Electrolux Professional has the ambition to support the food chain through innovation, technology, research and collaborative projects. As a leading global provider of food service, beverage and laundry solutions, we know the importance of taking responsibility for a sustainable society.
“When you are big, you should be kind,” says Jennie Walther, Nordic Marketing Manager and continues: “To us, Agenda 2030 is more than just a concept. We are working actively with various partners and projects to create a wise use of resources that minimizes our climate footprint.”
But the commitment extends even further than the global sustainability goals. Electrolux Professional’s ambition is to take responsibility for and support the food chain, thereby adding value, in order to ultimately be involved in and contribute to a more sustainable industry and society.
The Research Hub
One of the larger initiatives is The Research Hub, where the company conducts food technology research in close collaboration with the University of Udine, Italy.
“The Research Hub is our enabler for collaborative research. It involves universities around Europe and we offer scholarships to do research with us in a number of different research fields, from artificial intelligence to environmental technology,” says Viktoria Roos, Open Innovation Leader.
The research facility at the Department for Food Science and Technology at Udine University houses a professional experimental kitchen, where researchers and students work to develop and optimize food products and their production processes. Here, experts in nutrition and cooking techniques serve as a link between the company’s chefs and product development in order to jointly reduce food waste.
“We look at what happens to the nutrient content in the different processes, if you boil, deep-fry or fry. It is a matter of our products consuming as little energy as possible, while the nutrient content is optimized,” says Viktoria.
Because it is not just about environmental sustainability. Public health is an issue that is growing in importance. In this area, Electrolux Professional wants to be a prominent player in society.
“Here, we really want to contribute to the public health with our work. Nutrition nourishes the brain, so we want to support children and adolescents by making sure that the school food that is produced contains the maximum amount of nutrition,” says Jennie.
Wants to contribute to the public health
The company is also involved in several other different collaborative projects aimed at increasing sustainability and reducing food waste. In Sweden these include the project Resvinn at the Chalmers University of Technology, aiming at an efficient and innovative redistribution of surplus food, the innovation platform The Restaurant Labs , a live-in-lab for accelerated innovation within the food industry and the White Guide innovation challenge 100% Circular, which encourages a more sustainable and circular restaurant world.
Together with the startup Karma the company also provides a smart refrigerator for grocery stores aimed at reducing food-waste, jointly helping consumers and the food industry take bigger responsibility in finding a more sustainable way of consuming food.
“Innovation goes hand in hand with sustainability and long-term profit,” concludes Viktoria.
Read more at https://theresearchhub.electroluxprofessional.com/
