Author: Ísey Dís Hávarsdóttir

Askurinn 2019

The Icelandic Food Craft Championship, Askurinn 2019, will take place in November. Registration closes today, November 4th, and competitors will submit competition products to Matís on November 19th. Judges' work and professional evaluation of the competition products will take place at Matís on 20-21. November. The results of the competition and prize giving will be announced at the Food Festival in Hvanneyri on November 23 at 14:00. Matís ohf is responsible for the competition in collaboration with Matarauð Íslands. Partners in the award ceremony are the West Iceland Strategy, the West Iceland Marketing Agency, the Agricultural University of Iceland.

A competition in food crafts is for producers of food crafts based on the Swedish model, Svenska Mästerskapen i Mathantverk. also called Særimner, has been held annually, with a good reputation since 1998 Eldrimner which is the Swedish National Center for Food Crafts. The competition involves producers receiving a professional assessment of the quality of the product and a prize, the Askurinn, is awarded for the products that are considered to excel. Winners will receive a certificate of recognition and permission to mark the winning products with an appropriate sticker, gold, silver or bronze box, with the logo of the competition and the year. The markings on prize products may be used until the next competition. The gold medalist is also the Icelandic Champion in the relevant category.

A food craft competition was held for the first time in the autumn of 2014 in collaboration with Matís and New Nordic Food (Ny Nordis Mad). The competition was very successful, 110 products took part in 8 food categories from all the Nordic countries. The winners received good media coverage and some of them are still using this recognition in their marketing work.

What is a food craft?

Food craftsmanship is about creating products with an emphasis on unique taste, quality and not least image, which industry can not create. The emphasis is on the use of local ingredients, production in small quantities that are often regional. Food craft products are wholesome, without unnecessary additives and products that can be traced back to the source. The hallmark of food craftsmanship is to use the raw materials, manpower and know-how available on site, throughout the entire production chain. In food crafts, the emphasis is on developing traditional products for today's consumers.

Many Icelanders, all over the country, took the opportunity during Saltfiskvikan, which was blown up earlier this autumn, and tasted these unique products that have so many fans around the world. Customers who ordered salted fish dishes at one of the restaurants that took part in the campaign were especially encouraged to post a photo on Instagram, marked with the hashtag #saltfiskvika, which resulted in a prize pool that would be reduced.

One lucky participant was drawn at the end of the week, but the prize was a trip for two to Barcelona. The lucky one was Jóna Dóra Jónsdóttir in Selfoss, who had eaten salted fish at the Riverside restaurant in Hotel Selfoss. In addition to a trip to Barcelona for two, she also gets a salted fish feast for two at the restaurant La Gourmanda in the city, which is exactly the restaurant Carlota Claver who was one of the foreign guest chefs at Saltfiskvik.

Overall, Saltfiskvikan went very well and there are already plans to repeat the game next autumn. When asked, the vast majority of the representatives of the more than 20 restaurants and canteens that took part this year were satisfied with the initiative, saying that it was a fun change as well as having a good effect on diversity and creative joy in the workplace. It was also mentioned how important it was to introduce the raw material authentic salted fish to both Icelanders and foreign tourists.

It is clear that the salted fish still has a strong foothold in the country as well as its visitors - although it is possible that this valuable export product has left little to be desired in its home area in recent years. Must be considered a full reason to blow back to Saltfiskvika in his honor this year.

Saltís Week was hosted by Matís, Íslandsstofa, Kokkalandsliðið and the Association of Icelandic Saltfish Producers.

Matís participates in the European co-operation project "WeValueFood" which aims to support the European food economy by educating and empowering the next generation of consumers with increased knowledge, interest and participation in food-related issues. 

At the beginning of December, a conference will be held by "WeValueFood" in Warsaw, Poland. It will discuss how to strengthen the participation, interest and knowledge of the next generation in food awareness, where emphasis will be placed on the latest research in this field, the role of social media and improved communication between the food industry and the next generation of consumers.
For more information, see attached advertisement and registration for the conference will take place here before November 7, 2019.

WeValueFood is part of and sponsored by EIT Food, a large European food knowledge and innovation community that aims to transform the environment of food production, processing and consumption by connecting consumers with companies, entrepreneurs, scientists and students across Europe. EIT Food supports new, sustainable and cost-effective solutions to improve consumer health and to ensure access to safe, high-quality food that has the least impact on the environment.

The ad in PDF

on Tuesday 5 November at 13.00-16.00 at Hotel Saga.

Matvælalandið Ísland and Landbúnaðarklasinn are holding a conference at Hótel Saga on consumption changes and their impact on food production on Tuesday 5 November. Lecturers come from various backgrounds, but will all discuss how changes in public consumption behavior and technological change will affect the food sector in the near future.

Schedule at 13.00:

• What do surveys say about Icelanders' consumption behavior?
  Friðrik Björnsson, Sales Manager at Gallup
• Sustainability of the food system and Iceland's opportunities
  Sigurður H. Markússon, Landsvirkjun / University of Cambridge
• Challenges and Opportunities in the AgriFood Sector
  Marit Sommerfelt Valseth, consultant at Innovasjon Norge
• What's around the corner?
  Ragnheiður I. Þórarinsdóttir, Rector of the Agricultural University of Iceland

Pause

• What do customers want tomorrow?
  Gréta María Grétarsdóttir, Managing Director of the ISK
• Food awareness and knowledge: the enlightened consumer or influencers?
  Anna Sigríður Ólafsdóttir, Professor of Nutrition at the University of Iceland
• The food step - carbon calculations for meals
  Helga Jóhanna Bjarnadóttir, division manager at Efla engineering
• Land use and a changed future
  Árni Bragason, CEO of Landgræðslan
• Can I offer you cockroach milk?
  Elín M. Stefánsdóttir, Chairman of the Board of Mjólkursamsälan

Moderator: Finnbogi Magnússon, chairman of the Agricultural Cluster

Venue: Katla, Hotel Saga, Tuesday 5 November. at 13.00-16.00

Landbúnaðarklasinn is a co-operation network of those who work in agriculture and related industries.

Matvælalandið Ísland is a co-operation platform for parties working in the food sector. These include the Confederation of Icelandic Industries, the Farmers' Association of Iceland, the Confederation of Icelandic Fisheries, Íslandsstofa, Matís, the Icelandic Tourism Association, the University of Iceland and Matarauður Íslands.

Admission to the conference is free and registration is required here.

On that occasion, we offer an event where the career of Viggós Þór will be discussed, but his research has mainly focused on different habitats of microorganisms; what microorganisms are present, where they come from, what they are doing and how.

These habitats range from environments related to food, such as fish and animal farming, their processing environment, the impact of micro-organisms on food and food safety, to an extreme environment, where no life thrives except micro-organisms. Examples of such peripheral areas are sea and land hot springs, underground ecosystems and lakes under glacial icebergs. Viggós' research has revolved around both basic and practical research.

The professor's lecture will be held on Wednesday 6 November at 15 in Læknagarður in room 201. After the lecture, refreshments will be served on the 4th floor of Læknagarður. Everyone is welcome. 

Plastic debris pollutes the oceans from the coastal sea to the deepest depths of the ocean and this pollution is a growing problem. In recent years, the focus has also been on the environmental impact of drug use - how drug residues are released into the environment and distributed, their amount and impact.

In order to obtain clear information on the sources and emissions of microplastics and drug residues in Iceland, the Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources requested two summaries to that effect. The marine biotechnology center Biopol on Skagaströnd has now compiled information on the main sources of microplastics in Iceland and its channels to the sea, and Matís has compiled information on drug residues in the Icelandic environment, emissions into the environment and expected quantities and risks.

The results of these reports will be presented at a meeting on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, which will take place in a meeting room on the ground floor of Skúlagata 4, on Thursday 31 October at 12: 00-12: 50. All are welcome.

Oddur M. Gunnarsson has been appointed to the position of CEO of Matís ohf.

The appointment was announced today, but Oddur has been the current CEO of Matís since the beginning of the year. As previously reported, a total of 9 applied for the position of CEO.

Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson, director of Matís, gave an informative talk at the Vestmannaeyjar Knowledge Center entitled Where is the global fishing industry heading? - development and expectations.

Jónas talked about the global fishing industry, what currents and trends are going on. Jónas visited many countries in his presentation, including Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Russia and the European Union. Fisheries and aquaculture were involved in the whole discussion.

The importance of food security, the environment, discards, food integrity, sustainability and many other interesting things were discussed.

Numerous questions came from the audience and good discussions ensued.

Matís employees have been in the Islands for the past few days to have a conversation with the fishing industry in the Islands and other stakeholders regarding the new hiring of an employee at an office in the Islands.

Further information and slides from the lecture can be found at website of the Vestmannaeyjar Knowledge Center.

A recording of the lecture can be found here.

Photo: Eyjafréttir

Matís, the Agricultural University of Iceland and the Agricultural Advisory Center have in recent years worked together on projects on the quality of Icelandic lamb. Rit LbhÍ nr. 120 Factors influencing the quality of lamb by Guðjón Þorkelsson, Emma Eyþórsdóttir and Eyþór Einarsson, has been published. The publication discusses the results of a research project on the effects of treatment and breeding on the quality of Icelandic lamb, which was carried out in collaboration with Matís, AUI and RML.

Samples of almost 800 carcasses were taken in four slaughterhouses and various measurements were made both in the slaughterhouses and on the meat samples. The aim was to assess the status of Icelandic lamb meat based on quality measurements and make proposals for emphasis in breeding for meat quality and for proper treatment before and after slaughter. Tissue samples were also collected for genetic analysis in possible follow-up studies.

The publication also contains an overview of quality measurements of lamb meat, the results of their research both in Iceland and abroad.

• The main results included the following:
• The proportion of meat carcasses with an acidity above the limit for so-called stress meat was about 10%, which is too high. This can be supplemented by advice and supervision on the treatment of slaughter lambs.
• Electrical stimulation used to accelerate death stiffness after slaughter works differently and equipment must be adjusted and working methods used when using electrical stimulation.
• The percentage of fat in the spinal muscle was very low or about 1.8 % on average. It is proposed to investigate whether it is possible to increase intramuscular fat through breeding without increasing the surface fat of the carcass.
• Surgical force, which is a measure of viscosity, was measured higher than in previous studies. Too many samples were measured with high values indicating viscous meat. The cause is to be found in the treatment of carcasses in slaughterhouses, but cultivation for increased muscle is also a possible influencing factor.
• Preliminary assessment of heritability indicates that meat quality traits can be improved through breeding. With the advent of genome selection based on genetic analysis, new possibilities in this field are created.

The publication is available here.

The booklet "From mountain to quality food - about the treatment of slaughter lambs and lamb" which was published by Matís earlier this year is based, among other things, on the results of the project.

The conference MOBeDNA (monitoring biodiversity using eDNA) was held in the hall of the Marine Research Institute 2-3. October sl.

The conference included lectures on new methodologies in conservation biology and research on the biological diversity of fish, algae and other organisms in sea and fresh water. 

The conference included lectures on new methodologies in conservation biology and research on the biological diversity of fish, algae and other organisms in sea and fresh water. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the genetic material of an organism found in the environment, but most organisms leave genetic material in the environment that comes from dead skin cells, fish mucus and faeces. By taking a sea sample and filtering through a fine filter, the DNA found in the sea can be collected. The genetic material is then isolated from the filter, amplified and sequenced. Specific regions on the mitochondrial genome are sequenced, but the order varies greatly between species. The sequence is compared with known DNA sequences of species in a database to determine the number of species in the sample. With this, it is possible to obtain an assessment of the biological diversity of an ecosystem without disturbing or killing the organisms.

At the conference, 13 researchers from Iceland, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Canada presented eDNA research and 16 presentations were made. The presentations focused on the use of this new technology in biodiversity research, the state of knowledge, comparisons with other methods, methods of collection, automation of measurements and further opportunities for the use of the method. Another purpose of the conference is to form a group of scientists from the Nordic countries, Europe and Canada who are working on eDNA research that can work together in the future to advance such research.

The conference was open and about 50 people registered. The conference concluded that the technology and methodology of eDNA research is well advanced. The main obstacle to the development of the method is that there are many reference databases for species and information in them is not standardized. Furthermore, the information contained therein is often unverified. It was concluded that there is a need to establish a new international benchmark database or to strengthen existing databases so that information on all types is more accurate and always accurate.

The conference was sponsored by the Nordic Council of Ministers' AG-FISK subgroup on fisheries and aquaculture. Davíð Gíslason, an expert on Matís, and Christophe Pampoulie, a geneticist at the Marine Research Institute, organized the meeting.