Foodvalley Secures Funding to Advance UPcycled4Food Initiative
ANNOUNCEMENT
Wageningen, 16 September 2026 – Foodvalley has secured new funding from the Province of Gelderland and continued support from Laudes Foundation for the next phase of its UPcycled4Food Initiative. Launched in 2025, to accelerate the integration of upcycled ingredients into mainstream food products, Phase 2 builds on insights generated in Phase 1 to address one of the key barriers to scaling food upcycling: the lack of clear, independent evidence demonstrating the value of upcycled ingredients for food manufacturers, retailers and foodservice companies.
UPcycled4Food was launched by Foodvalley to help move upcycled food from promising innovation towards mainstream application. Although a growing range of technologies and ingredients is available, adoption at scale remains challenging. Food companies need greater clarity on where upcycled solutions create meaningful environmental, nutritional and business value, and how they can contribute to healthier, more sustainable and commercially viable products.
Collective evidence for faster market uptake
UPcycled4Food brings together retailers, foodservice companies, food manufacturers and upcycled ingredient providers to accelerate the integration of upcycled ingredients into mainstream food products. Building on insights generated in Phase 1, the programme is generating independent evidence on how selected reformulation strategies, replacing virgin ingredients with upcycled alternatives, contribute to business, health and sustainability goals. These insights will help companies make informed decisions in product innovation, procurement and sustainability strategies.
“Many promising upcycled ingredients are already available today, but their value for mainstream food products is often not yet sufficiently understood or demonstrated,” says Caroline Duivenvoorden, Programme Manager Circular Agrifood at Foodvalley. “Through UPcycled4Food, we bring together the right partners to generate independent evidence on where these ingredients can contribute to business, health and sustainability objectives. This helps companies make informed, ‘future proof’ decisions and accelerate the adoption of upcycled ingredients at scale.”
Supporting a more circular food system
The ultimate goal of the Upcycled4Food Initiative is to reduce food loss and waste, make better use of valuable resources and ease pressure on food production by keeping more food ingredients in the human food chain. In a competitive market where the value propositions of many upcycled ingredients are still emerging, independent insights and sector wide collaboration help companies make informed decisions and accelerate adoption.
“Transforming the food sector at scale requires more than innovation. UPcycled4Food is helping build the evidence and partnerships needed to bring promising solutions into mainstream food production.”
“Residual streams hold significant untapped value, but bringing new circular solutions to market remains a challenge. UPcycled4Food helps bridge that gap by connecting businesses, generating practical insights and accelerating the adoption of innovative ingredients and products that contribute to a more circular food system.”
A funding model for systemic change
The blending of philanthropic and public funding around a shared market challenge enables Foodvalley to maintain its independent role in accelerating the transition to a more circular food system. For Foodvalley, this funding approach makes it possible to work collectively on challenges that individual companies cannot easily solve alone, while keeping the resulting methodologies and insights relevant to the wider food sector.
Foodvalley is also exploring partnerships for a future Phase 3, which will expand the approach to additional product categories and international retail markets.
Towards wider market adoption
UPcycled4Food ultimately aims to make upcycled food and ingredients a mainstream option within food production, retail and foodservice. By creating greater clarity on impact and commercial relevance, Foodvalley aims to reduce uncertainty for buyers and manufacturers and help promising upcycling solutions to move from niche applications towards wider market adoption.
About Foodvalley
Foodvalley is an independent not-for-profit organisation with ANBI status, founded in 2004 in the Wageningen region. Supported by public, philanthropic and private funding, Foodvalley independently sets its own agenda and works to shape the future of food together with over 500 partners.
Read more:
General info about the Initiative: UPcycled4Food Initiative I Foodvalley NL
Insights from Phase 1: Insights from Phase 1 UPcycled4Food Initiative – Foodvalley