Swiss technology group Bühler, which supplies the frozen food industry with optical sorters and other equipment, brought together over 1,000 decision makers from the food, feed and mobility sectors during its June 27-28 Networking Days in Uzwil to “accelerate impact together.”
The event, held every three years, was inaugurated in 2016. At the center of two days of keynote speeches, panel discussions and technology demonstrations was the question: “How can we enable 10 billion people (by 2050) to live a good life within the boundaries of our planet?”
The gathering focused on leadership, technology, education, inspiration and action across international industry boundaries. It highlighted examples of companies that provide tangible impact on mitigating climate change, addressing the scourge of poverty, creating employment, protecting and restoring nature, and improving food security.
“Global industry has excellent examples of companies that are highly responsible, applying innovative technologies at the heart of their transformation, and through this becoming economically healthier and addressing sustainability at the same time,” said Bühler CEO Stefan Scheiber (pictured above). “In fact, despite all the challenges we are facing – from climate change to food and energy insecurity to supply chain issues and social disruptions through to wars – I am convinced we can turn things around. Innovative technologies offer many business opportunities when they also address sustainability issues. We must not shy away from seizing these opportunities.”
During the two-day event, customers and partners along with member of the Bühler team demonstrated that the rate of innovation is accelerating. Highlighted were solutions from global companies, entrepreneurs, start-up firms, academia, and NGOs – all illustrating that solutions to challenges can be found and delivered at an impactful scale. Vital to all of this is education and training and the role they play in building the skills for the impactful jobs of the future.
The Networking Days created an exceptional collaboration platform for sharing, learning, partnering, and creating positive impact as a time when increasing food insecurity as a result of geopolitical conflict is affecting too many countries.
Tangible examples of companies that balance nature, humanity, and economy in their decisions were shared by attendees. Among them: an entrepreneur in Angola, who has built a gigantic industrial food complex as a huge first step towards providing self-sufficient food security across the country; a battery manufacturer in the UK who is building Europe’s first Gigaplant with new mixing processes, reducing waste in the production process by 80%; and a miller in India who is making tortillas in a factory that reduces water consumption by 84% and eliminates wastewater.
Understanding that no single entity – be it a country, a company, or an individual – has the resources, knowhow or reach to tackle all the global challenges that are being faced, Bühler established the Networking Days in 2016 to bring together and nurture its growing global ecosystem of partners.
“We need massive collaboration among stakeholders to manage and limit the effects of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and eliminate poverty,” said Bühler CTO Ian Roberts (pictured below). “With 50 partners and start-ups taking an active part at the Bühler Networking Days, the idea of a global ecosystem has created momentum.”
Developing novel solutions is important to transform industry, however, the potential optimization of existing industry assets across the world is the biggest short-term lever for reducing carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) footprint.
Bühler offers equipment, services, technologies and solutions that can optimize existing assets, provide a pathway to CO2e reduction in new plants, and support the development of new, more sustainable diets and mobility solutions.
“Our biggest impact comes from supporting our customers in reducing their energy consumption, waste generation, and water usage and at the same time ensure productivity and yield. We have clear targets on these topics. By expanding our collaborative ecosystem, we can accelerate meaningful and lasting impact in the food, feed, and mobility industries,” concluded Scheiber.
— Reported by Malcolm Cameron
