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Arion Bank and Matís recently signed an agreement to make the bank the main sponsor of the World Seafood Congress 2017 (WSC2017). The conference will take place in Iceland in September next year and this is the first time the event will take place in the Nordic countries, but the World Seafood Congress has its roots in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and will next be held in Vietnam.

"WSC is one of the world's largest forum for value creation in the fisheries and food security sectors, bringing people from all parts of the seafood value chain to the table. The conference will be attended by fisheries and fish processing workers, investors and people from the institutional and educational environment around the world, not least from developing countries. It is a real honor for us to have the opportunity to hold this conference and we are really pleased to have Arion Bank, with its strong fisheries team, join us, "said Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís at the signing which took place at Matís' headquarters before in front of almost 100 Matís employees. 

"It is a special pleasure for Arion Bank to participate in and support the World Seafood Congress in collaboration with Matís. The bank has been significantly expanding its services to the fisheries sector and now finances companies in the entire value chain of the fisheries sector, both fishing, processing and sales and marketing, as well as aquaculture and various innovation projects. The bank is responsible for financing most of the country's largest fisheries companies and in recent years has contributed to open discussion and education in the field of fisheries through conferences, seminars and various other things. Taking on the role of WSC's main sponsor is therefore a logical continuation of the development that has taken place in the Bank's approach to services in the fisheries sector ", said Guðmundur S. Ragnarsson, Director of Fisheries at Arion Bank.

More information about the conference can be found on the website www.wsc2017.com

The next conference, the 17th in a row, will be held Borås í Sweden on 11 and 12 May 2017 and is entitled "Making Sense”

The conference is intended for both professionals in the consumer goods industry and scientists in this field. The interest and participation of people from both large and small food companies in attending these conferences has steadily increased in recent years, as it is an ideal forum for industry and scientists to meet and establish a communication network in this field.

The content of the conference this time is dedicated to perception, the interplay of perception such as smell, taste, texture, sight and hearing and how such results are used, among other things, in product development.

Sensory evaluation and sensory evaluation research have long been an important area of expertise at Matís, and the emphasis has increasingly been on consumer research. Matís has participated in many domestic and foreign research projects on sensory evaluation and food quality and held various sensory evaluation courses for employees of fish processing companies and other food companies. Matís' staff has also taught sensory evaluation and consumer studies at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Iceland and at Fisheries Science at the University of Akureyri. Matís staff also teaches sensory evaluation United Nations University School of Fisheries (UNU-FTP).

Further information is provided by dr. Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir at Matís.

Anna Birna Björnsdóttir will give a lecture for a master's degree in food science at the University of Iceland tomorrow, Monday 24 October, but the project was done at Matís.

When does this event start: October 24, 2016 - 3:00 p.m.

Further location: Matís, meeting room 312, Vínlandsleið 12 Reykjavík

Anna Birna Björnsdóttir's master's lecture deals with:

Variability of cod and saithe liver according to season, chemical and physical properties - “Annually variation in lipid composition and vitamin content in the liver of cod and saith. “

The aim of the project was to investigate whether the size of the fish affects which fish oil comes from the liver (weight sample) as well as seasonal changes in the fish oil depending on the time of year the fish is caught (standard sample). In both standard and weight samples, vitamin A, D and E measurements were performed along with EPA and DHA fatty acid measurements. Measurements were also made of unsaponifiable matter, iodine content, refractive index, water, protein and fat. Meat coefficient, liver coefficient and relative liver fat were also studied. From the standard samples taken each month, it was clear that the time of year the fish was caught and the food it ate.

On weight samples, there was a significant difference between the size of the fish in several measurements. This applied to both cod and saithe. Projects for a master's degree in food science worked in collaboration with Lýsir and Matís and the liver samples came from HB Grandi. From the standard samples taken each month, it was clear that the time of year the fish was caught and the food it ate. On weight samples, there was a significant difference between the size of the fish in several measurements. This applied to both cod and saithe.

The project is for a master's degree in food science and is carried out at Matís.

Supervisors:

Sigurjón Arason, Þórhallur Ingi Halldórsson, Ásbjörn Jónsson and Rakel Sæmundsdóttir

Examiner:

Björn Viðar Aðalbjörnsson

There was a lot of life and excitement at Matís' office in Neskaupstaður on Saturday 15 October. The family's technology day, which is held by Verkmenntaskóli Austurlands, was celebrated, and on the occasion of the day, Matís had an open house where the activities were introduced to guests and pedestrians.
A cake was offered on the occasion of Matís turning 10 on the 1st of January next.

Guests were invited to view various crops in agar bowls, such as salmonella, listeria and mold, as well as bowls that showed bacteria growing on the hands before and after hand washing with soap and disinfectant alcohol. The kids were also allowed to spray themselves on the color of the solutions as well as make a so-called elephant toothpaste. 

All of this was very successful and the kids were ecstatic to be able to spray themselves a little on the experiments.
About 400 servings of cake disappeared into the guests in just over 2 hours, and almost 1000 guests registered in the guestbook of the technology day.

Fjöregg MNÍ 2016 was just handed over at the conference of the Food Day of the Icelandic Food and Nutrition Association (MNÍ) which is held at Hotel Natura. The title of the conference is: The impact of food research in a changing world.

Matís and the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Iceland received Fjöregg MNÍ this time, for a successful collaboration on research and teaching in food science due to the master's program in food science which was launched in its current form in 2012. In addition to Matís and the Faculty of Food and Nutrition, the University of Iceland were nominated. :

• Eimverk
• Fisherman
• Cold brewery
• Norður & Co

Fjöregg MNÍ is awarded for a praiseworthy initiative in the food and / or nutrition field. Fjöreggið, an Icelandic glass artwork, designed and produced by Gleri in Bergvík, has from the beginning been provided with support from the Confederation of Icelandic Industries. This year, numerous nominations were received for Fjöregg and the jury concluded that the following five parties were well deserving of receiving Fjöregg 2016.

For further information Guðjón Þorkelsson at Matís.

Development in accordance with the policy of the Science and Technology Policy Council

Icelanders; Icelandic companies and Icelandic universities, have increased the allocation of funds for research and innovation. Research and development pave the way for a vibrant economy for the future. Collaboration on research and development is important. It is important to maximize the impact of investment in research and innovation. It is important to have a solid and robust infrastructure for research and innovation.  

Accordingly the policy of the Science and Technology Policy Council the allocation of funds for research and innovation has increased. The policy of the Science and Technology Policy Council is that the share of research and development amounts to 3% of GDP. By way of comparison, in Japan, the public sector assumes 1% of GDP for research and development and the private sector provides 3% of GDP for research and development, as recently stated. Like Statistics Iceland reported October 11 and was specifically pointed out in the leader of Morgunblaðið on October 12, the activities of research and development work have increased in this country. In 2013 the ratio was 1,76%, in 2014 the ratio was 2,01% and last year the expenditure on research and development was about 2,19% of GDP. The increased activity of innovation can to some extent be traced to the policy of the Science and Technology Policy Council and the follow-up of that policy, but without continued research and development work on the existing pillars, the increase would hardly have been reflected in statistics.

Companies, including Matís, have greatly increased the allocation of funds for research and development. Companies spent ISK 12.7 billion more on innovation in 2015, while in 2013 the largest difference was ISK 6.2 billion in expenditure by foreign private parties, in 2015 it amounted to a total of ISK 9.8 billion, and ISK 6.1 billion more by domestic private parties. amounted to a total of ISK 17 billion in 2015. It can be concluded that almost ISK 700 million. The increase in public domestic funding for corporate innovation can be attributed to the policies of the Science and Technology Policy Council. The share of companies in research and development has grown from 56% in 2013 to 65% in 2015.

University institutions spent 2.3 billion more on research and innovation in 2015 than in 2013, private funding for these activities decreased by almost 400 million, the increase was supported by public domestic contributions of approx. 2.6 billion higher in 2015 than in 2013.

Other public institutions spent 78 million more on innovation in 2015 than in 2013, this increase is explained by the fact that foreign private funding increased by 280 million, and domestic private contributions increased by almost 30 million at the same time as public domestic funding decreased by 140 million and public foreign funding decreased by 90 million.

The statistics indicate that the unbearable lack of capital has not destroyed all the patience of investors and capital. The return on investment in research and development is at best uncertain at the beginning of innovation and requires patience. Patient capital is hardly a myth, although the amounts need to increase by 17.9 billion to reach 3% of GDP. It is clear that part of the funds that private parties contribute to the operation of research and development parties are to some extent.

International research and innovation collaboration plays a key role in dynamic research and development work in Iceland, where companies and the scientific community work together to strengthen and renew the economy. Foreign funding accounts for about a quarter of research and innovation work in Iceland. The competitiveness of the country and the nation is largely based on investments in research and innovation. In order to build the country's competitiveness, it is important to create a strong infrastructure for research and innovation that is comparable to that of foreign parties. Innovation and diversity are part of the impact of current variables (e. Trendsetters). Through international co-operation, Icelanders' ability to learn new things increases. In recent years, Matís has strived for quality research and development collaboration, which is increasingly supporting the company's operations. This development is reflected in the statistics, as foreign funding for Icelandic research and innovation. The Icelandic Research Center, Rannís, manages one of the largest single platforms for international research and innovation in which Icelanders participate, ie. Framework Programs for Research and Innovation in Europe, now called Horizon 2020, this platform has been particularly important for Matís' development work.

Iceland's participation in Horizon2020 projects until March 2016

According to information from Rannís, Iceland has been successful in funding research and development cooperation with support through Horizon2020. Together with the University of Iceland, Matís has been at the forefront of the energetic international collaboration of qualified Icelandic scientists with the support of Horizon2020. these two pillars of research and development in Iceland have significantly achieved good results for Iceland in this field (Hallgrímur Jónasson, Rannís March 2016). In 2015, Horizon 2020 received grants from Matís for 13% of public foreign funding for research and development work at companies in Iceland.

For further information, please contact Arnljótur B. Bergsson, Head of Implementation and Impact

Although Icelanders are at the forefront of utilization and value creation from marine resources, there is still room for improvement, with an emphasis on research, development and innovation contributing to sustainable value creation for the future. It is important to make good use of what is put into the cost of obtaining. Icelanders exported and consumed their own products from about 77% of the cod section in 2015 according to statistics.

More than four billion tonnes are produced from raw materials for food production annually, more than 1400 million of those raw materials are explicitly allocated to other than food production if possible. FoodOutlook compiled by the United Nations World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), about 2.9 billion tonnes are spent on food production each year. It is known that world catch amounts to over 90 million tonnes, then farmed fish is estimated at 80 million tonnes this year, which is about 10% more than 2014. It is estimated that fish consumption has increased by 2.5% at the same time, consumption of wild seafood has decreased by 3%, to 9.7kg / person, while the consumption of farmed fish has increased by almost 8%, to 10.9kg / person. About 5% of the raw materials used for food production are caught or raised in water, but it is well known that about 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water.

This week, this and other related issues were discussed at a meeting Assessment in 2030 where it came to nutrition, climate, innovation and the cycle. Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson, professional leader of the safe food value chain at Matís, chaired a seminar on water food and new marine value chains (e. Aquatic food products and new marine value chains). Jónas gave an introductory talk where he went over the processing of fish by-products for the production of food and ingredients (e. Fish by-products processing for food and food ingredients). Referring to the research of Kelleher, from 2005, and Love, from 2015, Jónas pointed out (Figure 1) that probably only 21% catches are generally consumed as food. One of the most common manifestations of catfish products is fish fillets, which often amount to 35% of the total weight of fish. It is common for about 8% biomass to be lost at sea before landing, in processing known examples of 25-70% of landed catch being lost or not being used for food production. During distribution and sales, about 7% is lost from what has been produced, then it is estimated that about 28% is wasted in the hands of consumers.

Figure 1: Utilization of catch, how much goes to the courts and where

SINTEF's audit in Norway indicates that Norwegians use about 37% of by-products of landed whitefish, they use all of the pelagic catch and about 90% of by-products of farmed fish. Offshore, however, ships similar to MTr are built. Molnes that process all their catch on board, including all by-products. Jónas shed light on the development of affairs in this country. 

Icelanders use almost 57% by-products of traditional fillet processing from whole cod with the production of products such as marlin, heads, loins, roe, liver and fish oil. From 244 thousand tonnes of cod we export products from the processing of 178 thousand tonnes of cod, to which is added almost 4900 tonnes of cod consumed in this country. A total of 77% of the cod catch is exported (74%) as products or consumed in Iceland (3%), was 75% in 2013, 187 thousand tonnes in 2015 (Figure 2). 

Figure 2: Utilization of cod in 2015

The greatest value is generated from the sale of fillets, fresh (chilled), frozen almost 66 thousand tonnes and salted fillets as well as flat salted cod, a total of 94 thousand tonnes, which amounts to 39% of the catch. Products are produced from about 76 thousand tonnes of by-products of traditional cod fillet processing via the 31% catch. Statistics indicate that about 57 thousand tonnes of by-products of traditional cod fillet processing are not in the form of consumer goods. Therein lies the opportunity, to make more of what is drawn from the sea. The utilization of fish such as cod will hardly be economical until there is a demand for products made from the blood of cod, ie. with the production of products that meet unknown or as yet undefined needs. Due to food security, it will hardly be possible to use all fish for food production in the near future. Jónas also pointed out that European rules on discards contain provisions that work against the utilization of fish species that need protection but are addicted to fishing gear as by-catch.

Although the position in food production is acceptable in some places today, there is a need to consider demographic trends, trends and market trends. Jónas pointed out that different age combinations of nations need different products than we are used to today. In most places, expenditure on health care is increasing faster than the growth of the economies of the same countries. Such a development means that future generations can hardly expect the same services in the future as we now enjoy or have enjoyed recently. Therefore, future generations will have to eat right. Seafood can be useful there, if consumed in moderation and in the right way. In this context, Jónas considers the possible emergence of a large new market in the middle between the pharmaceutical sector and companies that produce consumer products, which revolves around the integration of bulk products markets and markets that are characterized by shelf products (e. niche) on the one hand and the interplay of the characteristics of the products on the other hand Figure 3. At the meeting, definitions and the need for health services to focus on health and not diseases were discussed (e. Healthcare rather than sickcare) A lot of energy, a lot of money and a lot of time would go into dealing with the consequences, the illness and or the symptoms of the disease, less would be put into health and wellness. Whether high-tech health centers will be built in Iceland instead of hospitals, time will probably tell. 

Figure 3: Hypothesis of market development based on AT Kearney analysis

The challenges ahead are great. In this context, it is important to invest in talent and infrastructure so that so much fish can be lost before consumers get the weather out of fish history, as has happened over the years. In this way, the right supply of the right education for the right people must be ensured so that more of the catch can be utilized, food production from fish can be increased and more value can be made from the catch. Good first-hand workmanship is important for value creation at later stages.

For further information, please contact Arnljótur B. Bergsson, Head of Implementation and Impact

On October 20, a conference will be held under the title Food research in a changing world, where national research and new trends in food science will be presented.

Food Day 2016 held at Hotel Natura on October 20 at 12-17.

The keynote speaker will be Bryndís Skúladóttir from the Confederation of Icelandic Industries, which deals with food production and the environment and Hörður Kristinsson, Director of Research and Innovation at Matís, discusses new and revolutionary technologies in food production. A number of other interesting lectures will be at the conference, but the full program can be seen here.

Food science and food production face new and challenging challenges related to, among other things, limited resources and the increase in the world's population, which places greater demands on the quality and hygiene of food. What will our food look like in the future, and by what means can we feed the world for decades to come? So much so, it is certain that research plays a key role in finding the answers to these questions. Ingenious use of resources, hygiene and the environment will be the focus of food development in the coming decades, and this will be discussed at the conference held by the Icelandic Food and Nutrition Association, MNI.

Fjöregg Samtaka iðnaðarinn, which is awarded for a praiseworthy initiative in the field of food, will be presented at the conference.

The conference is open to everyone and is registration on the MNÍ website.

For further information:

Guðjón Þorkelsson, Professor Faculty of Food and Nutrition, tel. 858 5044 gudjont@matis.is

María Guðjónsdóttir, Associate Professor, Faculty of Food and Nutrition, mariagu@hi.is

Laufey Steingrímsdóttir, chairman of MNI, phone 6963564 laufey@hi.is

Erla Rán Jónsdóttir and Anna Birna Björnsdóttir will give lectures on their master's projects in Matís at Vínlandsleið 12, on Monday 17 October. Dr. Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir, division manager at Matís, is an examiner at Erla Rán, while Sigurjón Arason, chief engineer at Matís and associate professor at the University of Iceland, supervised Anna Birna in her project.

When does this event start: October 17, 2016 - 1:00 p.m.
Further location: Matís room 312. Vínlandsleið 12 Reykjavík

First, Erla Rán Jónsdóttir will give a lecture on her MS project: Health-damaging substances in plastic packaging. Measurements of water from plastic bottles sold in Iceland. 

Then Anna Birna Björnsdóttir will give a lecture on the MS project: Variability of cod and saithe liver according to the season, chemical and physical properties.