The new unit will take off from Milan, Italy with an initial focus on Food & Beverage.
DNV, an independent body that provides assurance, certification and verification services worldwide, announces the creation of a new research and development unit: “Sustainable Food Systems and Supply Chains.” The program will take off from Italy (Milan) and will initially focus on the Food & Beverage sector. The initiative is an integral part of DNV’s broader Research and Development program aiming at developing knowledge, providing scientific legitimacy, thought leadership and forecasts on the world’s major transformations. DNV invests about 5% of its revenues in research, development and innovation activities to provide a trusted voice and value to our customers and society at large.
The goal of the program, which will be led by Nicola Rondoni - Head of Section and Director of the “Sustainable Food Systems and Supply Chains” program, is to create knowledge, including through collaboration with universities, research partners and customers, in the form of studies, insights, forecasts, concepts and prototype solutions for future services.
In an era where all principal industries are transforming, guided by the widespread application of digital technologies and the need to work in accordance with sustainable development objectives, the new DNV unit will perform research into digital assurance solutions for food systems and supply chains that are potentially replicable to industries other than food & beverage. DNV’s objective is always to assist client companies in addressing future challenges and transformations by combining knowledge, new technologies and digital solutions: from IOT to blockchain to digital tagging to AI, just to name a few.
"The choice of Italy is no coincidence, as it is recognized worldwide as a center of excellence in the agrifood industry. The new program’s goal is to shape the future of assurance with a special focus on food systems and supply chains,” explains Pierre C. Sames, Senior Vice President and Group Research and Development Director. "Growing conformity needs, investments consistent with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria, increasingly attentive and demanding consumers in terms of product transparency and mature digital technologies testify to this need. I am certain that digital technologies will make an important contribution in this arena and will provide large business opportunities for those who can master them."
The new research program will focus on four thematic areas that are linked by their need for implementing digital technologies to collect, generate, validate, verify, analyses and display data progressively in real time, addressing:
- footprint documentation and management for products and their supply chain
- transparency in the circular use of materials in technical products and systems
- optimized food production with higher efficiency and better quality
- increase food quality and food safety, reduced food fraud or contamination
Luca Crisciotti, CEO of Supply Chain & Product Assurance in DNV, says: “As food and beverage companies are looking to DNV more than ever to help build a digital ecosystem connecting global supply chains from farm to fork, tracking sustainability and ethical practices – and providing transparency and accountability around this – becomes an even greater focus. Through this latest endeavour, we look forward to continuing to advance the sustainability agenda across the food and beverage industry.”