Reporter Wang Wei
Innovation is an inexhaustible driving force to promote the transformation and upgrading of the food industry and sustainable development. In the opening year of the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan", in the face of the new challenges and new needs of China's food science and technology innovation and development, how to enhance industrial competitiveness, truly realize the integration of production, education and research, and build new advantages in the development of food industry science and technology has become a proposition that the food science and technology community and the industry need to deal with together. Recently, the Jiangnan Forum on "Food Innovation and Innovative Food" sponsored by the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology of Jiangnan University was held in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Innovation is not an idea, nor is it an experimental sample, but a scientific research institute and an enterprise to "grow" in practical exploration... Experts, scholars and enterprise representatives from nearly 100 domestic universities and research institutes spoke freely at the forum and shared their practical experience in taking the road of integration of industry, education and research.
The endogenous power of independent innovation needs to be improved
Chen Wei, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Jiangnan University, said in his speech at the forum: "The State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology of Jiangnan University is the first national key laboratory in the field of food science in China, but it will certainly not be the last. With the continuous strengthening of cooperation between universities and research institutes and enterprises, there will be more achievements in production, education and research. Chen Wei also said that this year is the beginning of the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan", And Jiangnan University should "build on its strong points and make up for its weaknesses, cultivate it with excellence", and do a good job in the construction of "double first-class". On the basis of first-class disciplines such as food engineering, Jiangnan University will cross-integrate into life science disciplines to provide strong support for the landing of the "Healthy China" strategy.
Meng Suhe, president of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology, shared some of his views on the development of China's food industry in the post-epidemic era online. Meng Suhe said that the new crown pneumonia epidemic will eventually pass, but the changes left by the epidemic to the world and to China will inevitably affect the future of the food industry. The test of the epidemic shows that the main industries of China's food industry, such as beverages, convenience foods, and grain and oil processing, are moving from labor-intensive to the fully automated Industry 2.0 era, which has the characteristics of modern industry. It is worth noting that the nutritional support role of the food industry during the epidemic has been highlighted. After experiencing the epidemic, consumers are more aware of the importance of health, pay more attention to the health attributes of food, and the food industry is more committed to enhancing the brand value of product health through scientific and technological innovation. "Accelerating the research and development and transformation of 'future foods' such as plant-based and probiotics will have a profound impact on the development concept and mode of the food industry and structural changes." Meng Suhe thinks so.
"Scientific research units urgently need to make changes to solve real problems with 'real research'." When talking about the main problems in the development of the food industry in the post-epidemic era, Meng Suhe pointed out in particular that the existing scientific research system and the actual production are not closely integrated. Mainly due to the lack of combing and condensing the key common technologies and "card neck" projects with scientific and technological personnel in various food industries; Lack of capacity, channels and effective mechanisms to provide cross-sectoral, holistic scientific and technological needs to the science and technology sector. Researchers are more based on their own professional advantages and academic perspectives to plan the scientific research topics and development plans, more is the vertical and in-depth research and development of scientific problems in the professional field, lack of in the overall strategic layout, to solve the industry's scientific and technological problems as the guide, overlooking the industry's scientific and technological development needs of the "national perspective"; And in a long period of time, the orientation of scientific and technological evaluation and examination system has paid more attention to the display of academic and professional advantages, and lack of project selection and scientific and technological encouragement for long-term focus on solving major scientific and technological problems in the industry.
Different from scientific research units, "enterprises lack a strategic perspective on independent innovation, and lack endogenous power." "In the words of Meng Suhe. She pointed out that the overall level of R&D investment of enterprises is low. In the past 30 years of development, the food industry has taken the formation of "economies of scale" as the driving force to seize the market, and lacks a strategic perspective on independent innovation such as more in-depth and long-term development mechanism research, and its endogenous power is insufficient. "The research and development direction of food enterprises needs to be revised, and the endogenous power of independent innovation as a whole needs to be improved." "The influence of food technology on the promotion of the industry is more critical, and China's food industry will enter a critical period of supporting the development of the industry with science and technology in 2020-2025." Meng Suhe prejudged.
Seek progress with change, break through the situation with new, and break through with excellence
"There are many scientific research achievements in universities, but how many have landed? Of the tens of millions of innovative scientific research achievements, how many original achievements are there?" Pan Yingjie, former president of Shanghai Ocean University, directly threw out two thought-provoking questions at the forum. Pan Yingjie frankly said that the cooperation between industry, academia and research is an old problem that has been talked about for decades. At present, China's scientific research investment is insufficient. In scientific research cooperation, there are often tigers and tails, how to crack? In his view, thoughts determine the way out. It's the idea that needs to be adjusted, not a technology. Pan Yingjie suggested that in the cooperation between industry, education and research, first of all, we must adhere to the problem-oriented. The scientific research work of universities has its own characteristics, and it is necessary to sort out a number of major problems in itself; Secondly, to sort out the results that can be implemented, the food discipline of colleges and universities should take the needs of local industries as an important entry point.
"We must seek progress with change, break through the situation with new, and break through with excellence", Pan Yingjie put forward three suggestions for the discipline construction of colleges and universities. To seek progress with change is to achieve the transformation of the mode of thinking; Breaking the new game refers to new technologies, new varieties, and new machinery; Breaking through with excellence refers to advantageous disciplines.
"In food research, it is very important to emancipate the mind." Chen Kunsong, assistant to the president of Zhejiang University, said that food must be limited to food, and food safety must be limited to food testing. In his view, the food discipline is a highly interdisciplinary discipline, not limited to food processing, and its boundaries tend to blur. "In the future of food scientific research and innovation, the idea must break the ice." He stressed again.
Zhao Liming, secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Biological Engineering of East China University of Science and Technology, pointed out that the food relationship is three meals a day, and in scientific research work, it is necessary to be honest and innovative and support the development of disciplines. First, it is necessary to find the "stuck neck" problem; The second is to face the world's frontier of science and technology; The third is to solve the problem of industry-university-research cooperation. Achieve breakthroughs in systems and mechanisms. On the one hand, enterprises should strengthen communication with universities, sort out the short-term, medium- and long-term problems they face, and cooperate with universities with the thinking of "sowing seeds". On the other hand, universities should appropriately decentralize the requirements of enterprises, establish a long-term and systematic cooperation model, and forge a sustainable path.
Zou Xiaobo, dean of the School of Food and Biological Engineering of Jiangsu University, said in combination with his own scientific research practice that in food testing, it is necessary to pay attention to how to change from measuring ingredients to measuring sensations, that is, how to achieve it through olfactory biological systems. In addition, he reminded that the road of scientific research of food processing equipment cannot take the old road of agricultural machinery, and called on enterprises to try more domestic equipment. "Only when the device is actually used can it be continuously identified and improved."
Xie Mingyong, former vice president of Nanchang University, pointed out that scientific research cooperation between enterprises and universities is a two-way problem. For some of the functional claims of food that the industry is currently facing, can the scientific community play a role as a think tank, speak with scientific data, and promote the development of the industry.
Do a good job in basic research and enhance the value of the industry
Wan Xiaochun, former president of Anhui Agricultural University, pointed out that "facing people's life and health" has become an important direction for scientific and technological innovation. Food and health are inseparable, to do a good job in food science and technology innovation, to help the development of the industry, we must first do a good job of basic research, the nutrition and health function of food to explain clearly. Wan Xiaochun took the "Anhui West Huangda Tea" in Dabie Mountain, Anhui Province, as an example: "In China's traditional green tea production area, most of the fresh leaves of summer and autumn tea are discarded due to the coarse and old raw materials, resulting in a great waste of resources, and huang da tea, as one of the characteristic teas in Anhui Province, uses summer and autumn tea as raw materials to achieve value improvement, because the basic research on the anti-hyperglycemia effect of the tea has been carried out." The research results not only provide a scientific basis for the development of functional tea products oriented by hypoglycemia as a health, but also provide ideas for further promoting the efficient and in-depth utilization of summer and autumn tea resources. ”
"In order to achieve 'overtaking on the sidewalk', we should change from research application to applied research and effectively solve industrial problems." Li Lin, former vice president of South China University of Technology, said that in the cooperation of scientific research projects, we must also think about how to move from supporting the development of the industry to leading the industry. "Can we change from the direction of omics and nutrition to the direction of senses and taste?" Li Lin suggested that talent training should not be limited to traditional disciplines, but can also be combined with new disciplines.
Bian Ke, former president of Henan University of Technology, believes that the linkage between production, education and research should work the mechanism and truly realize the upstream and downstream linkage. "The common problem is that the front end of the industry chain ignores what the demand at the end of the industry is. The end consumer has to buy it, otherwise the work done is meaningless. He suggested that the industry-university-research linkage should achieve the three major synergies of science and technology, industry and operation, and strive to develop China's traditional food. Taking staple food as an example, he talked about a phenomenon in which scientific and technological workers in the United States and other countries began to study noodles and steamed buns, while China is studying Western-style products such as bread. Bian Ke suggested that in the future, the research of domestic food science and technology workers needs to return to China's traditional foods such as cooking foods. Liu Jingsheng, vice president of Jilin Agricultural University, also agrees with this view. He said that in order to carry forward and expand China's traditional food, in the face of the trend of diversification of consumer demand, it is also necessary to carry out applied research from a new perspective.
Chen Fusheng, former deputy dean of the College of Food Science and Technology of Huazhong Agricultural University, suggested that traditional food is also a carrier of culture, and it is necessary to do a good job in traditional Chinese cuisine. Citing fermented foods as an example, he said, "Under the trend of industrialization, how to retain those traditional strains is worth thinking about." It is necessary to strengthen basic research and accumulate relevant data on a variety of functional components in fermented foods. At the same time, the safety of some fermented foods also needs to be paid attention to. ”
Xue Changhu, dean of the School of Food Science and Engineering at the Ocean University of China, also talked about his confusion – at present, food research is disconnected from the industry. Many food companies still do not regard science and technology as the key to future development, and scientific research investment is small. Xu Baocai, dean of the School of Food and Biological Engineering of Hefei University of Technology, believes that in the future, we should focus on the development of intelligent food processing. At the same time, one side of the water and soil to support the other side, local colleges and universities should focus on the industrialization of local traditional cuisine, with food science to serve the revitalization of rural areas. Jiang Shaotong, dean of the Agricultural Product Processing Research Institute of Hefei University of Technology, said that food research should pay attention to database research. In the future, digital construction should be the direction. For example, he said, a food company that processed on behalf of the company used smart computing to achieve a double improvement in product quality and safety, and the digital operation of the three squirrels was also very successful.
Jiang Yujun, dean of the Food College of Northeast Agricultural University, believes that colleges and universities should also do a good job in scientific research around market demand, but they cannot just follow up, but must do basic research first.
In the future of food, we must focus on solving the problem of precision nutrition
"In the future, food research should pay attention to three 'interactions', namely component interaction, food interaction, and interaction between food and the human body." Liu Jingsheng said that in the past, scientific research and development was often based on traditional thinking, that is, protein was added to the lack of protein, and sugar was added when there was a lack of sugar. Nowadays, multi-ingredient multi-combination processing should be considered. In addition, while paying attention to external exposure to food, attention should also be paid to intra-food exposure, that is, to study the metabolic changes of food in the intestine. Zhou Jian, former vice president of Wuhan Polytechnic University, suggested that food research and development should be based on the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016). At the same time, we must pay attention to precision nutrition.
"Food should be delicious first, followed by nutrition and health, and safety is the foundation." At present, there are fewer people in colleges and universities to study the senses of food, and they have not received much attention. Professor Zhao Mouming of South China University of Technology pointed out the pain points in food research. He said that as a food science and technology worker in a university, first of all, it is necessary to take root in a field for 10 years, 20 years, and the innovative concept must be two or three years ahead of the enterprise, in order to bring real help to the enterprise.
Wang Jing, dean of the School of Food and Health at Beijing Technology and Business University, talked about some of her thoughts on grain nutrition and health research. Wang Jing said that the study of representative functional components of characteristic cereals is lacking, and there is no clear study on the effects of different types and content of cereal composition (precision grain collocation) on body health. Different populations, different ages and physiological periods, and the dynamic changes of whole grain intake are urgently needed.
Tan Bin, chief scientist of the Scientific Research Institute of the State Grain and Material Reserve Bureau, said that at present, the incidence of chronic diseases in China is high, and food research workers must answer three questions, that is, the question of food, the way of food, and the future of food. "We can't just talk about food, food is inseparable from health, environment and other factors, and we must seek sustainable solutions." In the future of food, we must not only solve the nutrition problems of the public base first, but also focus on solving the problem of precision nutrition. ”
To break through the barriers of industrialization, talent is the key
Professor Gao Yanxiang of China Agricultural University pointed out that food scientific research breaks through the barriers of industrialization, and talent is the key. Talents must have "top the sky" and also have "standing on the ground", that is, there must be basic research talents, and there must also be applied research talents who can go down to the grass-roots level.
Chen Xianggui, dean of the School of Food and Biological Engineering of Xihua University, said that there are many papers and achievements in food research in China, but there are few applications and few valuable innovations. For now, many valuable innovations come from areas other than food. In the future, cross-cutting cooperation should be achieved. He said that there is a lot of local demand, and enterprises often face a certain type of food problem, but they suffer from the lack of mature technology to serve enterprises. Chen Xianggui called for the creation of a common key technology platform to better serve the industry.
Professor He Qiang of Sichuan University said that food research should start from the perspective of industry and serve the market, that is, what products are needed, what science is needed.
"Companies can't recruit talent, and many college students can't find jobs. In this regard, how to better connect enterprises and universities is worth thinking about. Shu Jiancheng, head of R&D of Tangrenshen Group Co., Ltd., suggested that colleges and universities should establish a student resident model to train students to find problems and solve them in practice.
Professor Yang Jiguo of South China University of Technology said that the scientific research results of universities from the pilot stage to the commodity stage, the process is long and the requirements are high, so it is necessary to establish a matching industry-university-research system. In the construction of the system, the establishment of the platform technology system is very critical.
"Whether independent research and development is good, or cooperative research and development is good, the enterprise itself must calculate the account." Li Yanjun, president of the Food Science Research Institute of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, said that in the practice of industry-university-research cooperation, with the help of the complementary advantages of both sides, Wahaha and universities or other enterprises have achieved mutual benefit and win-win results.
Chen Ying of Yuansen Biotechnology Co., Ltd. said that innovation is not an idea, nor is it a sample of the laboratory, but to be "long" in the practice and exploration of both scientific research institutes and enterprises. While many large enterprises have built their own research and development centers, they are also competing with universities. In Chen Ying's view, the research and development invested by enterprises this year will be converted into next year's business volume. How colleges and universities can integrate and help enterprises achieve incrementality is worth thinking about. "When the innovation contribution is formed and accumulated, the underlying thinking will be formed, which will help the original innovation."
Zhao Fanhong, chairman of Beijing Hongbao Food Raw Material Trading Company and Beijing Hongxi Flavor and Fragrance Co., Ltd., thinks about how to seek change with newness. Under the dual demand of consumers for health and environmental protection, the company's main business in the past, the salty flavor products produced with meat as the main raw material, were transformed into flavor products with plants as the main raw material. In his view, in this process, the active innovation exploration of enterprises will become the main path.
He Jian, director of R&D at the R&D Center of Yili Industrial Group, said that in the scientific research cooperation with universities, what is missing is often a consumer-oriented mentality, and the current market competition is fierce, forcing good products. For enterprises, scientific research results cannot be transformed, and there is no meaning. He hopes that the academic community will be guided by market demand and strengthen cooperation with enterprises.
Li Mingdeng, director of innovation, technology and quality at General Mills China, said that how to tap consumers' ideas and provide products that meet their needs is the foundation of food research.
"Future food innovation covers equipment, technology and other aspects, so it should be the result of cross-professional and multi-party collaboration." Chen Junjiang, director of R&D of Want Want Group, said that Want Want has achieved product innovation in cooperation with domestic universities; Cooperate with foreign brand equipment enterprises to achieve the innovation of new packaging materials. He believes that domestic professionals can localize key components and make more efforts in independent innovation equipment.
"There is a great urgency to cooperate with universities in scientific research." Wang Jiajun, head of R&D of Yurun Group, expressed his thoughts. He hoped that colleges and universities would base themselves on the actual needs of the consumer market and enterprises, seize the difficulties, and develop products with "good materials, good taste, good packaging, good prices, and good marketing". At the same time, it is hoped that colleges and universities will give full play to their advantages and jointly cultivate talents. The current research and development and innovation ignore the problem of product substitution and upgrading, and universities are more inclined to the research and development of new technologies and new equipment.
Sun Chunrui, head of R&D of Zhucheng Xingmao Group, frankly said that in the industry-university-research alliance, both sides are afraid of taking risks - the company hopes to "cut with one hand" and the results can be immediately effective; Universities believe that if enterprises do not invest and do not clarify the market orientation, research and development work cannot be deepened.
Jin Zhengyu, director of the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, said in his concluding speech that through the exchange and collision between the scientific and technological community and the business community, identifying the problems in the joint scientific research and innovation of industry, education and research will contribute to the high-quality development of the food industry. "Enterprises are the objects of service of universities, and this goal will not change. Today's food industry has gradually passed the nutrition stage and moved towards the 'enjoyment' stage. In this process, we must continue to increase the integration of industry, education and research to better serve people's needs for a better life. ”