Market News
Advancing the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Actions in Thai Food and Agriculture through Innovative Danish Solutions
The global population recently surpassed 8 billion people and will continue to rise for the next many years to come. Furthermore, climate change is challenging agriculture across the planet. Thus, food production both globally and in Thailand must undergo a rapid transition. With the recently adopted Bangkok Goals on the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy, Thailand is gearing up for increased investments in innovative solutions that can assist the food and agricultural sectors with the green transition. Danish companies offer many of these solutions already, which will allow Thai companies to gain more output for less input by reducing costs, increasing resource efficiency and transforming waste and by-products into value-added products.
Food Systems under Pressure
With an increased demand for food due to the rising populations, increased incomes and climate change challenging agricultural yields, our global food systems are under growing pressure. With areas suitable for agricultural development simultaneously becoming increasingly scarce, it is evident that our food production systems must gear up and undergo a rapid green transition for food production to increase. This transition needs to happen sustainably, keeping the UN Sustainable Development Goals in mind. Within food and agriculture, for more than 30 years Denmark has worked systematically towards achieving greater resource efficiency, enhanced environmental performance and producing high-value products through research, innovation and public-private partnerships. Thailand is a major food producer and exporter, and several industries are now looking for new solutions that benefit both the environment and improve the bottom line for companies. By leveraging innovative Danish solutions, food and agriculture companies can get more output through less input by increasing their resource efficiency, reducing costs and turning waste and low-value by-products into value-added products. This increases profits for firms and promotes the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economy for the benefit of all.
Concrete Danish solutions for the Thai food and agricultural sectors
Danish companies offer some of the world’s most innovative solutions within everything from enzymes and advanced natural bio-ingredients to state-of-the-art farm management systems. Common for these solutions are that they can assist Thai companies within food and agriculture in successfully achieving the necessary transition towards a more sustainable and resource-efficient production.
Relevant Danish solutions include:
- Advanced ingredients such as enzymes, microbial food cultures, biosolutions etc.
- Modern data-driven farm management systems
- Innovative climate control and ventilation solutions for poultry and swine farming
- Energy efficient pump solutions for different food and agriculture industries
A Future Full of Opportunities
The recent 2022 APEC Summit in Bangkok culminated in the 21 participating countries adopting the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy. Among other things, the Bangkok Goals underline Thailand’s strong commitment to ensure agricultural biodiversity and pursuing strong and sustainable growth within the food and agriculture industries. Now time has come for more concrete actions to be taken on the many ambitious plans and goals. The Thai government has allocated significant amounts of money towards funding and advancing the green transition of the food and agriculture sectors. Danish companies are ready to help relevant stakeholders through their immense catalogue of innovative solutions that facilitates a more sustainable and resource-efficient production of food and agricultural products. Below, we have outlined a few examples of these solutions and described specifically how they can assist companies with a transition towards a more sustainable and resource efficient production.
Advanced ingredients add value to industrial food and agriculture waste and by-products
Denmark is one of the world’s leading producers of advanced natural bio-ingredients, which can help solve many of the big challenges facing the food and agriculture industries today. Food loss and waste is one of these challenges, with some estimates suggesting up to one-third of all industrial and commercial food and agricultural products being either lost or wasted. By leveraging the latest innovations within enzymes, proteins, bacteria etc., manufacturers can reduce their waste and costs, increase resource efficiency and decrease their environmental footprint.
Thailand’s huge food processing industry produces large amounts of by-products through the processing of e.g., chicken, tuna, shrimp etc. Much of this by-product is lost as waste or sold off at very little value and turned it into low-value products such as fishmeal or pet food. However, by adding innovative enzymatic or microbial solutions from Danish companies such as Novozymes and Chr. Hansen to the by-products, food manufacturers can turn their by-products into value-added and high-priced products such as nutritional supplements, feed palatants, food seasoning, collagen, fertilizer etc.
Large amounts of low-value waste is similarly generated through the production of palm oil. Thai palm oil producers are left with palm kernel cake as a major by-product, which is often burned as fuel or sold off at low value and exported as cattle feed. By adding Danish enzymatic solutions to the palm kernel cake however, producers can turn their low-value waste into bioethanol and palm dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). Palm DDGS is especially interesting, as it can be used as a valuable feed for poultry, thereby having the potential to replace the big quantities of e.g., corn that Thailand otherwise imports. With its large poultry farming industry, there is a huge potential market for palm DDGS in Thailand and similar solutions that can generate new revenue streams for companies while also promoting BCG economy principles.
Thailand has an impressive and modern food sector with companies constantly searching for new solutions to sustainably increase production and resource-efficiency even more.
State of the art Danish companies offer innovative solutions already today, which will allow stakeholders from every part of the food value chain, from feed producers and farmers to slaughterhouses and food processers, to take part in a genuine green transition that will both benefit the planet and increase profits.
From crickets to valuable protein powder
Companies all over the globe use protein powders as important ingredients in a wide range of foods and supplements. They are derived from a variety of raw materials but companies are only just starting to realise the potential of using crickets as a large, almost inexhaustible, sustainable source for protein powder. Thailand has a tradition of insect farming stretching back many years, and the Danish company Essentia is showing the huge potential of commercialisation through their new partnership with Thai Ento Food Co., Ltd. The two companies recently joined forces and opened a new innovative processing facility in Thailand in order to expand the research and market potential of cricket protein. Compared with other sources of protein, cricket production has a much lower impact on the environment including lower overall emissions of greenhouse gases, reduced need for water and less need for land. With this new sustainable food source, Essentia is providing a safe and nutritious protein solution for human consumption, with the smallest possible environmental footprint. This highlights the huge potential for Thailand and Thai companies to invest in sustainable food products and production systems, advancing the BCG economy agenda while also generating employment and growth.
Energy optimisation through intelligent pumps
The food and agriculture industries consume large amounts of energy, and the rapidly increasing energy prices and environmental focus on energy efficiency have presented companies with a challenge to save on energy expenses. A classroom example of one solution to this challenge can be found in the partnership between Danish dairy producer Arla and Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos. By analysing Arla’s dairy production facilities across the globe and replacing outdated pumps with innovative pumping solutions and intelligent software, Arla aims to reduce their annual energy usage with significant cost reductions for the company to follow. Thai food and feed manufacturers, both within the dairy sector and other relevant sectors, can likewise benefit significantly from transitioning to more energy efficient systems. By optimising their energy usage, companies can decrease the overall environmental footprint of production and offer customers sustainable food products while simultaneously reducing costs.
Would you like to know more about how Danish solutions can assist Thai companies with the green transition in the food and agricultural sector?
The Trade Council at the Royal Danish Embassy in Bangkok works to connect Danish and Thai companies and supports collaboration and solutions to assist the transition towards more resource efficient and sustainable agriculture and food production. We invite you to contact our Minister-Counsellor today, who can provide you with more in-depth knowledge on the value of innovative Danish solutions.
Henning Høy Nygaard
Minister Counsellor - Food, Agriculture and Fisheries at the Trade Council at the Royal Danish Embassy in Bangkok
- Email: [email protected]
Learn more about concrete Danish solutions
Gain new and interesting insights into Danish innovation, strongholds and concrete solutions at Food Nation Denmark and State of Green. Here you can learn even more about how innovative Danish solutions can assist the transition towards more sustainable and resource efficient agriculture and food production.
Previous Market News
You can read the previous market news articles from the Trade Council in Bangkok below: