Nutrition Health Longevity

Nutrition innovating: for our personal health... and the health of industry

There are over 2,600 businesses in the region operating in the agrifood, biology, health and nutrition, and fishery-products sectors. Close to 51,000 jobs are generated by these industries. This means that the region, which produces revenues of over €15 billion with around a third of these in exports, is the leading region for exports in France.

If we look at the number of world leaders among companies in the sector (Roquette, Lesaffre, Bonduelle, Leroux, Ingredia, Bayer Schering...), we can see that the vast majority is made up of small to mediumsized enterprises and even very small enterprises. And while they cover all fields of activity, with the exception of the wine industry, they represent but a small proportion of research and development. However, this does not mean that small businesses are not investing in R&D; on the contrary. They are in fact particularly active in the various aspects of innovation, including formulation, process engineering, food safety and even ingredient and co-product development.
There are at least two reasons for this: on one hand, companies increasingly have to deal with the introduction of new requirements for the nutritional quality of food ; on the other hand, they are faced with the increasing scarcity of resources, which means they must exploit them to the full. This is the case, in particular, for aquaculture industries, with fishing quotas.

Improving competitiveness through partnerships

At the same time, Nord-Pas de Calais has a broad base of public and private research laboratories (CHRU*, INRA*, Inserm*, Institut Pasteur, ISA*, Universities of Lille 1 and 2, Ifremer*...) as well as a number of technical centres (Afssa*, CEVPM*, ADRIANOR*...) that can provide assistance to companies seeking to engage in innovation.

There are numerous existing structures that help to establish ties between industry and research, at the forefront of which are competitiveness clusters and centres of economic excellence. There are three of these in the region: NSL (Nutrition Health Longevity) and AQUIMER competitiveness clusters and the agri-food centre of excellence. Each of them, for their part and by means of partnerships with the scientific community, helps businesses to improve the nutritional quality of food, prevent and treat a number of pathologies, and increase their competitiveness and visibility both nationally and internationally. As a result, these clusters regularly launch calls for proposals, never missing an opportunity to promote the European dimension of partnerships.

*CHRU: Regional Teaching Hospital
*INRA: French National Institute for Agricultural Research
*Inserm: French National Institute for Health and Medical Research
*ISA: French Higher Institute of Agriculture
*Ifremer: French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea
*Afssa: French Food Safety Agency
*CEVPM: Centre for the Study and Optimum Use of Sea Products
*ADRIANOR: Agri-food Industry Technological Resources Centre

Nutrition, Health, Longevity competitiveness cluster

In what areas does the NSL competitiveness cluster operate?

The cluster stemmed from a desire on the part of agri-food and health industrialists to get together and provide innovative responses to the diagnosis and treatment of three families of pathologies, specifically cardio-vascular, metabolic and ageing pathologies. The aim is to identify new fields for innovation in order to guarantee companies’ competitiveness and growth. It is therefore necessary to bring technology and expertise to the table that will help in the approval and development of drugs and health foods used to treat and prevent these pathologies.

How does NSL operate?

Our sector consists of some large corporations but is largely made up of SMEs and very small enterprises. Our role is to encourage them to invest time and resources in R&D, and help them identify their needs so that they can improve the nutritional quality of their products. In order to achieve this, NSL encourages partnerships, for example between agri-food businesses and companies specialising in clinical trials.

Has the cluster's work proved effective?

NSL has a community of around 3,300 researchers. The companies attached to it employ 8,800 people. Between 2005 and 2008, 66 projects were approved for a total of €150 million. 19 were approved in the first four months of 2009 for a total of €41 million and 15 to 25 more will be approved by the end of 2009. In addition, NSL is in contact with clusters in Copenhagen, the Netherlands and Finland in response to a call for proposals aiming to establish the European network of nutrition clusters.

>> CONTACT :

Sandrine MILESI
Phone : + 33 (0) 328 559 060

www.pole-nsl.org