Innovation Without Borders: What the Netherlands Can Teach Us About the Future of Food

At Food Island Partnership, we believe in seeking out the edge of what’s possible—and learning from those already walking it.

Recently, our Director of Company & Product Development, Michael Good, travelled to the Netherlands to gather insights from Foodvalley NL and The Future of Protein Production Summit—two global epicenters of food innovation.

His mission? To bring back lessons that can shape the next generation of food businesses here on Canada’s Food Island.

Here’s what we’re learning from our peers across the Atlantic:

🔓 Embrace Open Innovation: The Future is Collaborative

Innovation isn’t a solo sport. The Dutch approach is refreshingly cooperative: even competitors are collaborating.

Take Those Vegan Cowboys and Formo, for instance—two rival companies working together to create a plant-based casein alternative for next-gen cheese. Why? Because the pie is big enough to share. In an era of rapid tech shifts and costly R&D, working together is often the most strategic move.

For PEI entrepreneurs: Who can you partner with—not just to compete, but to co-create?

🌊 Seaweed: The Untapped Super Resource

What if we told you the ocean might hold the key to food security, climate resilience, and circular innovation?

With over 650 million hectares of ocean identified as suitable for seaweed cultivation (that’s 15x the size of Canada’s arable land), this low-input, high-impact crop is being harnessed for food, feed, biomaterials, and biostimulants.

Seaweed uses no fresh water. It helps fight climate change. And it’s bursting with potential.

For PEI’s aquaculture pioneers: Now is the time to lead.

🧫 Fermentation Gets a High-Tech Makeover

Fermentation—long beloved for beer, yogurt, wine—is being reborn through biotech innovation. Using microbes like yeast and bacteria, producers are developing new proteins, flavors, and even improved textures for plant-based products.

Think of it as nature meets precision—transforming everyday ingredients into extraordinary outcomes.

For local product developers: This is a toolkit to watch.

🧬 Cellular Agriculture: Building Protein from the Cell Up

As the global population grows, so does the demand for sustainable protein. Enter cellular agriculture—where animal proteins are grown directly from cells, not livestock.

It’s low-carbon, low-cost, and hyper-local—especially promising for regions with limited farmland or volatile supply chains.

While texture and taste are still evolving, the potential to feed more people with fewer resources is profound.

For the future-focused: This could revolutionize how we think about “meat.”

So, What’s the Big Idea?

Open your mind, open your partnerships, and open your borders. Innovation is accelerating—whether you build with microbes, seaweed, or cell cultures—and the best ideas won’t come from isolation, but from integration.

And we’re here to help. At Food Island Partnership, we exist to connect food entrepreneurs to the people, insights, and opportunities that transform ideas into impact.

🌀 Let’s build what’s next, together.
Explore our programs at foodislandpei.ca and canadafoodisland.ca