Our history

Our history

The initiative to start and co-finance the collaborative platform Food Science Sweden, which also includes the joint graduate school Food Production with Future Technologies (LiFT), came from Swedish universities and institutes with research in food science in 2013.

Mission and goals

Food Science Sweden was founded, with the aim was to strengthen Swedish food science research, enhance competence within the sector, and be a clear, unifying representative for academia and institutes in the field in Sweden. This aim continues to guide our work today.

The original members were:

  • Chalmers
  • Lund University of Technology (LTH)
  • Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
  • RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE)

At that time, the industry was represented by:

  • The Sweden Food Federation (Li)
  • Swedish Food Retailers Federation
  • Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research (SLF)

Örebro University (OrU) joined the partnership in 2017, and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in 2023.

Today, the industry is represented only by the Food Companies (Li).

Results

The work of Food Science Sweden has yielded excellent results:

  • We see more targeted calls for proposals in the food sector and new joint applications in both research and communication.
  • The number of doctoral students in Swedish food science research has increased during the period
  • We see more collaborations between our member organisations in research projects, which means that our combined expertise benefits the food sector.