Successful vers+ customised dinner inspires business opportunities in personalised food and health
Everyone wants to be healthy and it just so happens that Dutch horticulture specialises in healthy products. But it is still rare for a doctor to prescribe a diet consisting for the most part of fresh vegetables instead of pills. One reason for this is that we are insufficiently aware of which nutrients are present in which vegetables and in what quantities. Our health would benefit greatly from more insight into the specific value of fresh vegetables. Enterprises in various sectors, including company catering and professional sports, could certainly use such information to their advantage.
Natasja van der Lely (vers+):
Everything around us becomes more personal, the consumer is almost crying out. And what does food do? One size fits all!
A few years ago, with this in mind, a number of companies in the horticulture sector decided to come together to found vers+. Their goal is to provide reliable data about the precise nutrients found in a range of vegetables and to bring these vegetables to market. vers+ is now developing a database containing this information. The database is to be used by partners to develop healthy, nutritional concepts.
Have look at the vers+ dinner pictures on our Flickr page!
Nutrients and vegetables
Over the past few years under the vers+ banner, partner companies have rolled out a number of pilot projects and have targeted patients with prostate cancer and children attending day care centres. One aim was to assess how personalised nutrition works in practice. The Dutch Horticulture and Propagation Materials Top Sector recently provided a positive assessment of the ‘Value of Fruit and Vegetables’ project. During this project, various measuring methods will be developed and combined so that phytonutrients and impacts on health can be measured. The project was initiated by vers+ and Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo.
Personalised dinner
To raise awareness of vers+ and inspire potential new partners, vers+ recently decided to organise a customised dinner. All guests received a DNA kit beforehand. Omnigen analysed the profile results to identify each guest’s macronutrient and micronutrient needs.
Based on the DNA profiles, Hutten Catering prepared a personalised dinner for each guest at Koppert Cress. All guests also received their DNA profile tailored to their nutritional requirements. vers+ organised the event to inspire business partners to think about commercial opportunities in the field of personalised food and health. The dinner provided first-hand insight into the many new revenue models that are already within reach.
New opportunities for Dutch horticulture
Around 100 invited guests from horticulture, healthcare, retail and catering attended the vers+ dinner. Natasja van der Lely (Koppert Cress/vers+) and Marieke Kodde (InnovationQuarter) offered their views on personalised food and health. In the near future, vers+ will be transformed into an organisation working for both long-term and occasional partners and aims to create new opportunities for Dutch horticulture products based on healthy nutrients.
Marieke Kodde:
With the nutrients that are naturally present in fresh vegetables, we can take a place in the developments in the field of personalized nutrition and health. vers + can contribute to a healthier society and to business opportunities for horticulture.