Unilever R&D Vlaardingen Unilever Research Prizes …...Knorr, Unilever’s biggest brand, is helping its farmers improve their agricultural practices, so their products are not only

UnileverResearch Prizes

2015

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150177 - Brochure Researchprijs_v6_MvdB.indd 1 25-11-15 17:03

Introduction

Science plays a crucial role in meeting the complex challenges we face today. Researchers in our centres are working everyday to develop the innovations that are required to feed the world sustainably well and that provide hygiene and personal care. These innovations are key to achieving the specifi c challenges making the world a sustainable living place. Connections with the external world, including those with scientists from academic institutes, have become very important in developing the new technologies that underpin our innovations. In this respect, Unilever is fortunate to have the many, long standing collaborations with academia in The Netherlands.

The Unilever Research Prizes are an important token to express the importance to our relationship with the academic world. The annual prizes award ceremony has a long tradition: introduced in 1956, Unilever now presents the prizes for the 59th time. All 13 Dutch Universities have reviewed their Master of Science graduates and each has nominated their top graduate from a variety of disciplines relevant to Unilever Research & Development.

The Research Prizes show our appreciation for the outstanding work of this year’s top talents. The 13 winners are young academics who have conducted important research in the fi elds of chemistry, biotechnology, mechanical engineering, biology, agricultural science and social sciences. Unilever wishes to stimulate these promising talents in their future development by granting these Research Prizes.

I am really pleased to be able to conclude that the qualifi cations for this year’s nominees are again

excellent. This really refl ects the high quality delivered by Dutch

Universities. Unilever would like to congratulate all the winners and thank the universities for nominating such outstanding talents.

Unilever’s products are sold in more than 180 countries and used by 2 billion consumers a day in over half the households on the planet. We develop new ways of doing business that allows us to double the size of our company while reducing our environmental impact. R&D is the catalyst to enable Unilever to grow sustainably. Our work is vital to the future of the company.

Driving Sustainable growthAt Unilever we believe in a brighter future – a world where everyone lives well and within the natural limits of our planet. We are pioneering a new, more sustainable, way of doing business because we recognise that change is essential if we want our planet, our consumers and our business to thrive. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), launched in 2010, outlines how we will achieve our sustainable growth ambition by helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and wellbeing, halve the environmental footprint of our products and enhance the livelihoods of millions of people in our supply chain.

Unilever’s Research and Development (R&D) priority is to be the core engine of sustainable growth for Unilever.

Through our expertise and knowledge, we develop great quality brands and products that consumers choose again and again. With a comprehensive portfolio of products designed to meet the needs of consumers around the world, we really have an opportunity to deliver timely and contribute to sustainable living.

Knorr, Unilever’s biggest brand, is helping its farmers improve their agricultural practices, so their products are not only nutritious and delicious but also made from sustainably grown ingredients. This reinforces the brand’s positioning on consumers, and preference for products that are concerned about nature.

Delivering impactful, sustainable innovations

Prof. Dr. Rob HamerVice President R&D Discover FoodsDirector Unilever R&D Vlaardingen

high quality delivered by Dutch Universities. Unilever would

like to congratulate all the winners and thank the universities for nominating such outstanding talents.

Prof. Dr. Rob HamerVice President R&D Discover FoodsDirector Unilever R&D Vlaardingen


Research & Development in UnileverWe are continuously looking for ways to innovate our brands. Brands and innovations are at the heart of everything we do. In Unilever, R&D is the home of breakthrough technology for bigger, better and faster innovations. Success for us means creating products that fi t our Sustainable Living Plan, keep pace with changes in consumer lifestyles and that appeal to people at all income levels.

Successful innovation is the lifeblood of any consumer goods company. We realise innovation is key to our progress, and through cutting-edge science we are constantly enhancing our brands, improving their nutritional properties, taste, fragrance or functionality. It allows us to deliver new products with new consumer benefi ts. Unilever’s R&D priorities are to be inventive, develop great quality brands and obtain scientifi c proof that all our products deliver on their claims. Our innovations are also supported by clinical trials to ensure safety for consumers and compliance with international regulations.

Innovation through expertiseWe balance scientifi c strength, which includes partnerships with leading academic centres, with the expertise necessary (formulation, processing and packaging design) to take ideas from a concept to product on a market shelf. A thorough knowledge of our consumers’ habits, lifestyle, attitudes and preferences is core to the R&D function at Unilever. At Unilever we are always looking to the future, taking the lead, moving fast and staying ahead of competition.

R&D in Vlaardingen and HeilbronnVlaardingen is one of Unilever’s biggest international R&D centres and the main

research hub of our Foods category. It is the home of the global and regional development centre for our spreads and dressings brands and the regional centre for laundry, skincare, hair care and machine dish wash products. In R&D Heilbronn the global and regional development work for all our savoury brands are hosted.

Recent innovationsFor almost 60 years Vlaardingen has contributed to some of Unilever’s most signifi cant product innovations including:

Hellmann’s Easy Out with Superior Squeeze Experience. Before fi lling, the bottle wall is coated with pure vegetable oil which causes the mayonnaise to come out easily. The new technology has taken the amount of leftover mayo in a tube down with 10%.

Rama ‘Fry Like the Pros’ based on a trick used by professional chefs. They fry or roast with oil for its high heat ability, but often add a touch of margarine for a delicious fl avor.

Super Concentrated Comfort Intense conditioners with unique dual encapsulated fragrance technology leading to 22% reduction in greenhouse gas per wash.

Concentrated Sun Classic Tablets with more washing power in a smaller pack, 30% reduction in chemicals and 17% reduction in waste per wash.

Iron Fortifi ed Bouillon Cubes, launched in Nigeria with improved stability, bioavailability and supported with a behavioural change programme.

Delivering impactful, sustainable innovations


Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan contributing to health and wellbeing of consumersAt Unilever we believe in a brighter future – a world where everyone lives well and lives within the natural limits of our planet. We are pioneering a new, more sustainable way of doing business because we recognise that change is essential if we want our planet, our consumers and our business to thrive. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), launched in 2010, outlines how we will achieve our sustainable growth ambition. One of the global goals is to improve the health and wellbeing of more than 1 billion consumers. We take responsibility and address aspects of malnutrition, being both over- and under-nutrition.

Unilever’s products contribute to the health of consumers in Western societies. For example, margarines are available with added plant sterols, which fit in a healthy diet and reduce blood cholesterol. This claim is supported by many scientific studies and approved by authorities. Recently we also launched an iron fortified bouillon cube into the African market to combat the globally most prevalent micronutrient deficiency, iron. Bouillon cubes are a food format widely available to African consumers to spice up their meals.

How can Bioavailability play a role?To develop such products, consumer preferences on taste and flavour, price and ease of use are very important. In addition, information from research should be available around efficacy of active ingredients during normal, daily use. Only in this way a product claim can be made.

Regulators acknowledge content claims on products, but such a claim on pack is not very informative on the actual effect of the ingredients in the body. It is our ultimate goal to make consumers aware of such

a product improvement. To exert the positive action, beneficial ingredients need to be absorbed and distributed into the body, and removed if not stored for later functional use.

What is Bioavailability exactly?Bioavailability in its original definition is developed in the pharma world to understand the disposition of drugs in the human body. Advanced modelling and measurement techniques have been developed over time, constantly expanding, to describe the sequence of steps in the bioavailability pathway; Absorption (from the gut), Distribution (into the body), Metabolism and Elimination (from the body) [ADME]. Within Unilever R&D Vlaardingen we have access to ADME modelling and measurement techniques and apply those to food products and ingredients, either in-house or via our external collaborations.

Bioavailability in food research -

You are not always what you eatGuus Duchateau, Science Leader Bioavailability & ADME, Unilever R&D Vlaardingen


Bioavailability of Iron Food fortification is one of the most efficient methods to combat deficiencies. However, addition of bioavailable iron forms to foods easily results in taste and appearance defects. It would be tempting to add iron in a very stable form to allow a content claim and avoid defects. The benefit to the consumer would be minimal though as product-stable iron forms are not well absorbed into the body. Vlaardingen R&D has gone one step further and solved the product sensorial stability aspect via a patented solution. Bioavailability experiments in the lab and a subsequent human clinical study demonstrated the improved absorption of the added iron. This will be explored further in actual consumer settings; in Africa and African meals.

Slow bioavailability of glucose in diabetes prevention Readily available refined sugars are common to diets across the globe and contribute to the rise in type II diabetes, a challenge for both developed and developing countries. Slowing down the fast absorption of glucose into the bloodstream after release from such products is considered beneficial. The level of circulating blood glucose is however also resulting from other processes in the body and not only derived from food digestion. To

distinguish between the glucose from food and glucose participating in metabolic processes, we collaborate with academic experts. Advanced human study designs with stable isotope labelled products are required here to quantify the various glucose fluxes. Such data will underpin future products with a claim on slow glucose absorption, beneficial for consumers.

OutlookThese examples describe the use of ADME tools, ranging from modelling and lab-based tools, to approaches as complex as human studies with stabile isotopes. To do so requires world-class expertise, available in the Bioavailability & ADME team. It is not possible, or desirable to execute all this research in-house, hence we also connect to external experts in the field. To maintain up-to-date of new developments in this exciting research field, we participate in research collaborations and networks, ultimately to deliver products to contribute to health and wellbeing of consumers in line with our USLP goals and convince our regulators.

Bioavailability in food research -

You are not always what you eatGuus Duchateau, Science Leader Bioavailability & ADME, Unilever R&D Vlaardingen


12.00 h Arrival of guests Foyer of Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, Olivier van Noortlaan 120 in Vlaardingen

12.30 h Lunch

13.30 h Welcome and introduction Prof. Dr. Rob Hamer

13.40 h External lecture ‘The experiment of the Dutch Research Agenda’ Prof. Dr. Alexander Rinnooy Kan

14.05 h Scientifi c lecture ‘Bioavailability in food research’ Dr. Guus Duchateau

14.30 h Break

15.00 h Presentation of the Unilever Research Prizes 2015- part 1 Mr. David Blanchard

Short lecture by winner of the Unilever Research Prize 2015 Stefan Heijmans, University of Eindhoven “Interconnected systems with networked communication:

a stability and performance analysis”

Presentation of the Unilever Research Prizes 2015 – part 2 Mr. David Blanchard

Short lecture by winner of the Unilever Research Prize 2015 Seline Zwarthoff, University of Groningen “How can we gain knowledge about the molecular actions of genes

and proteins in bacteria and use it against pathogenic bacteria?”

Presentation of the Unilever Research Prizes 2015- part 3 Mr. David Blanchard

16.00 h Drinks

Unilever Research Prizes 2015Programme Thursday 3 December 2015

Prof. Dr. Alexander Rinnooy Kan

Mr. David Blanchard

Dr. Guus Duchateau


Winners

University of Amsterdam

Verena Wottrich

VU University Amsterdam

Maurice Steenhuis

Delft University of Technology

Hanan Al-Kutubi

Eindhoven University of Technology

Stefan Heijmans

University of Groningen

Seline Zwarthoff

Leiden University

Flor Rhebergen

Maastricht University

Nicolette Breetveld

Radboud University Nijmegen

Leyla-Cann Söğütoğlu

Erasmus University Rotterdam

René Karens

Tilburg University

Nina Spälti

University of Twente

Nienke Firet

Utrecht University

Alessio Caciagly

Wageningen University

Aljosha Filippov

Unilever Research Prizes 2015Programme Thursday 3 December 2015

Mr. David BlanchardIn his role as Chief R&D Officer, David Blanchard is accountable for the development of R&D as a core engine of sustainable growth for Unilever. This includes oversight of the future development plans across R&D in the Categories (Foods, Home Care, Personal Care and Refreshment) plus direct leadership of the Strategic Science Group and R&D capabilities, such as Safety & Environmental Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, Digital R&D, Clinicals and Open Innovation.

David joined Unilever in 1986 as Development Manager for Spreads. A decade later he transferred to Van den Bergh Foods (which merged with Lipton in 1997), in Baltimore, as Director of Product Development for margarine and spreads.

From 1999-2005 David held different roles in R&D and Supply Chain in Foods North America and Foods Latin America. In 2004, David was appointed VP R&D for Global Dressings. In 2005 David was appointed SVP, Marketing Operations Foods Americas with responsibility for business development and strategic planning for Foods throughout North and South America. In January 2007, he was appointed Chairman of Unilever Canada Inc. based in Toronto.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Rinnooy KanAlexander Rinnooy Kan (1949) grew up in The Hague. He graduated in Mathematics from the University of Leiden in 1972. In the same year, he acquired a Candidate’s degree in Econometrics at the University of Amsterdam.

From 1973 to 1977 he was a member of the academic staff of the department of Mathematics and Statistics at Delft University of Technology. During that period, in 1976, he obtained his PhD in Mathematics at the University of Amsterdam.

Between 1977 and 1991 Rinnooy Kan held various positions at Erasmus University Rotterdam and other European and American universities. He was rector magnificus of Erasmus University from 1986 to 1989.

As Chairman of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW), a post he held from 1991 to 1996, Rinnooy Kan was one of the main representatives of Dutch business. He was member of the ING Group Executive Board from 1996 to 2006.

Rinnooy Kan has been Chairman of the Netherlands Social and Economic Council from 2006 to 2012. He co-chairs the Dutch Research Agenda. In 2012, he was appointed as Distinguished University Professor at the University of Amsterdam. In June 2015, he was elected to the Dutch Senate.


The OvumThe sculpture awarded to the winners of the Unilever Research Prize was designed by the artist Elly Rosseel from Soest.

Ms. Rosseel employs a fusion technique, using burnished glass to bring her creations to life. The Ovum gives the impression of a hatching bird’s egg, symbolising the birth and emergence of new talent. The egg’s open lid and upward pathway gives an impression of a future for the winner being rich with expanding possibilities.

Copyright2015 Unilever R&D Vlaardingen

P.O. Box 114NL-3130 AC Vlaardingen

The Netherlands

Text and production coordinationUnilever R&D Vlaardingen | Communication

DesignCreative Services, Rotterdam

Printed byCanon, Rotterdam


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Unilever R&D Vlaardingen Unilever Research Prizes …...Knorr, Unilever’s biggest brand, is helping its farmers improve their agricultural practices, so their products are not only