Unilever Foods Innovation Centre 'Hive'

🚀 Meet Wim van Benthum, a dedicated patent attorney at Hive!   Wim's expertise ensures our groundbreaking technologies are protected, enabling us to continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible. His role involves close collaboration with our brilliant scientists, meticulous patent drafting, and strategic negotiations to secure Unilever's benefits in ecosystem collaboration projects. With over 25 years at Unilever and a unique blend of scientific and legal acumen, Wim is a cornerstone of our R&D efforts. Still Wim stays humble, emphasizing that his time at Hive is defined not by big achievements but by a consistent dedication with motivation from Hive's great community. #Innovation #UniquelyUnilever #Patents

🌱🌍 Exciting news from the world of food innovation! Our R&D team, led by Krassimir Velikov and Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan, PhD, has developed an “easy out” coating for the inside of Hellmann’s plant based mayo squeeze bottles. This edible, plant based coating ensures that every last drop of mayo glides out smoothly without sticking.🥪👏 What’s the buzz all about? Well, it significantly reduces food and packaging waste. Approximately 60% of global food waste occurs in our kitchens, and Hellmann’s is committed to helping consumers make taste, not waste. 🌎🍽️ So next time you enjoy your favorite plant-based mayo sandwich, know that science and innovation are working behind the scenes to make it even better! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ePPgVU2s #FoodInnovation #Sustainability #PlantBased #MakeTasteNotWaste  

We have set a new benchmark in nutrition transparency. In 2022, Unilever became the first global food company to publicly disclose the performance of our product portfolio against 6 externally endorsed Nutrient Profiling Models (NPMs). Now we are the first to do so for three consecutive years. There is not one measure of “healthiness” as NPMs show widely different outcomes based on the underlying methodology. Furthermore, there is currently no globally aligned approach to setting a harmonised “healthiness” score for food and beverage products.   We are continuously improving the nutritional quality of our products in support of the vital shift the world needs to make to more nutritious and sustainable diets, ensuring a better food system for people and planet.   Furthermore, we are calling on the industry and stakeholders to work together to create an industry-wide approach for measuring “healthiness” of portfolios that every company in the food industry can use. Read more about it here: https://lnkd.in/eBqN86RX

This week, we once again had the pleasure of participating in the yearly Wageningen Campus Expedition. We opened our doors to welcome our neighbours and to offer them a peek into our groundbreaking work and vibrant community. 🙏✨   During this experience, visitors gained exclusive insights into the world of food science and innovation driving Unilever forward. Through sessions hosted by colleagues, they explored our core values, innovations, and our commitment to creating sustainable solutions that make our food better for the people and the planet.   Ceren Topal Heleen W. Mariska Dötsch-Klerk Ans Eilander Beril Çağatay Anne Wanders Emmy Smeeman Linda Mesker Saharsh Singhal Wageningen Campus #WageningenCampusExpedition #UniquelyUnilever #FoodInnovation #Wageningen #WUR

From predicting and optimising shelf life to creating #KnorrZeroSaltCube and #Hellmann’sVegan. At Unilever, we are embracing AI to revolutionize our food development. 🚀 Our colleague Manfred Aben spoke with Christopher Doering of Food Dive about how AI and data science is evolving and how it helps us create great tasting products for people and the planet 👉 https://lnkd.in/gdvXYDeQ #ArtificialIntelligence #fooddive #UniquelyUnilever

Meet Ozgun! 🌟 As our Global Innovation Chef, Özgün Özenen is one of our talented chefs cooking up the future of food at Hive and known for her infectious positivity and boundless passion. 👩🍳 She describes her role as a "culinary interpreter," bridging consumer preferences with cutting-edge formulations and technologies. Whether experimenting with new recipes, leading workshops, or discovering trends, her work is all about turning innovative ideas into delicious realities. A great example of her impact is her contribution to the creation of the limited edition ‘Super Cube’ for #Supertasters that significantly reduces bitterness in vegetable dishes. Join us in celebrating Ozgun for her remarkable contributions and the culinary creativity she brings to Unilever! 🍽️✨   #Innovation #TeamHive #BeeInpired #Foodtechnology #UniquelyUnilever

🌱 Join the Bridge2Food Europe 2024! 🌱 We're excited to announce that two of our esteemed Unilever scientists will be speaking at the upcoming Bridge2Food Europe 2024 Course Day and Summit in The Hague from 4-6 June! Klaas-Jan Zuidam will discuss the optimization of food product properties when using plant proteins. Given that commercially available plant proteins are often denatured and lack the functionality of animal proteins. He will cover the reasons for plant protein denaturation, provide examples of food product applications and discuss trends and future demands in the plant protein industry. Liesbeth Zandstra will delve into the evolving world of plant-based meat alternatives. Despite their rapid market growth, many consumers still prefer animal meat. She will explore how alternative proteins can be seamlessly integrated into everyday diets by enhancing sensory quality and providing a superior product experience. In all this, she will focus on the taste perception, food preference and key determinants influencing the choice behaviour of plant-based meat. Register here: https://lnkd.in/g9QMBCWw #Bridge2food #FoodInnovation #PlantBased #UniquelyUnilever 

The Vegetarian Butcher partners with The EVERY Company, creator of the world’s first hen egg made without the hen! When on a mission, The Vegetarian Butcher loves to work with the right partners to become even more impactful together. Powered by craftsmanship and cutting-edge innovation, a great example is their new partnership with high-performance ingredient company The EVERY Company. EVERY is the first company in the world to create and commercialize nature-equivalent egg products made without hens, using precision fermentation. They are partnering with the world’s most iconic brands to launch products powered by EVERY’s humanely sourced, highly functional egg ingredients. EVERY’s flagship product, EVERY Egg, recently starred in a delicious 5-course menu at 3-Michelin-Star restaurant Eleven Madison Park! This breakthrough, clean-label ingredient is a natural fit with The Vegetarian Butcher’s mission to release animals from the food chain. After years of dedicated effort to further veganize their product range, this new collaboration aims to accelerate the final steps of this process, while preserving the delicious taste and texture of their products. #thevegetarianbutcher #sacrificenothing #plantbased

🤝 Meet Soheila, there is never a boring day for her at Unilever! Soheila's journey at Unilever is defined by her passion and her eagerness to embrace new challenges with #curiosity and an open mind. 🌞 As a platform leader, Soheila, oversees nearly every aspect of Unilever's dressing efforts in Europe aligning diverse strategies and empowering our R&D teams to drive #innovative solutions that shape our resilient portfolio. ✨🍴 When asked about her over 25 years long success at Unilever, Soheila's answer is simple but profound: "The positive people and the learning spirit. #beeinspired #foodscience

In less than two months, the Future Food-Tech Alternative Proteins summit will bring together 700+ players from alternative proteins and ingredients, investors, and industry leaders to explore R&D breakthroughs and consumer-centric strategies.   Among the expert speakers is our own Julie Willems, Head of Diet & Health for the Nutrition Business Group, who will kick off the discussions at the opening panel on ‘Navigating Global Protein Diversification.’ Julie emphasizes the importance of diverse proteins, stating, “Only if diverse proteins are the easy, obvious choice will they be widely adopted.” Unilever believes in the power of innovation, collaboration, and supportive policies to accelerate this transformative shift towards healthier and sustainable diets! Future Food-Tech Cargill ENOUGH Bluestein Ventures Lazimy Regenerative Impact Partners   Read more on 👉 https://lnkd.in/gGAsTq-R