Innovation in an
ever-changing food industry
$IWHUWKUHHGHFDGHVZLWKWKHFRPSDQ\&KLHI7HFKQRORJ\2I¿FHU.DUVWHQ1LHOVHQ
NQRZVDWKLQJRUWZRDERXWLQQRYDWLRQDW$$.Insight asked him how the company’s
innovation approach has evolved over the years and how constantly changing
FRQVXPHUGHPDQGVDIIHFWDQLQJUHGLHQWFRPSDQ\OLNH$$.
You have been with AAK for 30 years. How would you say
innovation has changed since you started with the company
in the late 1980s?
It is like night and day, really. Thirty years ago we saw a
quite fragmented food industry. There were the main bulk
LQJUHGLHQWVVXFKDVRLOV IDWVDQGÀRXU VWDUFKDQGWKHUH
ZHUHIXQFWLRQDOLQJUHGLHQWVOLNHHPXOVL¿HUVDQGK\GURFRO-
ORLGV1RZZHORRNDWLWGLIIHUHQWO\IRUDQXPEHURIUHDVRQV
changing consumer demands being one of them.
An important turning point in our industry was the still
often cited article by W.C. Willett, published in 1993 in the
/DQFHWZKLFKFRQFOXGHGWKDWWUDQVIDWW\DFLGVKDGDQHJDWLYH
LPSDFWRQKXPDQKHDOWK7KHVH¿QGLQJVUHVXOWHGZLWKLQD
few years, in the phasing out of high-volume commodities
like hydrogenated soy bean and rapeseed oil. At the same
time we have seen consumers having an increased focus on
ingredient lists, requiring much more functionality from each
LQJUHGLHQW%DVLFTXDOLW\SDUDPHWHUVOLNHVWUXFWXUHVKHOIOLIH
nutrition, and above all taste, have to be considered in each
individual ingredient.
%XWRIFRXUVHWHFKQRORJ\DOVRFKDQJHVRYHU\HDUV:H
have seen the entrance of biochemical process methods in
our factories and even in the organisms producing the raw
materials. Combining this with improved analytical methods
gives us a much better insight in the chemical structures that
we work with which gives us possibilities we have not yet
seen the full impact of. In other words, there is still plenty of
room and possibilities for innovation within our industry.
Today’s consumer market forces companies in the food
industry to constantly introduce new products. How is this
affecting an ingredient company like AAK?
3URGXFLQJLQJUHGLHQWVIRUDFRQVWDQWO\GHYHORSLQJIRRG
industry requires insights which we can only get by being
close to our customers all the time and at all levels. Our
customers are our eyes and ears in the consumer market
and what we see and hear is that a new product can be new
on many different levels. For AAK this means that product
development is done within different areas, for example on
technology and products with new or improved functionalities,
but also on new raw materials or improved and more
sustainable sourcing of traditional raw materials. Whatever
the case, the key thing is that the ingredient adds a feature
WRWKH¿QDOSURGXFWWKDWFRQVXPHUV¿QGYDOXDEOH7RDFKLHYH
this is a constant journey to improve our total innovation
process – from our interaction with the market all the way
back to our raw materials and technologies.
Our customers are our eyes and
ears in the consumer market and
what we see and hear is that a
new product can be new on
many different levels.
Karsten Nielsen,
$$.¶V&KLHI7HFKQRORJ\2I¿FHU