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| 2. |
- Casimir, Justin, et al.
(författare)
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Småskalighet som ett medel för att bana väg för framtidens livsmedel?
- 2018
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The food value chain system in Sweden is well established making it hard for small companies to develop new products and even harder to create new food supply systems Obstacles could lay at the beginning of the chain (food production or processing), at the end (marketing, consumer) or could even be related to the legislative regulation framing the food supply chain. Smaller actors often lack resources and networks to develop their sector. However, their degree of creativity, innovativeness, and engagement is high, and their energy is needed in the development of new sustainable food value chains.The aim of this project was to develop and apply a methodology for evaluating food value chains, focusing on profitable small-scale production systems in Sweden that show potential for fast development of new products that quickly reach the market. The work also included identifying Swedish raw food materials with growth potential and to identify how they could come into greater demand. Ten food value chains with high development potential in Sweden and for export were mapped and the main bottlenecks briefly described. Three food chains where selected based on a potential-difficulty-benefit matrix. The three selected food value chains were: (i) Hops, (ii) Swedish forest berries, and (iii) Land-based fish farming. These three food value chains where further studied looking at the whole value chain, from production to end consumer. Through literature review and contacts with relevant stakeholders (telephone interview, face-to-face interview, or workshop) the bottlenecks were clarified and potential solutions for increased demand where identified.Swedish hops production is carried out by passionate and engaged smaller actors, mostly on a hobby level, and the hops is used as an ingredient for beer. Germany and the USA produce about 75% of the worldwide production These hops varieties are not adapted to the Swedish climate and therefore result in a low volume and poor quality. However, domestic varieties have been grown in the past giving better yield under Swedish climate conditions. More work is needed to characterize the quality of Swedish hops. At the present time, knowledge about the characteristics of Swedish hops is low, explaining the lack of interest from brewers. In Sweden most hops are harvested by hand, making it nearly impossible to be profitable on the market. The mechanization of the harvesting step is necessary to move Swedish hops from a hobby to a commercial activity. No solutions are available on the Swedish market, RISE together with SLU is looking to develop a hops harvester fulfilling Swedish and EU regulations and adapted to small scale cultivation. At the end of the value chain, innovative products could increase the need for Swedish hops, for example by developing beers brewed with fresh hops. Moreover, hops have antiseptic characteristics and could potentially be used in other food products than beer.Only about four percent of the berries that are produced by the Swedish forests every year are picked. The largest volumes picked are for bilberry (Swedish: blåbär), lingonberry, and cloudberry and most of them are washed and frozen in Sweden. Processing of berries, however, has to a large extent moved out of the country while the products produced for the Swedish market are quite traditional, low-processed foods such as jams, juices and dessert soups. The majority of the Swedish berries mainly bilberries due to their nutritional content are exported and are further processed into value added powders or extracts in Asia and Europe. In Sweden this kind of value chain is under developed largely due to knowledge barriers and to the currently very traditional market. However, there is a great consumer interest in berries and they have a perceived healthiness also in Sweden. Consumers are also increasingly aware of the origin of berries used as ingredients in products such as jams, purees and juice, as well as in health food products. To fill this gap between consumer interest/demand and raw materials available new businesses can be developed. To facilitate such development there is a need for knowledge generation and transfer along the whole value chain (picking, processing, product development and consumer studies), which can be generated by starting up new innovation and research projects. It is also of importance to facilitate networking, for example in the ‘berry network’ (coordinated by RISE), as the creation of a new value chain will require different businesses to cooperate. Also, product development projects will need support for testing, pilot production, and possibly in finding investment funding for new equipment.Land-based fish farming is small in comparison to traditional fish farming in Sweden, but several actors see a great potential in this system which has a lower impact on the environment compared to conventional fish farms. For instance, the Swedish farmer federation (LRF) has invested in a land-based fish farm recently. As in other EU-countries, the number of active farms in Sweden is decreasing and some see the potential to recycle unused animal stables into fish farms. A major bottleneck for land-based fish farming is current legislation as it is based on conventional fish farming and therefore does not consider the environmental benefits of land-based systems. Knowledge should be spread to relevant authorities and policy makers to open a dialog and facilitate the development of a relevant regulatory framework. Regarding the production phase, access to sustainably produced feed and technical competence are lacking. Moreover, as the technology is costly learning through trial and error would not be recommended. A testbed dedicated to land-based fish farming could support companies who wish to try modifications to their system. Furthermore, smaller producers have difficulties in finding processing solutions for their products; e.g. slaughterhouses and conditioning. Two potential solutions would be to develop a land-based fish farm cooperative and/or mobile systems that could take care of smaller productions. Finally, the competition on the market is tough as land-based fishes are competing with large-scale conventional fish farms from Norway and Asia. To overcome this bottleneck, the sector could develop its own certification as well as increasing the consumers awareness and knowledge.Some conclusions could be applied to all the studied food chains. For instance, each value chain can be seen as a puzzle with many pieces. In order to develop new food value chains many separate pieces need to fall into place. Therefore, it is necessary to increase collaboration between stakeholders but also to have a stakeholder driven coordination of this collaboration. The stakeholders within the developing value chains often do not have all the resources to carry out this task, especially if they are small businesses. The development of cooperatives also seems to be a solution to overcome bottlenecks in the studied food chains. Likewise, logistics in the developing value chains have a great margin for improvement. Furthermore, this project focused on value chains where food commodities are the end product but investigating the potential for non-food uses would also be of interest.The method used in this project can be replicated to other value chains with potential of development. It would help the users to get a holistic view of the current bottlenecks and facilitate contact between stakeholders. The list of bottlenecks can be followed up and used as an indicator to evaluate if the value chain in moving forward.
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| 4. |
- Holtz, Emma, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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The influence of dielectric and sorption properties on drying behaviour and energy efficiency during microwave convective drying of selected food and non-food inorganic materials
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Food Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 0260-8774 .- 1873-5770. ; 97:2, s. 142-153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The average energy efficiency of microwave convective drying is strongly related to drying time and thus to drying kinetics. This study investigates the energy efficiency of materials with different material properties and drying rates. Four solid, porous materials (swede, potato, bread, and lightweight concrete) were dried under the same microwave convective drying conditions. Drying behaviour, temperature development, hygroscopicity, dielectric properties, and specific energy consumption were studied. Despite differences in kinetics and product properties, the specific energy consumption (MJ/kg evaporated water) was approximately the same for all materials at intermediate to high moisture contents. When drying was pursued into the hygroscopic region, however, the specific energy consumption increased. The results indicate that a relationship between microwave penetration depth and water activity of the materials may be found. Drying of the food materials was limited by burning either due to temperature runaway in the hygroscopic region or due to development of hot spots, possibly induced by material structure.
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| 5. |
- Holtz, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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The role of processing parameters on energy efficiency during microwave convective drying of porous materials
- 2009
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Ingår i: Drying Technology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0737-3937 .- 1532-2300. ; 27:2, s. 173-185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A small-scale microwave convective dryer was built to study the effects of microwave power level, air temperature, and air velocity on drying kinetics, temperature development, and specific energy consumption (MJ/ kg evaporated water) using statistical designs. Increased microwave power had a large significant effect on moisture loss and temperature development and it reduced specific energy consumption. Increased air temperature and air velocity increased specific energy consumption, as their effect on drying kinetics was smaller in the system used. Low air temperature slowed the drying process, without affecting the relationship between average sample temperature and average moisture content during drying.
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| 6. |
- Krewer, Christoffer, et al.
(författare)
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Early phase design tool for non-LCA experts : Integrating environmental assessment in the development of novel processing technology in food industry
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Life Cycle Assessment methodology often applies a product perspective but can be used to assess novel production technologies by comparing novel products with a baseline product, as long as the functional unit of the product is considered to be the same. There is increasing environmental concerns in society and pressures on industry to take into account their impact on the environment. Tools are available for this, but not tools adapted to specific industry needs. The reasons to use LCA are foremost to guide the development towards the most sustainable solutions and to evaluate the market potential from an environmental perspective. Challenges arise when applying LCA in early development stages, e.g. getting access to recent development data, to increase commitment and incentives to take early LCA results into consideration, to present results in an attractive way etc. LCA calculations must also keep up with the sometimes rapid development. In order to meet these challenges interactive report software have been introduced to industrial partners (non-LCA experts) in an EU project called FutureFood (Grant agreement no: 635759). The project goal is to develop a new processing technology for foods (CO2 drying). In order to meet the LCA related challenges a platform has been used that is developed by PRé Consultants (Pre, 2016?), called Share and Collect. It allows LCA experts to develop tools for non-experts so that users are able to alter parameters in the LCA model and assess the result of the changes. It is done by providing the industrial partners with an intuitive web based graphical user interface (GUI). When a user changes input data in the GUI, parameter values also change in the model, an LCA calculation engine runs the model and the GUI presents the corresponding results. In the project a tool for assessing the processing technology has been developed and the industrial partners are provided rights to access the tools and create ‘what if’ scenarios. Examples of changes are change of electricity production, transport distances, transport types or modes, raw material source, packaging, production resource or energy efficiency etc. The tool has been evaluated by the non-LCA expert industrial partners, and the first review results show that it is user friendly, visually appealing and interesting in its interactive way because of the instant feedback of results. Tailored models such as the ones developed in the project have the potential to support knowledge based decisions in innovation projects in companies.
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| 7. |
- Kurdve, Martin, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges for lean thinking in food waste recycling management in a Swedish supply chain
- 2019
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Ingår i: PLAN's Forsknings- och Utvecklingskonferens 2019.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recycling and waste management industry is important for future circular material flows. The food waste logistic and recycling operations need to be managed efficiently both in terms of material efficiency and cost of operations. Supply chain challenges include extraction of the residual material, retaining material quality with low contamination, and to produce a marketable material. Consumer waste/residual material is particularly challenging in these respects. Lean is a management concept with focus on quality, flow and improvement for customers. Important lean management principles for are; Continuous improvement, Respect for people, Standardised way of work, Just in time and Right from me quality. These principles can be simulated in lean games to facilitate discussions on improving the system. Benefits from using lean management in manufacturing have been lower costs, improved customer value, and competitiveness, reached through less transport, handling and inventory losses. The recycling and waste management industry differs from manufacturing by having less value of the products and a system providing simultaneous services and products to different customers. This study used literature, process data, including observations and operator interviews, and a workshop using a lean simulation game to initiate lean thinking discussion concerning improvement measures in food waste collection and recycling. The aim with this paper is to find in what areas (if any) there is potential for lean management implementation and the challenges for implementing such management in the food waste recycling chain. The results showed several applicable lean principles in the recycling industry. The industry has focus on flow and in many respects the transportation sub-system of the studied chain is efficient, although carrier return is a significant system loss. Information flow and goal settings have improvement opportunities. Disturbance in the information flow is not unique to recycling industry but give challenges. Paying customers in each end of the value flow with various requirements adds complexity for food waste recycling. Using the lean simulation game and value stream map were appropriate to enhance understanding of the value chain. Distinguishing value-reducing activities from other non-value adding activities may be important in waste management processes. This study contributes with a case study applying lean management tools in municipal waste management of food waste and with conceptualisations for further green lean, and sustainable supply chain management research in recycling and waste management industry.
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| 8. |
- Malafronte, Loredana, 1986, et al.
(författare)
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Combined convective and microwave assisted drying: Experiments and modelling
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Food Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 0260-8774 .- 1873-5770. ; 112:4, s. 304-312
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The drying process is largely used in many different industrial applications, such as treatment of foods,production of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing of paper, wood and building materials,polymers and so on.Physical and mathematical models can constitute useful tools to establish the influence of the main process variables on the final product quality, in order to apply an effective production control. In this work, simulation model was developed to describe combined convective/microwave assisted drying. In particular, a multi-physics approach was applied to take into account heat and two mass balances (for liquid water and for water vapor) and Maxwell’s equations to describe electromagnetic field propagation.Potato matrix was selected as food material; a waveguide with a rectangular cross section, equipped with a hot air circulator device, was used as microwave applicator. The proposed model was found able to describe the process, being thus a useful tool for design and management of the process itself.
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| 9. |
- Tomic, Nikola, et al.
(författare)
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Challenging chemical and quality changes of supercritical Co 2 dried apple during long-term storage
- 2019
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Ingår i: Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft + Technologie. - : Academic Press. - 0023-6438 .- 1096-1127. ; 110, s. 132-141
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to analyze the stability of sensory properties and secondary metabolites in supercritical-CO 2 (scCO 2 ) dried ‘Elstar’ apple cuts/snacks during twelve months of storage at ‘room’ temperature. Air-drying and freeze-drying were used as reference methods. ScCO 2 -dried apple packed in aluminum-polyethylene bags under nitrogen gas retained a high sensory and nutritional quality, and acceptance level until the end of the observed period. The overall acceptance scores of these apples after 6 and 12 months of storage remained in the range of neutral consumer attitude “neither like nor dislike”. Packaging under nitrogen gas preserved the content of flavonols (≥0.14 g/kg), dihydrochalcones (≥0.10 g/kg), hydroxycinnamic acids (≥0.18 g/kg), triterpenes (≥5.72 g/kg), and proanthocyanidins (≥0.08 g/kg) in dried apple irrespective of the drying method applied. The comparison with the conventional drying processes demonstrated that scCO 2 -drying represents a promising alternative technology for the production of dried apple snacks. The study was assisted by the evaluation of consumer attitudes towards dried fruit and drying technologies. Freeze-drying, air-drying and scCO 2 -drying were recognized by the tested consumers as trustful drying-processes, with expressed interests in buying scCO 2 -dried products if the technology was scientifically proven as excellent in preserving nutrients, color and taste of food products.
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| 12. |
- Östergren, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Food waste prevention strategies in global food chains : Conclusions and recommendations from the SIANI Expert group on food waste 2016
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Around 1/3 of edible food produced is wasted and when converted into calories this losscorresponds to 1/4 of the nutritional energy from food. Reducing food waste is a “triplewin” activity: as it saves money since less resources are needed, as less waste is equal tothe opportunity to feed more people in the future, and furthermore reduced wastedecreases the pressure on climate, water, and land resources. The need to reduce foodwaste is also a part sustainability goals (SDG12.3). The success in reducing food waste ishighly dependent on an effective communication across the supply chain since the truecause of food waste many times is found in other parts of the supply chain than it where itactually happens. Such circumstances are particularly challenging in global food chainsin particular food chains starting in developing countries ending in high income countriesdue to the geographic distance and the involvement of many actors.The aim of this project, coordinated by the “SIANI” Expert group on food wastepreventions strategies in global food chains” was to gather current knowledge andexperience, as well as best practice on how to manage food chains starting in developingcountries ending in high income countries with focus on vegetables and fresh fruits. Thiswas done by taking a multi-stakeholder perspective, by a survey and a workshop, toidentify knowledge gaps and opportunities:The specific questions raised in the project were:• How can our way of managing global food chains support the farmer in lowincome countries?• How can best practice in high income countries (e.g. Sweden) decrease the foodwaste of imported food by e.g. appropriate labelling, appropriate businessmodels, consumer information etc.?• How can best practice in our (Swedish) food chains be transferred to low incomecountries, improving the local food chain to the benefits of the local actors? Sinceglobal and local food markets are communicating vessels the hypothesis is that awell-functioning local food chain will lead to less overall food waste and moreincome to the farmers.The gap analysis shows that there are large knowledge gaps on how the supply chainsfunction, how much food is wasted and the causes of the food waste. The survey carriedout also shows that there is a demand for political action, and resources are needed inorder to make a change:− To facilitate and enable actions directed towards minimising food waste,recourses are needed for: education and training, technology implementation,better infrastructure and communication in the food system. This is importantwhen trading with developing countries and poor farmers with low educationalbackground.− The transparency, particularly in long supply chains, is problematic asinformation seems to be lost the longer the chain is; this is especially challengingwhen working with developing countries where the knowledge gap and theability to be a strong partner compared to the large industries and retailers ischallenging. Other aspects of transparency that needs to be addressed is thesharing information on e.g. campaigns, and other activities having an influenceon the demand along the food supply chain.− The survey shows that there is much knowledge in place that is not shared alongthe supply chain. Round table discussions and knowledge sharing within different sectors may be a first step in making use of current know-how, and to set up anagenda on needs and how to collaborate− To facilitate and enable actions directed toward minimising food waste, recoursesare needed for: education and training of all those in the early stages of the supplychain, technology implementation, better infrastructure and communication in thefood system. This is important when trading with developing countries and poorfarmers with low educational background.Much research is ongoing relating to sustainable food production without considering theresearch question being central for reducing food waste. Food waste research still suffersfrom that it is a quite new research area that is under development. Research focus onglobal food chains is currently focusing on quantification of food waste, impact ofinformation activities and awareness raising activities and is focused on the situation inhigh income countries. Addressing food waste in global food chains as defined in thisreport shows that research adapted to the needs in the local food chains in developingcountries are needed. For example how can a farmer make use of IT in a simple way(almost every farmer has a mobile phone), are there packing solution that can be usedtropical fruits so that a desired even quality can be delivered, how to handle the waste thatstill happens in the best way (feed, new product, biogas etc.) and how to take care of theinedible parts (leaves, stems, peels etc.). Process technologies suitable for small scaleapplications, e.g. by processing fruits having a low quality it can be preserved and sold asexported as processed fruit instead of being unsold or sold to the local market to a muchlower price.The Swedish resource base and research network could contribute to more sustainableand fair food chains with less waste by sharing their knowledge and take actionsaccording to:• Swedish Universities and Institutes could take a role in educating students andhosting visiting researchers to cover the knowledge gaps.• NGOs could take the important role as facilitators and educators in developingcountries on site.• The actors in the food supply chain can advance their position by dialogue,collaboration and information sharing; also, by hosting trainees from developingcountries learning Swedish best practice and serve as food “waste ambassadors”when they return back home.• Researcher and innovators could contribute to technology development,particularly simple, robust technological solutions to be used in developingcountries.• The key is however that Swedish actors we collaborate (researchers, innovators,food processors, retailers, authorities and policy makers) and share ourknowledge and experience in an organised way.The actual practical solutions for reducing food waste need to build on the collectedexperience and the knowledge carried by the actors in the supply chains and theresearchers working with problems relating to food from different perspectives. Abottom-up approach is needed being supported by appropriate policy intervention.Finally, although the field is hampered by the unclear ownership of the question and lackof collaboration, there is always a” working window” for each actor in the supply chainwhere improvements can take place right now. Numerous of examples and ideas areprovided in the report and its annex.
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