“We have noticed a growing demand for personalised food, fuelled in part by an ageing population. Delicious and customised food is essential at every stage in life”, says Jean de Bethune of the West Flanders Development Agency, co-initiator of a new science centre, the Food Innovation Park.

“Nutrition is about keeping people healthy, both preventively and curatively”, says Jean de Bethune, chair of the West Flanders Development Agency. The Food Innovation Park is a joint venture between Flanders’ Food and the Vives University of Applied Sciences. “Nutrition is also very important to people with (chronic) illnesses. The idea is to create business opportunities by probing the market on the strength of applied research.” The main ambition of the new science centre in Roeselare is to get small to medium-sized businesses up and running. This should culminate in the development of innovative products. A further aim is to stimulate collaboration with international networks in the food, health and care sectors. The new Food Innovation Park has been set up as an open house for all concerned.

Food Research and Development Hall

The research building is on two floors and covers an area of a thousand square metres. The Food Research and Development Hall currently has a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, as well as a MicroWave Pilot used for academic research and the testing of new microwave technologies for the pasteurisation, pre-cooking, cooking and drying of food products and ingredients. The building contains new sensory, nutritional and microbiological research laboratories belonging to the Vives University of Applied Sciences. There is also a fitness centre designed for research on diet and its effect on body composition and human health parameters.

The PROOF Project

The first building in the science complex, which opened on 1 March this year, was realised by the PROOF project, an entry to the Interreg Flanders-Netherlands programme. The project was led by the West Flanders Development Agency.

www.pomwvl.be