currently available on the market, says Véronique Zuliani, Director of the Applied R&D team at Novonesis.

We have asked her to tell us briefly about herself, what makes her think MICROORC is so important, what work is to be done in the work package she leads and what impact she imagines the project will have.

Véronique Zuliani is in charge of Work Package, no. 3: biosolutions for optimized food quality and safety, which focuses on selecting relevant biosolutions and assessing their effectiveness in improving shelf life, reducing food waste, and fighting harmful bacteria.

Tell us about yourself

I am Véronique Zuliani, Director of the Applied R&D team at Novonesis, with a focus on food cultures for meat and prepared foods including Plant based meat alternatives.

In late January 2024, Danish companies Chr. Hansen and Novozymes joined forces to form Novonesis: A global biosolutions company with a broad biological toolbox and a diversified portfolio.

Today, we are 10,000 people worldwide whose expertise spans more than 30 different industries. All around the world, our biosolutions already create value for thousands of customers and benefit the planet.

Our biosolutions enable feeding and fueling the world more sustainably, from healthy and sustainable nutrition to biofuel. Our biosolutions also reduce the use of fossil-based resources, chemicals, energy and water.

How and why did you join the MICROORC adventure?

We joined the MICROORC adventure through Nofima, who were looking for a supplier of food cultures with strong expertise on bioprotection in meat and ready-to-eat food.

In line with MICROOR’s ambition to increase food quality, increase shelf life and reduce food waste, Novonesis is committed to transforming food systems.

Our biosolutions tackle food loss and waste across the global food system, helping feed more people and reduce the climate impact of food. By harnessing the power of bacteria and utilizing the effects from fermentation, we can preserve food products for longer durations.

This can help extend the shelf life of food products throughout the distribution chain, leading to both optimization of productivity and lower food waste.

Joining MICROORC serves as a chance to both extend and share our knowledge by collaborating with many partners, such as academics and food & technology suppliers.

Can you explain the work that will be carried out in your Work Package?

Under our WorkPackage, no. 3: biosolutions for optimized food quality and safety, we focus on selecting relevant biosolutions and assessing their effectiveness in improving shelf life, reducing food waste, and fighting harmful bacteria.

We aim to have a holistic approach during the selection: we evaluate available efficacy data, but also price, labeling requirements, consumer acceptance, impact on the environment and on the food sensory properties.

The selected biosolutions will undergo testing on actual foods, including fresh chicken, smoked salmon and plant-based meat alternatives. The testing process involves a challenge test focused on inhibiting pathogenic bacteria like Listeria monocytogenes, in addition to shelf-life studies.

Up-to-date molecular tools, such as metabarcoding and MALDI-TOF technologies, will be used to better characterize the microorganisms involved in spoiling. Finally, (trained) panels will assess the sensory parameters of the food treated with the selected biosolutions.

What is your vision on reducing food waste for the next 10 years?

As a society, we are facing a triple planetary crisis. Climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss are all threats to human health, economic stability, and our food system. And at the same time, the global population is growing.

Projections predict we will be close to 10 bn people on our planet in 2050. Therefore, we need to rethink the food system and increase productivity. From our perspective, reducing food waste is one of the more straightforward leavers to improve productivity and reduce the environmental impact.

It is estimated that 1/3 of all food is wasted globally, and when we look to Europe, around 10% is wasted. When we waste food, we do not only lose the value of the food product, also, we leave a mark on the planet in terms of the greenhouse gas emissions and use of land, water, chemicals and more that went into the wasted food product.

In 10 years, or hopefully much sooner, I hope food waste is widely acknowledged as a global challenge and the right political and economic incentives are put in place.

And I hope farmers, food producers, retailers and customers consider food waste as a central parameter along with great taste and food safety. We do already know many of the technologies that prevent food waste, now let’s get them to work.

What are your ambitions for MICROORC?

Our ambition is to demonstrate how biosolutions can significantly contribute to improving shelf life and food safety, thereby reducing food waste.

Ideally, this project may enable us to identify biosolutions that are better than those currently available on the market. But to do so, it’s essential that we gather solid data.

Moreover, biosolutions are currently often confined within the limits of existing regulatory frameworks. However, these frameworks may not always fit biological solutions.

Thus, we would like to establish a dynamic collaboration between academic institutions, policymakers, and industries to further the facilitate the development of innovative biosolutions.

By bridging the gap between research and practical application, we can pave the way for advancements that benefit everyone, especially consumers and our planet.

About Novonesis

Novonesis is a global company leading the era of biosolutions.

By leveraging the power of microbiology with science, we transform the way the world produces, consumes and lives. In more than 30 industries, our biosolutions are already creating value for thousands of customers and benefiting the planet.

Our 10,000 people worldwide work closely with our partners and customers to transform business with biology.

Let’s better our world with biology.

Novonesis in numbers

• 10,000 people wordwide
• 30+ industries served
• 2,000 people in R&D
• 40 R&D and application centers
• 20+ manufacturing sites
• 9,900 patents
• 10% of revenue re-invested in R&D