How can the food industry become a driver of innovation, value creation and structural change in the Rhenish mining area? Answers to this question will be provided by the specialist conference "Innovation with taste: the food industry in the Rhenish mining area" on 25 June 2026 in Neuss. The event organised by the Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier (ZRR) will bring together representatives from business, science and politics. The Hochschule Niederrhein, together with the Rhine district of Neuss as a partner of the anchor project foodineum, is organising some of the event's central programme items.
The food industry plays a key role in the structural change of the Rhenish mining district. As a stable economic sector, it combines agriculture, industry, trade and research and thus offers ideal conditions for innovation and sustainable value creation. With its strong food industry, efficient logistics and close links between business and science, Neuss has particular strengths to actively help shape this change.
The Hochschule Niederrhein and the Rhine district of Neuss are jointly developing the foodineum against this backdrop. The innovation and transfer hub aims to connect companies, start-ups and research facilities along the entire value chain, accelerate innovation processes and promote new solutions to the challenges facing the industry.
The conference organised by the Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier will address these topics in various formats. After a welcome address by District Director Dirk Brügge, Professor Dr Georg Wittich, Dean of the Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences, will give a keynote speech highlighting current challenges and future opportunities in the food industry. The pitch session will offer insights into current research projects at the foodineum. Thomas Selders will present the HUMFOOD project, in which the use of humanoid robotics in food production is being researched together with companies. The aim is to develop innovative automation solutions for the requirements of a modern food industry.
Professor Dr Kathleen Diener, Vice President for Research and Transfer at the HSNR, will also be setting the tone with her presentation "Change through open innovation: tradition is not a business model". She will show how companies can strengthen their innovative capacity through new forms of collaboration. The foodineum itself will take centre stage at the degree. In the session "The foodineum as an opportunity for transfer?", the project will be presented as a platform for innovation, knowledge transfer and cooperation in the Rhenish mining area.
The conference offers the opportunity to exchange ideas, network and discuss new perspectives for the food industry in the Rhenish mining area. Interested parties can register until 18 June 2026. All information, the entire programme and registrationhere.
