Nestlé USA, Arlington, Va., launched the Future Food Initiative, a joint research program between Swiss universities and industrial partners that will support Nestlé in the development of trend-based, nutritious and sustainable food and beverage products.

The Future Food Initiative brings together Swiss academic and industrial partners leading in nutritional science and food technology, including ETH Zurich, Switzerland; the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland; and Swiss companies Nestlé, Bühler and Givaudan.

The initiative encourages food and nutrition research in areas relevant to consumer trends and sustainability, and includes a post-doctoral fellowship program to promote young scientists. The first research projects will focus on plant-based nutrition and ancient plant varieties.

"We accelerate innovation in collaboration with a variety of external partners, including world-class academia, globally leading suppliers and creative start-ups across the world,” says Stefan Palzer, chief technology officer of Nestlé S.A., Switzerland. “To address open scientific questions and challenges related to food trends and sustainable nutrition is key for us as we create tasty and nutritious food for all age groups. As one of the initiators of this important Swiss research initiative, we reaffirm our commitment to further strengthen the unique Swiss research ecosystem for food and nutrition research."

A significant part of Nestlé’s global R&D organization is located in Switzerland, including Nestlé Research, which combines fundamental science at the highest level with high-end analytical platforms and strong prototyping capabilities to accelerate the translation of science into innovation.