It’s exactly 3 years ago since I started at Next Food Collective. Three years down the line, it is great to see that the network we have been building together is truly key. At the end of the day, it is people who work together. People who may sit in competing organisations, but who share similar goals and realize that we need each other to reach our common goals.
Where many of the active people in our network are technically driven, we also see a future where other functions within our partner organisations will work together more closely. Public affairs is a good example. The field of innovations and transitions in our food sector clearly call for a strong collective voice towards The Hague and Brussels. In this sense, I am very happy that the Supervisory Board of NFC is broadening, with Thor Tummers, public affairs specialist from Unilever, joining the Board as of May 1st.
In addition Sanne Griffioen, already very active in our network and a key player in ReGeNL, will also be joining and will become chairman of the Board. Welcome to you both, I look forward to working together.
As new people come, some also leave.
Manfred Aben, a founding father of Next Food Collective and chairman of the Board since the beginning, has completed his term on the Board. Given his retirement from Unilever, this was a natural moment for him to hand over. Over the past three years, I have felt enormously supported by Manfred’s continuous drive to improve the way innovation is organised in the Dutch ecosystem, with a key role for Next Food Collective in this ecosystem. Thank you, Manfred, for your drive and dedication ,and I wish you all the best at AWTI, where I am sure you will continue to contribute to our innovation landscape. At the next Board meeting, we will officially say goodbye on behalf of us all.
Also, in a few weeks’ time, Next Food Collective and the ReGeNL consortium will be saying good-bye to Wouter-Jan Schouten. I would also like to take this opportunity in the newsletter to recognize his invaluable contribution.
Wouter-Jan has been working on solving challenges in agriculture through a systems approach from day one at TiFN. That first day was in October 2016, now nearly ten years ago. Back then, hardly anyone had heard of regenerative agriculture. This has changed enormously, and is now seen as a highly promising way of combining economically viable production with nature restoration. Since 2016, Wouter-Jan has worked to build this movement together with pioneering farmers, the large agro cooperatives, but also with scientists, farm advisors, financing bodies, and many others, always with the understanding that real change takes time and collective effort.
In 2024. the ReGeNL programme started: one of the largest initiatives in Europe. A hugely ambitious, farmer-driven programme that should bring regenerative agriculture to scale. Now, in the capable hands of Albertine van Wolfswinkel and team, we will make sure the ambition that Wouter-Jan set out to realise, will continue to grow. A heartfelt thank you to Wouter-Jan for his invaluable contribution.
These moments remind us that building real change is never about individual projects alone, but about the people behind them, the ones who keep pushing, connecting and building for the long term.
Because ultimately, progress does not come from isolated initiatives, but from moving together.
Thank you for being part of that movement.
Warm regards,
Marian