Jesper Zeihlund: Driving Sustainable Food Systems in Denmark

Plant Food Summit kicks off next week in Copenhagen! 🇩🇰 Taking place on October 20–21, the summit will highlight how Denmark is integrating plant-based initiatives into a future-proof food system. As a strategic partner, ProVeg International will join a diverse group of stakeholders from across Europe’s food sector. The event will examine how Denmark’s collaboration between farmers, NGOs, and political institutions can serve as a model for EU-level food policy. It will feature the European launch of the EAT-Lancet Commission 2025 and include sessions on how plant foods can strengthen the EU’s sustainability goals. Actress and environmental advocate Kate Mara is also among the confirmed speakers. At the summit, Joana Oliveira, Country Director of ProVeg Portugal, will speak during the breakout session “Connecting Countryside and Cities.” She will moderate a panel on the collaboration with Portuguese farmers’ associations, sharing ProVeg Portugal’s experience promoting legumes as part of a more plant-rich agricultural system. 🔗 Check the full programme: https://lnkd.in/d2_3hcj2 #ProVeg #FoodInnovation #PlantFoodSummit #SustainableFuture

🌱 How can Irish dairy balance growth with sustainability? As Senior Executive of Dairy Sustainability Ireland (DSI), Kevin Maher is at the forefront of shaping the industry’s response to sustainability and ESG challenges. He works across the sector — with Dairy Industry Ireland and Food Drink Ireland — to align policy, regulation and commercial reality. His background as a Walsh Scholar of the Year focused on how farmers manage nutrients, highlighting how mismanagement of fertilisers can cause pollution and biodiversity loss. Today, he’s applying that research to drive practical solutions at industry level. Hear Kevin’s perspective on building a sustainable future for Irish dairy at ReThink Food 2025. 📅 9 October | University of Limerick 👉 ReThink Food: https://lnkd.in/eft5Sjmb

📍 TealHelix Project just had a productive General Assembly meeting in Cologne! As TealHelix enters its second year, the meeting brought together all partners to share updates on their contributions and progress across the project. SAFE presented its progress on Work Package 7 – Building capabilities, standards and trust in sustainable food labelling schemes. So far, a literature review has been completed and SAFE is preparing for interviews with stakeholders🎯. The next step is co-developing integrity guidelines and a decision-making tool with policymakers, industry, NGOs, and consumer groups. A joint effort to make sustainable food labelling more transparent, ethical, and trustworthy. 🌿 #HorizonEurope#FoodSystems#Sustainability

Faces behind the insights 👋 Our colleagues Sandra Pesszer, Wiard Kruijswijk, Kalindi Lorenzo, Emmelie Westerhoff, and Karst J. Kooistra joined the Organic Market Conference in Brussels last week, organized by AöL e.V. and OPTA Europe. The discussions made it clear: organic may be united under one EU label, but markets differ widely across countries, from Spain’s local-shop driven market to Denmark’s supermarket dominance and Germany’s private label strength. We also realized how consumer trust is challenged by too many trademarks on packaging, highlighting the need for more clarity and education. Policy makers stressed that good and healthy food is a basic right, and that collaboration across the entire value chain is key to making organic thrive. We return energized, reminded that transformation starts with farmers, but it will take all of us to drive it forward. 🌱 Special thanks to Anne Baumann (AöL e.V.) and Aurora Abad (OPTA Europe) for the inspiring exchanges during the event. #Organic #Sustainability #FoodIndustry #TradinOrganic”

‼️Restricting the use of meaty labels is unnecessary—consumers aren't misled by these familiar terms, but rather by the overly technical and convoluted names on alternative products. #altprotein #labels #clearlabels

💥𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 𝐄𝐔 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐬 "𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐲" 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 The EP adopted an amendment restricting meat-related terms such as "burger", "sausage", and "steak" from being used on plant-based food labels. You heard it right: 𝑣𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡-𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑘 may soon be a thing of the past. 🍔 Meanwhile, our EU agri-food system is facing many 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 challenges, from ensuring decent incomes for farmers, to supporting diversification, and promoting healthier diets. And yet, we're debating words. This decision will do nothing to improve farmers’ livelihoods or address the structural issues they face. We all agree that consumers need to get clear and transparent information. But let’s be honest, if a label says “plant-based burger”, consumers understand they’re not buying meat. It's a clear setback that risks slowing down the necessary transition towards a more EU plant-rich food system. 🌱 🔗 Check out ProVeg’s positioning here: https://lnkd.in/diayq2TW #ProVeg #PlantBasedFoods #EUParliament #FoodLabelling

Today, FoodDrinkEurope has published a paper setting out 5️⃣ principles for better EU regulation, with a list of simplification priorities. 🎯 📜 Simpler and smarter rules are essential to restore investment, unlock innovation, and ensure Europe remains a global leader in food security, food safety, and sustainable food systems. 🍽️ 🌍 1️⃣ Simplify where it counts 2️⃣ Make innovation the default goal 3️⃣ Harmonise rules across the EU 4️⃣ Focus on real-world impact 5️⃣ Apply precaution with precision The EU is facing a pivotal moment. Business leaders see great potential in Europe but they warn that regulatory complexity is slowing progress, reducing business confidence, and weakening Europe’s attractiveness for investment. (cf. FoodDrinkEurope's State of the Industry survey 2025: https://lnkd.in/eeCjWmSZ) Open the paper below to see the full list of simplification examples ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ezd9UXAm

The F&B sector can play a crucial role in driving the EU’s #competitiveness and resilience. 🌍   But to make this a reality, policymakers need to deliver harmonised, practical, and workable legislation that incentivises progress and ambition throughout the #ValueChain.

Day 2 of the Plan’eat Consortium Meeting in Athens We opened today’s session in a circular format, designed to foster openness, collaboration, and genuine dialogue among partners. This morning’s debate focused on the importance of local food consumption. At first glance, one might assume there is full consensus on this topic—but the reality is more complex. Different perspectives emerged, each highlighting both the opportunities and challenges linked to eating local. These diverse arguments not only illustrate the complexity of the issue, but also enrich our collective reflection on how to build healthier, fairer, and more sustainable food systems across Europe. 💬 Such discussions are at the heart of the Plan’eat project: co-creating solutions that embrace nuance while pushing for transformation. European Food Information Council (EUFIC) Euroquality - Tinexta Group HOPSCOTCH Groupe European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) INRAE SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences True Cost Accounting for Food Systems Transformation (TMG) Hungarian Hospitality Employers’ Association (VIMOSZ) Justus Liebig University Giessen Jeroen Candel Federica Grant #PlaneatProject #FoodSystemsTransformation #LocalFood #ConsortiumMeeting #Athens2025 #HorizonEU #SustainableFood