Exeter Food Colloquium- The Importance of Science-Industry Collaboration in Changing the Way We Eat

Part 1 Food Systems and the Quorn Story  (Tim Finnigan, Visiting Professor of Sustainable Nutrition, University of Northumbria; and formerly Chief Scientific Adviser to Quorn Foods)

At the heart of our presentation is the role of science in addressing perhaps the biggest challenge facing agri-food, namely, how do we reduce our destructive dependency on animal protein in order to assure a more sustainable food future. This is not to advocate any sort of extreme position. We fully acknowledge that animal proteins are important economically, socially, politically and nutritionally. But the balance is wrong and we need to shift it. And this needs to include healthy new proteins with a low environmental impact.

Our presentation will use the lens of the Quorn story to focus on the recent history of our food systems and how the green revolution averted a food catastrophe but, some would argue, has precipitated another. We will look at that period of history as the driving force for the origins of Quorn’s mycoprotein and the 20-year journey from idea to launch.

From here we will take a look at the current food system and the unsustainability of continued growth in animal protein consumption. Under the umbrella of the need for healthy new proteins with a low environmental impact, we will look at why fermentation and fungi present an important future facing role, and take a peek at the science that underpins this area.

We will then look at the need for science and collaboration in removing uncertainty by creating a robust and peer-reviewed evidence base that advances our understanding of why diets rich in mycoprotein can be considered to be healthy for our bodies and for the planet.

Finally, we will take a look at the challenges and opportunities that the future holds and the scientific agenda needed to meet these. We will then begin to address our second part of the story which is how do we take complicated and often nuanced scientific fact or opinion and create an engaging transformative narrative that wins hearts and minds and helps change behaviour.

Part 2: Translating Evidence into Action (Tess Kelly, Head of External Engagement, Quorn)

Research on health outcomes often does not lead directly to behaviour change. In order to affect food choices at scale, we must take the findings of research and translate them into actionable insights for businesses and brands that engage current and future consumers. This is not as simple as it sounds, and requires strategies that are both internally-facing (to build common understanding and capacity), and externally-facing (to tell the right story, at the right time, to the right audience).

At Quorn Foods, we have invested in that knowledge translation in a number of ways:

1. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships: bridging the gap between academia and the company regarding ways of working, language, and skill-building. Here we can look at KTPs and the value they have offered Quorn across environment, nutritional behaviour change, and fermentation capabilities;
2. Healthcare Professional Communications: selecting the right trusted partners, platforming our science, and co-creating content that fulfils their member needs and comes from a trusted source;
3. Product/service design and communication: setting in stone the right guidelines and processes from concept through to consumption to uphold the most impactful features of our food;
4. Creating an ingredient and brand narrative: one that is scientifically sound, but emotionally-led, to surprise consumers that may not traditionally engage with the category;
5. PR, events, and media attention: turning research into attention-grabbing headlines and thought leadership pieces that reach audiences beyond our usual boundaries.

In this second part of our talk, Tess will give examples of each strategic pillar and explain how they interlink to create an ecosystem of change, as well as any challenges that we have encountered or anticipate. Tess will round off with an idea to create a more holistic collaborative programme with a select number of Universities (to include foodservice, internships, course input as well as research).

Part 3: Where do we go from here? (Prof Benjamin Wall, University of Exeter)

In this final session, we will reflect on lessons learned from the Quorn story and University of Exeter colleagues’ experience of working with them. We will also discuss how these lessons might inform colleagues’ future research goals and new collaborations whether with other food industry partners or Quorn itself.