Nutrition in Hauts-de-France

Hauts-de-France is an agrifood powerhouse with a particularly rich ecosystem that’s dedicated to improving nutrition and flavor at every opportunity. Our wealth of expertise in this area reflects our unique pool of innovative ingredient developers and suppliers, backed by a world-class team of academic researchers. They meet, mingle and work together within Clubster NSL, a competitiveness cluster recognized by the French government.

Nutrition in Hauts-de-France

Hauts-de-France is an agrifood powerhouse with a particularly rich ecosystem that’s dedicated to improving nutrition and flavor at every opportunity. Our wealth of expertise in this area reflects our unique pool of innovative ingredient developers and suppliers, backed by a world-class team of academic researchers. They meet, mingle and work together within Clubster NSL, a competitiveness cluster recognized by the French government.

Clubster NSL—driving the nutrition industry in Hauts-de-France.

Human health is shaped by the ecosystem we live in, starting with plants and animals. By adopting this broad vision, we are better able to protect consumer health and well-being by promoting healthy, sustainable food.

#1 network of nutrition professionals from industry, research and healthcare

Clubster NSL focuses on innovation in health and nutrition across Hauts-de-France, in fields ranging from food safety to sustainable development.

  • 350 members, 70% businesses
  • 600 researchers
  • 250 projects certified by NSL in 2019
  • over €160 million in funding received

Case study: R&D at NSL

NSL’s PepSeaNov project responds to the challenges confronting tomorrow’s food industry, including:

  • developing new forms of protein for animal feed and human food.
  • developing functional foods for specific modes of consumption and nutritional needs.

Key role of ingredient producers

Hauts-de-France is home to a unique pool of specialists dedicated to developing and producing ingredients:

  • Roquette: world leader in plant-based ingredients and new plant-based proteins 
  • Lesaffre: an industry leader in leavening agents and fermentation 
  • Ingredia: a pioneer in the development of dairy ingredients 
  • Cargill: food ingredients and agricultural commodities trading 
  • Ajinomoto: food and seasoning agents, botanical extracts, amino acid-based products 
  • Tereos: converts crops into sugar, alcohol and starch
  • DSM: enzymes, cultures, probiotics, bio-preservation, sugar reduction and salt substitutes
  • Limagrain: grain-based ingredients 
  • Leroux : leader in chicory root extracts 
  • Copalis: global supplier of natural marine ingredients 
  • VF Bioscience: selection and characterization of innovative probiotic strains 

Cutting-edge nutrition research

What can our regional research centers do for you? Test your products’ nutritional composition, draw up consumer profiles for eating habits, analyze food safety and more—the very challenges you face in developing and launching all of your new products.

Promote sustainable farming and eating with Institut Charles Viollette

Based in Hauts-de-France, Institut Charles Viollette is an agrifood and biotech lab. Its three research teams focus on improving food quality and safety (bio-preservation); adapting to plant stress and varieties​;​ and developing biological, microbial and enzyme-engineering processes​

Put the latest research from ISA Lille to work for you

ISA Lille trains agriculture, agrifood and environmental engineers, and has five research units: Food and Quality, BioGAP, CASE, LGCgE-ISA and Grecat.

Let UniLasalle help develop your new products

Based in Beauvais, UniLasalle operates a lab where the university’s researchers and teachers team up with engineers and technicians to support businesses in the fiercely competitive food industry.

They offer three technical support centers, focusing on:

  1. microbiology and food quality
  2. food preparation
  3. sensory testing

Delivering expertise in:

  • collaborative innovation in farming
  • geoscience research
  • farm machinery
  • agricultural resources
  • and more

Grow your knowledge base with Pasteur Institute—Lille

Over its 30-year history, the Nutrition Unit at Pasteur Institute in Lille has built up a formidable store of expertise in product formulation, nutritional audits, health and nutrition claims, and labeling.

Secure your company’s own competitive edge in food, diet and nutrition with the help of its multidisciplinary team, which includes medical practitioners, PhDs, nutrition engineers, and diet specialists, drawing on applied research in public health and nutrition, including clinical studies.

Make the most of plants with Extractis

Extractis is a hub dedicated entirely to extracting and developing plant ingredients for both food and non-food applications, offering innovative, profitable, eco-friendly solutions.

Extractis offers a wide range of skills and services that can help your business—from startup to SME to large corporation—innovate, diversify or address targeted issues, from proof of concept to taking your innovative product to market. The aim in each case is to develop new ways to promote plant applications in all sectors where biomass-derived molecules have a role to play.

Act now—seize this opportunity to set up in France’s #1 agrifood exporting region

Learn more about our qualified labor pool, R&D capabilities and getting started in Hauts-de-France.