Biotech Heights: A Collaboration between Tetra Pak and Lund University

Researcher's Chronicle | Joana Campos recently started her role as Senior Bioprocess Engineer at Tetra Pak and is finishing her PhD in Chemical Engineering at Lund University. She is an integral part of this new bridge between academia and industry, with expertise in bioreactors, fermentation, bioplastics, and microalgae. Joana is also the Vice President of SPOT Nordic and resides in Malmö, a short distance between Copenhagen (Denmark) and Lund (Sweden).

Tetra Pak and Lund University have joined forces to create the Biotech Heights research center in the areas of food and materials.

Since its foundation in 1952 in Lund (Sweden), Tetra Pak's main business area has been food packaging. With the company's growth, it has expanded its portfolio to include all the machinery necessary for sterilization and packaging of food products, in line with the company motto: Protects what's good (food, people, and the world).

In recent years, Tetra Pak has decided to take another step in its sustainability strategy and promote biotechnology as a sustainable future for food and bio materials production. The physical proximity to Lund University and the long years of collaboration between the two entities facilitated the start of this research center.

It is still early to know what innovations will come out of this partnership, but some obvious areas will include the incorporation of bio plastics into Tetra Pak's packaging portfolio, the production of food ingredients through fermentation, and the production of meat substitutes, highly popular among the vegetarian and vegan community.

Like all major innovations, these are topics that divide the public. We know we have to limit the use of plastics, especially those produced with petroleum. We know we have to separate and reuse materials to have more effective recycling and reduce pollution.

However, we don't want to adjust our expectations regarding the durability of the plastic in our pen or yogurt packaging. Regarding the use of bioplastic in Tetra Pak packaging, it is still unknown how foods will interact with the (bio)plastic needed to coat the cardboard packaging and how these new materials will change the validity and robustness of the packaging. This is undoubtedly a strategic area for Tetra Pak as an example of a sustainable company.

Looking also at the foods themselves, the increase in the world's population will require us to adopt new eating habits. In addition to the need to produce more food sustainably, nowadays we pay more attention to the living (and dying) conditions of animals.

According to the Good Food Institute, meat consumption will double by 2050. Using plant foods (soy, pea, or chickpea), cultivated meat (animal cells grown in a fermenter), and fermentation (growth of selected bacteria and yeasts), it will be possible to reduce environmental and public health risks associated with increased meat consumption. Thus, it is already possible to find mushroom burgers (fungi) or soy bolognese (vegetable), which have flavors and textures very close to their respective meat-made products.

These flavors could be naturally produced, for example, by yeasts grown in a fermenter. For the more conservative public, this will be an attack on the traditional food production methods and flavors of their childhood. For the avant-garde, new ways of producing food are a necessity for human adaptation to an overpopulated world.

Europe needs to reaffirm its position at the forefront of scientific research and innovation to face major powers like the United States, China, and Singapore in the use of biotechnology for food and bio materials. Creating bridges between academia and industry is essential: academia needs funds for research, and industry needs these findings to create valuable products.

Together with all partners who want to join the cause, Tetra Pak and Lund University want to create new technologies to continue to bring quality food to all corners of the world and continue to protect what's good (food, people, and the world).