Physical kick-off gave inspiration to Blue Food partners
Blå Mat's first annual conference took place in Fiskebäckskil on November 9 and 10, 2021, in the form of a kickoff. On the opening Tuesday, the focus was mainly on research and the young researchers of the center, while the entrepreneurial side was given more attention on Wednesday. Participants were able to immerse themselves in sustainability, responsible research and how we can strengthen Swedish seafood production. But also taste food from the partner companies and pet sea urchins at Kristineberg Marine Research Station. Here we have collected the presentations from the kickoff.
Blue Food will have annual conferences. The first one - a kickoff - was aimed at the partners of the center who finally got together after almost a year of operation. The kick-off, held on the West Coast, will be followed by annual conferences in other locations.
Here you can get a reminder for those who participated and a taste of the kickoff's content for those who could not come. You can find the program here.
Day 1. Tuesday, November 9
The approximately 80 people who had made their way to Fiskebäckskil and Hotel Gullmarsstrand were welcomed by Blå Mat's chairman Kristina Snuttan Sundell, University of Gothenburg, Fredrik Gröndahl, KTH, main applicant and fund manager, and Anders Högberg from Orkla, who is one of the business community's representatives in Blå Mat's steering group.
Nordic cuisine, represented by Danish and Swedish restaurants among others, is a world leader. These focus on local ingredients, not least fish, shellfish and algae from Nordic waters. Chef Sofia B Olsson explained how Noma in Copenhagen and her own restaurant, Vrå in Gothenburg, work and how trends start in fine dining restaurants and then reach a wider audience.
Blue Food aims to make Sweden a leading producer of sustainable seafood. Sustainable is a key word, but a tricky one. Because what does it really mean? Friederike Ziegler, researcher at Rise and member of the Blue Food steering group, is an expert on sustainability. She presented how to think about sustainability and how Blue Food approaches the concept.
Research is central to Blue Food and will largely be carried out by a group of young researchers. On Tuesday afternoon, the different research areas and the PhD students and postdocs recruited so far were presented.
- Research area 1. "Primary production, aquaculture, wild fisheries, underutilized species and biomass."
Marica Anderssson, PhD student, University of Gothenburg and Adrianus Both, postdoc, Uppsala University. - Research area 2. "Process technologies and product development"
John Axelsson and Mar Vall-llosera Juanola, PhD students, Chalmers University of Technology. - Research area 3. "Circular systems - local/regional nutrient loops for feed and utilization of
fish manure in crop production"
Pontus Gunnarsson, PhD student, SLU. - Research area 4. "Obstacles and fears - neophobia in seafood consumption"
Elena Costa, PhD student, Rise and University of Gothenburg. - Research area 5. "Sustainable blue food"
Kristina Bergman, PhD student, KTH Royal Institute of Technology. - Research area 6. 'Health and welfare of farmed organisms and consumers'
- Horizontal research area 1. "Artificial intelligence and digitalization"
- Horizontal research area 2. "Product quality and safety using new proactive and clean label technologies".
- Horizontal research area 3. 'Laws and regulations'
- Horizontal research area 4. "Risk management for increased sustainability in blue food production"
Day 1 ended with a presentation and tour of the Kristineberg Marine Research Station with the opportunity to pet sea urchins, starfish and other animals from the Gullmarsfjord.
Day 2. Wednesday, November 10
Day 2 started with a short summary of the previous day. Participants were then introduced to five of Blue Food's partners.
Marie Gidlund, Sweden Food Arena, challenged the participants to identify what research and innovation is needed to strengthen the blue value chain.
Dorothy J. Dankel, University of Bergen, presented the concept of "responsible research and innovation" and how it can be used as a framework for seafood research.
Torbjörn Johansson, IVL, is leading the first associated project with Blue Food. It involves using sound and image analysis with artificial intelligence to optimize feeding and to measure the amount of fish in a farm.
The last session was, appropriately enough, about the last step to the consumer, the retail trade, and how the competence there can be increased. Shereen Daver from Royal Park Hospitality Hub, held the presentation together with Mattis Bergqvist, Coop and Maria Gustavsson, Ica.
We are planning for the next annual Blue Food Conference in November 2022, when we hope to see many of you who participated in the kick-off and to get to know even more people.
Photo: Hotel Gullmarsstrand and Eduardo Infantes