Innovation program receives millions in government funds

The aim of the NewFoodSystems project is to contribute to sustainable nutrition and future human health. The project focuses on scientific and technical solutions for new foods and production processes. These should be of high quality, environmentally friendly, and highly accepted by consumers.

"The sustainable and resource-saving nutrition of the world's population is one of the major challenges in the coming decades," says Alexa Hergenröther, CEO of Operating Unit Europe+. "We want to make a decisive contribution to the development of innovative solutions in the food sector with our know-how and our infrastructure and we are looking forward to working together in this important future program."

K+S will focus on the Controlled Environment Cultivation (CEC) innovation activities. The focus here will be on the cultivation of organisms such as plants and algae in closed and therefore controllable systems. CEC offers the possibility of producing new plant products in premium qualities, irrespective of weather conditions and with several harvests per year, almost without the use of pesticides, and this by recovering water and nutrients from residue and waste materials. New protein sources for the food and feed industry as well as for the production of other high-quality ingredients such as special fatty acids, carotenoids and other dyes, aroma components and dietary fibers are also developed here.

The K+S innovation park currently under construction at the former Sigmundshall potash site (near Hanover) will play an important role within the framework of the innovation initiative and support the various projects in their implementation. K+S has been operating a test facility for the cultivation of macroalgae there since August 2018. The company is also conducting research in the field of aquaponics with an experimental station at the company's headquarters in Kassel.

NewFoodSystems is coordinated by the Max Rubner Institute (MRI) in close cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) and brings together more than 50 partners from science, industry and society.

More information: Press Release of the BMBF/Max Rubner Institute. (German only)

About K+S

K+S is a customer-focused, independent minerals company for the Agriculture, Industry, Consumers, and Communities segments and wants to grow the EBITDA to € 3 billion by 2030. Our approximately 15,000 employees enable farmers to provide nutrition for the world, solutions that keep industries going, improve daily life for consumers and provide safety in winter. We continually meet the growing demand for mineral products from production sites in Europe, North and South America as well as a worldwide sales network. We strive for sustainability because we are deeply committed to our responsibilities to people, environment, communities and economy in the regions in which we operate. Learn more about K+S at www.k-plus-s.com.