Food production: great interest in biotechnological alternatives at the Woche der Umwelt (Week of the Environment) in Berlin

On June 4 and 5, the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU) held its Environment Week in the park of Bellevue Palace under the patronage of the Federal President of Germany. BIO Deutschland was there with an exhibition booth on the topic of novel food and presented four foods and their ecological footprint. The event is aimed at citizens and took place for the 7th time this year. This year's motto was "Together for climate neutrality". At the well-attended exhibition, around 190 exhibitors from business and technology, research and science provided interested parties with information on forward-looking solutions to protect the environment.

Biotechnological alternatives to conventional foods can make an important contribution to reducing greenhouse gases, water consumption, nutrient input and land use in the production of conventional foods such as meat, chocolate, cheese and fish substitutes. The foods presented at the booth – cultured meat and fish dishes, cheese from precision fermentation and the chocolate alternative Choviva – met with keen interest from visitors. Many interesting, open-minded and curious conversations took place at the booth. The BIO Deutschland team was supported with first-hand expertise by Henning Hach from CellTec Systems and Cornelius Lahme from BLUU Seafood, who also provided insights into the status of their companies' product development.