Various species of grass and legumes, known as forage crops, are currently grown on almost half of Sweden's arable land. However, as the number of cows and sheep has declined, we are now unable to utilise the quantities produced.  

– It's problematic from several perspectives. The profitability of our farmers, biodiversity, resource utilisation...,’ says Pär-Johan Lööf.

Seeking new ways to harness the potential of plants 

That is why Lantmännen is looking for new ways to harness the potential of plants. Legumes are particularly important from a crop rotation perspective and for biodiversity in the landscape. 

– In sustainable agriculture, crops must be varied in order to achieve maximum productivity and sustainability. Spring and autumn sowing needs to be mixed with perennial crops to create an environment where weeds and harmful insects cannot adapt and cause damage, says Pär-Johan Lööf. 

That is why the project involving ley crops, which is being conducted in collaboration with RISE, was launched with practical trials in the laboratory and at the test facility at Sötåsen Agricultural College in Västergötland. Knowledge and methods for producing ethanol, bio-oil and biogas from the fibres in forage crops already exist. For the past couple of years, trials have been underway to use a screw press to separate the protein in the plants from the fibres – before these are turned into fuel.  

By extracting the protein, you obtain a raw material that can be fed to pigs and chickens – animals that otherwise cannot utilise the protein in plants. 

– Their stomachs cannot break down grass and legumes in the same way as ruminants such as cows and sheep. However, they can absorb the protein if it is first extracted from the plants. 

New type of domestic feed raw material 

This extraction process could lead to a new type of domestic feed raw material – and, in the long term, even a new foodstuff for humans. 

– Today, a lot of imported protein raw materials are used, which poses sustainability challenges. We are also dependent on protein that is grown very far away and is therefore sensitive to world market prices, disruptions and unrest in the surrounding world, says Pär-Johan Lööf. 

– Instead, creating our own local production of proteins for our food-producing animals has many advantages, especially in the current global situation. It may even be possible to produce protein powder for human consumption in the future.   

RISE is a long-standing partner of Lantmännen and acts as an expert, primarily in process technology within the legume project. 

– It is fantastic to have RISE as a partner. Not only are they skilled in technology, but they are also skilled in collaboration to bring in expertise, both internally and externally. In addition, they are driven project managers who work in a focused manner that is appreciated in the industry, says Pär-Johan Lööf. 

– And they know how and where to apply for funding, both in Sweden and within the EU. 

The proportion of protein extracted centrally  

Lantmännen and RISE are now continuing their work to make the project commercially viable. There are still several issues to be resolved. These include the question of transport – how to get the feed from the production unit to the location where the animals are kept. And: 

– The most important factor for our success is the so-called yield, i.e. how much protein we manage to extract from the raw material. If the yield is too low, our business case will not hold up. This involves everything from methodology to which plant species is most suitable.  

Today, overfishing causes severe harm to ocean ecosystems. At the same time, fish is both tasty and healthy, and here in Scandinavia, we eat large quantities every year. Two varieties of fish are the most popular, namely tuna and salmon. 

To enable more people to eat more seafood without harming the oceans, the entrepreneurs Tom Johansson and Emil Wasteson founded Hooked Foods AB in 2019. The aim was to develop plant-based alternatives to seafood, and since salmon is a major seller, it was one of the first products the company wanted to develop. 

“However, salmon is a difficult product to mimic,” explains Peter Liu, technical director and the third founder of Hooked Foods. 

When a lack of competition is a problem 

Since it is so difficult, there were no good products on the market, and while this was positive in terms of competition, it also made development more of a challenge because there was no one to learn from. And turning to contract manufacturers was not an option. 

“We didn’t just want to be a reseller, we wanted to learn how to develop this ourselves,” Liu explains. 

At the same time, the company was a small startup with no possibility of investing in its own infrastructure, neither the extruder nor the lab equipment that would be necessary. 

“We realised that we needed a partner with all the necessary equipment, but that also had expert knowledge in everything from chemical processes through taste to texture so that we could learn and exchange experiences.” 

RISE pilot plant enabled development 

After weighing up their options, they chose RISE. 

“They had everything we needed, and they were completely independent with no interest in acquiring shares in the product we were developing. We’d own all the results ourselves, and that was extremely important to us.” 

For almost two-and-a-half years, Liu and his colleagues spent time every week with the experts at RISE, testing one recipe after another.  

“We’re experts in extrusion, and we also have a complete pilot plant where we can help companies both large and small test different recipes and products,” explains Sophia Wassén, a researcher and expert in extrusion at RISE. 

“For Hooked Foods, we’ve suggested various proteins and recipes, and together we’ve tested them, modified them, then tested them again. Put simply, we’ve acted as their combined lab and sounding board.” 

From the RISE lab out into the world 

Finally, they managed to achieve their goal together. Since autumn 2022, the Hooked Foods product Salmoonish has been on the market in both Sweden and Iceland and will soon be available in the rest of Scandinavia as well. In 2023, they will enter the German and UK markets, but Liu makes clear that none of this would have happened, and certainly not so quickly, without their partnership with RISE. 

“RISE has helped us all the way, from brainstorming at the beginning to finding the right ingredients and the right ratios. And we’ve also been able to use their equipment. Without their help, we never would’ve been able to achieve this!” 

Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. New resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases. A growing list of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning, gonorrhea, and foodborne diseases – are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less effective.

The EBL-1003 substance could, in the future, potentially be used to treat critically ill patients in hospital settings. EBL-1003 is a crystalline free base of an aminoglycoside designed to treat Gram-negative bacterial infections. EBL-1003 for infusion has demonstrated potent broad-spectrum activity and rapid bactericidal killing of Acinetobacter baumannii and other Gram-negative bacteria, including organisms identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as urgent and serious threats to human health.

"EBL-1003 has the potential to replace aminoglycosides currently used in the clinic, but whose utility is seriously threatened by rising antibiotic resistance", says Sven Hobbie, CEO at Juvabis. "We were able to make significant progress in the development of a new treatment thanks to our collaboration with RISE".

Test are showing positive results

The molecule that the injectable substance is based on is already in use in veterinary treatment, primarily outside of Europe and the United States. During phase 1, Juvabis collaborated with RISE to further develop the drug, which was subsequently tested on healthy volunteers with positive results.

"During this initial phase, we bought the original substance from the manufacturer and analyzed and refined it in our laboratory in Södertälje", says Bo Lassen, RISE's project manager who is also in charge of the formulation aspect of the project. "We've designed analytical methods and formulations, improved the solid state of the molecule to make it more stable for storage, and evaluated its toxicity and tolerability among other things".

EBL-1003 underwent phase 1 clinical trials as part of the European Gram-Negative Anti-Bacterial Engine (ENABLE), a project sponsored by the Innovative Medicines Initiative that completed in 2021, with another clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health currently in preparation.

More thorough research is now being conducted to advance the substance's development into a treatment that can be used in healthcare. Even though ENABLE ceased last year, Juvabis’s partnership with RISE continues, and a new funding application has been submitted to also develop the compound for inhalation.

Bone grafting is a surgical procedure that uses transplanted bone to repair and rebuild damaged or diseased bones in the human body. The technology can be used virtually anywhere in the body. The surgeon needs to take either bone tissue from the patient - usually from the hips, legs or ribs - or use donated bone tissue. Both methods are, however, time-consuming, and it is not always easy to find a donor. 

A research project is being run to investigate brand-new ways of repairing damaged bone tissue without the need for a donor or transplants from other parts of the body. By combining 3D printing technology, nanotechnology, and stem cells, completely new bone tissue can be created in the body.

The technique involves printing 3D scaffolds – similar to the patient’s natural bones – from biomaterials. Live stem cells from the patient are added to the scaffold, which is then surgically inserted into the damaged area and stimulates the body’s natural bone healing processes.

“It’s a whole new way of repairing bone structure,” says Kristin Syverud, Head of Research at RISE PFI. “We use the body’s stem cells and make them grow into new bone structure. But it doesn’t happen by itself, they need a scaffold to grow on, and we make that from nanocellulose, which has shown great promise.”

Can also regenerate difficult structures

Using the 3D printer, the idea is to be able to even regenerate complicated bone structures. Based on X-rays of the patient, it is possible to see where there is missing or damaged bone, and the new method enables this precise area to be replaced. 

“The idea is to be able to print scaffolds in exactly the shape needed, which has not been especially easy to achieve before,” says Syverud. “Depending on the type of bone defect, this can be very difficult. We have collaborated with dentists and others in the project, and you can just imagine the incredibly complex bone structures we have in our mouths and jaws, for example.”

Ongoing research

Research is advancing, but before the technology can be put into widespread use in healthcare, a few steps must still be overcome. The cellulose must be safe to use, and it must have a surface structure on which the stem cells adhere, start dividing, and grow.

“And they should want to develop into bone cells. We have seen promising results for this; we can change the surface chemistry so that bone cells are specifically formed.”

Once the bone tissue has developed, the scaffold on which the cells have grown gradually degrades and disappears. Cellulose does not break down naturally in the human body, so it needs help to do so, but once the cellulose has degraded, it is converted into glucose – a sugar – which we can easily absorb.

"So it’s a completely unproblematic metabolite,” explains Syverud.

In the future, there will be several ways to use the technique, including for deep wounds or burns.

“The same procedure can be used to develop skin cells instead of bone tissue. It’s also possible that the same technique will be used to produce cartilage or other organs, but this is very complicated.”

Expertise at RISE

RISE has several environments with a high level of expertise in nanocellulose and its use in various applications.

"In Trondheim, we are researching nanocellulose for use in connection with creating new body tissues,” says Syverud.

For Gunnar Westin, a dream assignment is not necessarily a specific assignment, but all the times he and his team generate ideas with huge potential and get to be part of the entire journey. And the best part is that it happens all the time.

– What drives me is getting the most out of the resources we have. What I mean is being knowledgeable about the types of results that transform innovations into a reality. In early conversations with our customers, we are able to proactively propose initiatives that have a major impact on their development. Owing to the expertise we have in the department and within RISE as a whole, we have good opportunities to shorten the path from good idea to commercialisation, which everyone – society, the companies, and RISE – benefits from. RISE’s mission is to make a difference in the world around us – and we do, says Gunnar Westin.

All the way from idea to product

An example of this is RISE’s collaboration with the company C-Green, which has developed a brand-new technology for converting wet biomass sludge into a carbon product that can be used for soil conditioning, biofuel, and other applications.

– What was really remarkable was how fast it went – it took just five years from idea to finished product, explains Westin. – We were involved all the way and could make a difference for them thanks to the researchers and the environment we have. Among other things, we operated their test facility, says Gunnar Westin.

An employer who creates opportunities

Gunnar is currently Group Manager for Biotechnology at RISE in Örnsköldsvik. Prior to this, he was Group Manager for another part of the department that worked with process and system analysis.

– Something I appreciate very much about RISE as an employer is the opportunity to transfer and try new things according to what drives you. It’s something I have taken good advantage of during my years at RISE, and it has allowed me to work with many different things that interest me, says Gunnar Westin.

Westin’s journey at RISE began back in 2009 when he carried out his degree project while earning his Master of Science in Engineering degree. Since then, he has held roles as business developer, engineer, project manager and various managerial positions.

– In my current role as Group Manager, a lot of focus is on the issues that come with staff responsibility and the strategic questions for the business. But I enjoy being in contact with customers and working hands-on as well, and I’ve managed to maintain some of those elements, says Gunnar Westin.

New investment raising the level

Since Westin joined RISE, a lot has happened on the personnel side of things as well. At that point, there were some ten employees. Now there are ten employees just in the biotechnology unit and close to 40 people in total.

In the fall of 2024, a new pilot biorefinery was inaugurated in Örnsköldsvik, a facility that will be the center of RISE's biorefinery activities in the future. 

– It’s a huge investment that will make a big difference for us and will allow us to raise the level further, says Gunnar Westin.

In the biotechnology part of the initiative, enzymes or microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi can be used to convert so-called low-value residual streams into, for example, proteins for food and animal feed or materials that can replace fossil fuel-derived materials such as plastics.

"One of our focuses is to valorise residual streams from the forestry value chain as well as agriculture. This involves everything from sawdust to side streams from food production," says Gunnar Westin, Group Manager at RISE.

Complete offerings

The Bioeconomy Arena contains a wide range of offerings in biotechnology.

"In the organism development section, we will be able to produce new and more effective microorganisms via an automated high-capacity facility, as well as targeted gene modification. We can work with several thousand microorganisms simultaneously, which is unique," says Björn Alriksson, researcher at RISE.

The process development section includes bioreactors in a range of sizes for cultivation and fermentation, as well as separation and purification using various techniques, including filtration, centrifugation, chromatography and drying.

"We can therefore offer the entire biotechnological process with a capacity of up to 10,000 litres with subsequent separation and purification," says Björn Alriksson.

Food-grade approval ensures a clean environment

The size stands out, and so does the fact that part of the biotechnology infrastructure in the Bioeconomy Arena is food grade approved and also certified for genetically modified microorganisms. The food grade approval is important - not only because it enables the production of products that can be used for food production, but it also ensures that the environment is clean, which is also important for the production of other products.

"The facility will also have what we call online analysis, which means that analytical instruments measure the processes in real time," says Björn Alriksson.

Gunnar Westin adds that the biotechnology infrastructure is adjacent to the development of chemical processes, which is valuable given that the techniques of biotechnology and chemistry can work together for a complete solution.

Aviation fuel – or alternatives to meat

RISE researchers have already developed several products using biotechnology. These include aviation fuel made from sawdust using first enzymes and then fermentation, and single cell protein that can be used as food and animal feed. Single cell protein has been developed by cultivating protein-rich microorganisms from forest industry residues.

"The technology can be used to produce protein-rich alternatives to meat or as a animal feed ingredient," says Björn Alriksson.

Through Bioeconomy Arena, organisations can conduct research and demonstrate that a process works on a large scale, as well as produce sufficient quantities of a substance or material to be able to verify it on the market. Bioeconomy Arena is geared towards different types of companies - such as paper pulp mills, sawmills, the forest and agricultural industries, which all rely on residual raw materials, companies interested in developing technologies involving microorganisms, industries that currently produce plastics, animal feed or food, and academia. The infrastructure is open to all interested parties.

Why should these companies choose RISE as a partner?

– “We have well-developed infrastructure, a talented team of experts, we are agile and we operate in an innovation-friendly environment,” says Björn Alriksson.

"I would also like to emphasise that the capacity at Bioeconomy Arena exists in a context that includes such things as techno-economics, process simulation and life cycle analyses. It's always possible to find an optimal collaboration within RISE," says Gunnar Westin.

The goal is to create conditions for a system change leading to an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable food sector. FINEST aim to find solutions that contribute to a faster adjustment of the food system by combining competence and co-creation between actors with different perspectives

” To launch new innovations faster, we need to collaborate from farm to consumer. At FINEST, we try to achieve this through social science and technical research in collaboration with actors from the business community,” explains Charlotte Eklund-Jonsson, Research and Business Developer at RISE.

System Innovation, System Change and Product Development

“ How can the agricultural and food sector change in all stages from raw material production, processes and distribution to value offerings and customer behaviour? To answer that, we look at different components in the system and their mutual relationship and collaboration,” says Fredric Norefjäll, Project Manager, Sustainable Business at RISE.
 

The focus is on system innovation in the food system’s value chains, social system change, and product development and business models. FINEST will develop collaborations on optimized use of raw materials, product properties, food safety, sensory analyzes, market analyzes, regulatory innovation and conconsumer insights.

“Simplified, we look at the entire value chain from different perspectives; What happens at different points and what is required for a change to occur? Then, we gather scientifically developed tools and guidelines based on different research disciplines that can help food companies take the next step towards a sustainable transition. All this is to solve problems that no single organization could solve,” Fredric Norefjäll explains.

Thomas Lennerfors, Professor of Industrial Technology at Uppsala University, says that an essential aspect of FINEST is to learn from innovation management in conversion work from other industries.

”To better understand the features of the food system, we will benefit from our previous research in innovation and sustainability in other industries, such as life science, electricity market and shipping, regarding, for instance, market regulations and what sustainable production means,” he says.

Forest Berries, Legumes and Experimental Foods  

FINEST will concentrate its innovation work linked to Swedish forest berries, Protein-rich legumes and Experimental food production. In addition to the development of product pilots, health aspects, consumer acceptance, and the regulations surrounding this type of food will be examined.

Swedish forest berries have been selected because it is an underutilized product. Although as much as ten per cent of Sweden’s land area consists of blueberry rice, only a few per cent of the berries are picked, of which a large part is exported. At the same time, Sweden imports American blueberries.

”In Asia, Nordic blueberries are popular in health food. However, in Sweden, business and product development is still quite limited, and the process industry is absent in the berry industry, “ says Sophia Wassén, Product Design Researcher at RISE.
 

”Taking care of our wild berries is about utilizing the resources available in our immediate area, says Thomas Lennerfors. He believes that Sweden’s volume and process development can increase even though many berries are picked. However, he also believes that working with wild berries is complicated as the business has struggled with legitimacy problems linked to the pickers’ working conditions over the past ten years.

“Although we see that there has been a significant improvement, it is essential to constantly consider the different dimensions of sustainability and the synergies and conflicts between them when we try to improve the use of forest berries”, says Thomas Lennerfors.

”We know that there is potential for new products and want to help local companies and the process industry see the business opportunities, such as fermented blueberry juice, powder for bakeries, berry seed oil, and shells for healthy food or extraction of anthocyanins. There are many possibilities, and together with producers, we at FINEST will develop and test several different berry processing processes”, says Sophia Wassén.

Legumes are a protein-rich food that works well to grow in Sweden, but most products today come from imported raw materials. The third value chain is about new experimental foods that do not use agricultural lands, such as fatty acids produced from carbon dioxide and energy.

”It is exciting because it involves completely new ways of producing food that reduces dependence on arable land. We want to increase the understanding of how experimental food production generally could contribute to a more sustainable food supply”, says Sophia Wassén.

”Regarding product development, it is also essential to always have a consumer focus in what we do. As soon as we refine something, whether it is berries, legumes or experimental foods, we have to think about whether it is a product that consumers will buy. So we need more knowledge about customer behaviour”,  Sophia Wassén adds.teenden, lägger Sophia Wassén till.

RISE invests in the future food system

“With FINEST, we want to contribute to innovation in the food sector by involving actors from all parts of the value chain to jointly create conditions for innovation, contribute to system change and support concrete projects,” says Charlotte Eklund-Jonsson.

“We try to help established players find new ways by collaborating in new ways and with new parties, and also reach the market faster with climate-smart, excellent and healthy food products, “ says Maria Elmquist, Professor of Innovation Management at Chalmers.

She says that Chalmers has recruited a doctoral student focusing on innovation in the food sector, who is now conducting a study together with RISE, ICA and the Household Society. The background is that more knowledge is needed about how different actors can collaborate and develop their internal processes to enable more innovations in the food system.