Category: News

From September 10th to 18th, Matís held MAKEathon innovation competition in Iceland. The competition is divided into two workshops; on the one hand in the Westfjords, more specifically in Bolungarvík, and on the other hand in Reykjavík, Akureyri and Neskaupsstaður. The latter workshop took place online.

MAKEathon in Iceland is part of the European project MAKE-it! and is sponsored by EIT FOOD. This means that eleven parties across Europe are holding MAKEathon in their home country, where food production is examined separately.

MAKEathon is an innovation competition that focuses on creating something by hand to meet a specific challenge or problem. MAKEathon in Iceland aimed to find solutions to increase the value of raw materials from the fishing industry in order to make processing more sustainable.

There were a total of 50 participants and they formed 10 teams. Nineteen partners, companies and educational institutions, participated in the project. 

Snacks from side products

Participants in the Westfjords met in Bolungarvík, but they all came from the University Center of the Westfjords. The students had already been screened for COVID-19 and all infection control rules were followed. The teams in Bolungarvík were given salmon bones to work with and had access to an industrial kitchen in the Deep where the event took place. Gunnar Þórðarsson, project manager at Matís and Gunnar Ólafsson at Djúpinur made sure that everything went according to plan and enjoyed the support of Arctic Fish, Eðalfisk and Vestfjarðastofa. Þórarinn Gunnarsson from Fablab Ísafjörður also helped with the product development. The jury consisted of Jón Páll Hreinsson, mayor of Bolungarvík, Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir and Þórkatla Soffía Ólafsdóttir from Vestfjarðastofa. The team SOS - Salmon on Seaweed won the competition with an innovative snack that resembles pepperoni except the difference is that the SOS product is made from fish. The group's idea was considered both progressive and credible. 

Eco-friendly growing paper

MAKEathon in Reykjavík, Akureyri and Neskaupstaður, on the other hand, took place online, where 21 participants met at a Zoom teleconference. Participants received cod bones and fish skin, as well as a special toolbox to work on the prototype. They were also invited to visit Fablab in Reykjavík or Akureyri to learn about how to develop a prototype.

MAKEathon in Iceland ended on the 18th of September. Kristján Skarphéðinsson, Director General of the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, took part in the closing ceremony and spoke about the importance of sustainable resource utilization, innovation and entrepreneurship in the fisheries sector. He then announced the winner of the competition which the jury, appointed by Sunna Halla Einarsdóttir (Icelandic Startups), Rannveiga Björnsdóttir (University of Akureyri) and Benedikt Stefánsson (Egersund), chose after much thought.

The winner of the competition was the team Otoseed, which is made up of individuals from different backgrounds, with diverse backgrounds, but they did not know each other before the competition. The winning team presented a solution that uses not only by-products from the fishing industry, but also other types of surplus, for example from coffee. This is a special paper that contains by-products from fish from which seeds can be grown. You can view their project on the team's website here.

We hope to repeat the game and we encourage interested partners who are interested in holding MAKEathon with us in the future to contact us.

During this week's Innovation Week, Íslenski Ferðaklasinn, in collaboration with Matarauð Íslands, Matís and Hacking Hekla, will host events that will, among other things, connect opportunities in food production and tourism in the Nordic countries, how we work together to increase quality, safety and co-operation across on industries, countries and value chains.

It will also look at the development of sustainability for tourism and its connection to the United Nations Global Goals, which were carried out during the summer months with support from the Student Innovation Fund.

The presentation will be on on Thursday at 10:00 and it will take place online.

More information about the event can be found here.

Recently, a detailed discussion appeared on the web media Euronews about the Virus-X project led by Matís. A video accompanies the discussion and there is a chat with Arnþór Ævarsson, the project manager of the project.

The basic objective of VIRUS-X is to isolate the genetic material of thermophilic viruses directly from natural samples. This is done by sequencing their genome, identifying interesting genes and producing the relevant gene products, primarily enzymes, for further examination and utilization.

The review can be found here.

The price for applications for the newly established has opened Food Fund which supports the development and innovation of food production and processing.

Do you have a project idea that you would like to submit to the fund and need a partner to work with? Matís' role is to support value creation and the production of wholesome products through research and innovation. Matís employees have extensive experience of formulating project ideas in research funds and can therefore support entrepreneurs and companies in succeeding with their ideas.

If you are interested in working with Matís on the formulation and implementation of a project, we encourage you to contact us.

Click here to contact us!

Matís will hold the so-called MAKEathon in four locations in Iceland, from 10 to 18 September, where emphasis will be placed on the utilization of by-products from the fisheries sector. The event is part of the MAKE-it! which is funded by the European Union (EIT Food).

MAKEathon takes place in Reykjavík, Akureyri, Neskaupstaður and in the Westfjords (Bolungarvík / Ísafjörður). This is an innovation competition that focuses on creating something by hand to meet a specific challenge or problem. This time, participants from diverse backgrounds will come together to find solutions to the following challenge:  

How can we increase the value of raw materials from the fisheries sector to make processing more sustainable?

Participants get to work with raw materials, bones and skin of fish, and get the opportunity to "play" with it and make a prototype of a product. The project is carried out in close collaboration with FabLab in Iceland and gives participants a great opportunity to get to know the innovation environment better and also an opportunity to develop their own product.

The MAKEathon in Reykjavík, Akureyri and Neskaupsstaður has to take place mostly via the internet. * Participants get the opportunity to go to FabLab and work on creating their prototype. However, it is optional and participants are welcome to work on the project from home.

MAKEathon program (PDF)

The MAKEathon in Bolungarvík / Ísafjörður takes place in collaboration with the University Center of the Westfjords and participants will meet to work on the project. *

* During the part of the project where participants meet or meet others, all the rules of the authorities related to communication and meetings regarding COVID-19 will be followed.

MAKEathonin is open to everyone, no expertise in fish processing or anything else is required and it is possible to participate and work on the project in parallel with work / school.

To follow information about MAKEathonin, you can go to the event's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MAKEitSEAFOOD.

Hrönn Jörundsdóttir has been appointed director of the Food Administration as of 1 August 

A total of eighteen applications were received for the position of Director General of the Food Administration. Message from the Cabinet says that the Qualifications Committee has considered five candidates suitable for the position of CEO. Subsequently, Kristján Þór Júlíusson, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, called for an interview where the individual aspects of the job and the applicants' views were discussed in detail. The Minister was of the opinion that Hrönn was the most qualified to manage the institution for the next five years.

Hrönn has been a director at MATÍS since 2016, where she has led numerous national and international research projects, strategic planning, operations and consulting projects. Hrönn has also been the chairman of the risk assessment committee in the field of food, feed, fertilizers and seed products since 2019. She has also specialized in the field of food safety, risk assessment and risk mediation.

She has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Iceland and completed an MS degree in environmental chemistry in 2002 from Stockholm University. In 2009 she also completed a doctorate in environmental chemistry from Stockholm University and has worked at MATÍS for the past 11 years.

Matís staff wishes Hrönn success in his new and exciting job.

EIT Food Special Response Fund for COVID-19, Covid-19 Rapid Response Call for Innovation Projects, was launched last May to accelerate the innovation and development of products and services that could be used to support food production and consumers in Europe during the epidemic. 

Matís and Algaennovation received 615.9 thousand euros for the CovidX project, where the intention is to launch a dietary supplement made from spirulina algae. The supplement is specifically designed for the COVID-19 risk groups.

A total of 13 projects received grants from the fund, consisting of 52 institutions and companies. The fund is part of the European Union's COVID-19 response plan.

Further information about the projects can be found here.

Matís now has an online survey, which is part of a Nordic-Baltic study, where the intention is to examine changes in Icelanders' eating habits and consumption behavior due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The aim of the study is to better understand changes in consumption habits and attitudes towards food while the emergency level of civil protection was in force from 6 March to 25 May 2020.

By collecting this data and comparing the results, the survey will shed light on various consumer problems and concerns related to food safety, food supply and food accessibility.

The data will not be personally identifiable in any way. The results of the survey will be compared with surveys conducted in our neighboring countries. They can then be used to examine the decisions and actions of the government and the food producer during the epidemic.

The epidemic has affected us all and in different ways. It has affected our diet and health. He has affected us spiritually and financially. With a better understanding of all these aspects, we will be better equipped to deal with similar situations in the future.

Your participation is invaluable. You can take the survey here. It only takes 15 minutes.

Analysis of the results and summary will then be available on our website when the results are ready.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is now offering an electronic course on the effects of climate change on aquaculture and fisheries and responses to them, both in the form of adaptation and mitigation measures. The course, which is now open to all through the FAO website, was conducted in connection with the ClimeFish research project that has just been completed. Matís oversaw the part of the project that dealt with adaptation to the effects of climate change and the preparation of adaptation plans for aquaculture and fisheries, and therefore played a major role in the preparation of the study material.

The course in question is based on the FAO's extensive work in the field of climate issues in the fisheries sector, in addition to which the main results of the ClimeFish project are utilized. The FAO has been a leader in this field and has published numerous reports and summaries on the impact of climate change on the global fisheries sector and the challenges involved. These include a large audit from the year 2018, which Matís also discussed on his website. The course provides insight into the effects of climate change on aquaculture and fisheries, adaptation and mitigation measures, as well as the methods that have been developed to set up adaptation measures to respond. Anyone interested in raising awareness of the subject can simply create user access through the FAO website and then take the 2-hour course. The course is therefore accessible to everyone but was designed with certain groups in mind, ie. political leaders and parties within the administration, students, experts, project managers and educational representatives within the fisheries sector.

The structure of the course is such that after a detailed introduction, the course material is divided into three units, where the first is intended to increase the general understanding of climate change and its effects in aquaculture and fisheries, the second unit deals with adaptation, adaptation measures and adaptation plans and the third discusses mitigation measures and how they can reduce emissions within the sector.

The course is available in electronic form through the FAO website, where it can also be downloaded free of charge. At the end of the course, a special recognition document can be obtained, in exchange for passing a short final exam.

Matís' approach to assessing the impact of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture, the development of action plans, as well as the development of guidelines and teaching material in those areas, is a good example of how international co-operation in the field of research and innovation builds knowledge and infrastructure for Icelandic society.

The course can be accessed here.

Matís conducts various research, most of which revolve around food in some way. We need people to help us with this research. 

Participation may include, for example:

• Focus group work where food-related issues or products that are in development are discussed.
• Surveys where participants evaluate products at home.
• Opinion polls on food-related issues online.
• Surveys or evaluations of products in Matís' premises at Vínlandsleið 12.

For each study, participants will be selected from the mailing list and invited to participate. Participants in larger projects receive rewards in the form of small gifts, gift certificates, or participation in lotteries.

A participant in a mailing list can at any time request that information about the person in question be removed from the list.

The following factors apply to all Matís research:

• Participants enjoy the utmost confidentiality.
• The names of the participants do not appear anywhere in the publication of the result.
• Participants are always free to participate in the study in question.
• All data will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Registration on Matís' consumer list takes place here.