Welcome, Chris Thoen, director of North American innovation at Bühler Group, as our valuable partner on the advisory board of the Global Plant-Based Foods & Proteins EcoSystem. Chris is a senior R&D, innovation & consumer products executive, and with his extensive technical and program leadership experience he is a valued member of the advisory board. We asked Chris four questions about his partnership with the EcoSystem project:
Why are you a member of the advisory board?
Helping to establish a sustainable and secure food supply is a key objective of Bühler. Being a member of Bridge2Food’s Plant-Based Foods & Proteins EcoSystem Advisory Board allows us access to like-minded people and organizations. Only together can we meet the daunting challenges before us. It’s a collaboration that will win the day. The EcoSystem’s advisory board helps to foster that collaboration.
What has the EcoSystem done for you?
The EcoSystem connects us to people who can, and more importantly WANT, to make a difference. It’s an impressive collection of leaders that are willing to collaborate and commit resources to the innovation of plant-based food. It’s moved us closer to realizing solutions.
Why is your organization a partner?
At Bühler, we believe that every human has the right to safe, nutritious food. The food supply should be able to sustain itself within the confines of our planet’s resources. We are dedicated to this challenge and being part of this EcoSystem can help us along that journey. We think there’s a lot we can learn here and, as well, a lot of expertise and knowledge that we can share with other partners.
What do you think the EcoSystem can do for others in the field?
From my perspective, the EcoSystem can provide inspiration and motivation for others to become more involved. Along with those, visibility, guidance and expertise from the EcoSystem can help keep them involved and bring projects to fruition. The third thing the EcoSystem can do on a wider scale is helping to affect human behavior and help pave the way for greater societal acceptance through advocacy.
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About Chris Thoen
Chris Thoen is a senior R&D, innovation & consumer products executive with extensive technical and program leadership experience in fast-moving consumer goods. This includes food & beverages and commercially branded products, technology development, flavor innovation and supplier relationship building. To learn more about Chris Thoen and his work at Bühler, please contact him through LinkedIn or visit the Bühler Group Webpage.
About the EcoSystem
275+ industry leaders from 110 organisations have partnered since 2019 in the Global Plant-Based Foods EcoSystem, to accelerate the transition towards a more plant-based diet, with better foods, produced in a sustainable way, as well as increase food security with an abundant supply of proteins for food, feed and pet food markets.
Innovation, research & development leaders from food brands, ingredient & processing companies, institutes, universities, grower associations and breeders collaborate on such a future with concrete actions, deliverables and outcomes. To be involved in the EcoSystem and to join our meetings, you can register here. To get all details on the EcoSystem, you can check out this page.
