Attracting Major Industry Players
The second largest agrifood exporter in the world, Holland boasts more than 4,150 companies—from farm to fork. Of the world’s largest agrifood companies, 12 maintain major production or R&D sites in Holland, including Cargill, ConAgra, Danone, Kraft Heinz, Mars, Nestlé and Unilever.
Just last month, Coca-Cola opened a newly renovated factory in Dongen, where the company has invested nearly $100 million over the past three years to streamline production while further increasing sustainability.
These companies and numerous others chose Holland for many reasons. However, with one in every six employees in the Netherlands being employed in the agrifood industry, one significant reason businesses choose to invest in Holland is due to the large, highly-skilled and multilingual agrifood workforce. In fact, 90% of the Dutch speak English – the language of business worldwide.
A Hub for Food Innovation
Ranked No. 2 in Europe for private R&D investment in agrifood, the Netherlands is home to a highly concentrated industry cluster that engages diversified agrifood companies with impact-oriented knowledge infrastructure. Thanks to many universities, research organizations, businesses and public-private initiatives working together to successfully provide consumers around the world with sustainably produced, delicious and healthy food, it’s clear that the Dutch know how to work together.
Holland’s Food Valley is one of the best examples of Dutch agrifood collaboration. One of the largest food communities in the world, Food Valley consists of more than 1,510 international food companies and 20 research institutes, including Wageningen University and Research Center (WUR), named the best global university for agricultural sciences according to U.S. News & World Report, 2016.
Some recent projects to come out of WUR’s research hotspot include a smartphone-linked mini scanner that reveals the nutritional qualities of grocery store foods and a sweet pepper harvesting robot.
Another Food Valley leader is NIZO Food Research, a global food incubator with expertise in proteins, bacteria and processing. Some of its recent multidisciplinary ventures include working with farmers to enhance the nutrient density of protein-rich foods and finding high-tech solutions for global corporations to increase the production of necessary food products, such as infant formula, worldwide.
Thanks to the Netherlands’ commitment to developing the world’s next food innovations, Holland’s agrifood industry frequently collaborates across other top Dutch sectors like life sciences and health, information technology, energy and the creative industries.
The Future of Food
Outside of Food Valley, too, the Dutch continue to evolve the way the world produces and consumes food. Employing more than 3,000 highly qualified food scientists, Holland’s TNO Innovation for Life (TNO) is the largest independent contract research organization in the Netherlands. One of TNO’s most unique endeavors includes utilizing 3D-printing technology and food science to create specialized food products customized to specific nutritional needs and dietary restrictions.
Other emerging Dutch food leaders include Dairy Campus, a cooperative of players in the dairy value chain that are working together to support Holland’s nearly 18,000 dairy farmers, and Floating Farm, a high-tech living lab dedicated to improving food production processes, waste and water treatment in the dairy industry.
Even small businesses are getting in on designing the future of food – one mushroom at a time. Venlo-based Scelta Mushrooms is a Dutch mushroom supplier that catapulted from a family-owned small business to an international food supplier. In 2002, the company even built its own R&D center, the Scelta Institute, to bring together health experts, food scientists and local chefs to pursue creative advances in the mushroom industry.
Likewise, Dutch start-ups in the agrifood industry are flourishing and provide a strong influence to the emerging developments of this vibrant sector.
All the Right Ingredients
Apart from providing access to a first-class agrifood business community, collaborative R&D infrastructure and skilled workforce, the Netherlands also offers agrifood companies a strategic location with excellent logistics close to Europe’s 500 million consumers, an internationally-oriented competitive fiscal climate and a high quality of life.
Furthermore, Invest in Holland offers an unmatched level of support to companies seeking to expand or relocate within the Netherlands, along with a commitment to finding the optimal Dutch location for their business operations.
Source: http://investinholland.com/