Nutritional Concepts Lab – MiFood

People live longer and longer, and the older we get, the more likely we are to experience annoying medical conditions and symptoms. The same is true for buildings. The older buildings grow, the more their performance deteriorates, and the more maintenance they require. The human body is like a home. It needs as much care and preventive maintenance as a home.

Fortunately, there are innovative companies and passionate people out there who use their good sense to take a hard look at the way we live our lives, and how we can make our lives healthier, easier and more sustainable. How we can do a better job of protecting ourselves against the many diseases of affluence out there by following a healthy diet. Companies, developers and go-getters who offer us a different perspective with regard to a healthy lifestyle and life in general.

MiFood is one of those progressive companies that have used their passion for healthy food to create innovative products. A real game changer that has allowed them to genuinely change our notion of a long and healthy life. An innovative product of theirs called ‘Joycie’ has allowed them to redefine our notion of a long and healthy life.

Joycie is a fluid, high-fibre bioactive smoothie. It’s a genuine health bomb in a recycled bottle, which gives people a high level of support in their process of living a healthy life. Scientific research conducted by Maastricht University has shown that this mix of vegetables and fruits created by the Venlo-based company can make people significantly more resistant to medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and non-genetic types of cancer.

MiFood has shown that a small change to our daily diet may have a considerable impact on our overall health. These groundbreaking mixes of pure fruit and vegetables without any preservatives may help us do a better job of preventing today’s diseases of affluence in the near future.

Volantis understands that transforming an office space into a high-quality laboratory in a high-traffic office block is a delicate operation, which is why we are proud to have served as MiFood’s partner in this ambitious project.

Since we helped design Villa Flora, we were in a perfect position to apply our expertise in sustainable innovations and buildings to transform an office space into a state-of-the-art lab for MiFood. Our multi-disciplinary team is known for its ability to find innovative solutions, and this project was no exception.

From the start, we closely collaborated with MiFood to ensure that the laboratory met all their requirements, including structural stability for a laboratory that was to be a whopping 11 metres high. By focusing on process optimisation and energy efficiency, we helped MiFood consume energy in a more mindful manner.

This partnership resulted in the Nutritional Concepts Lab (NCL), an impressive facility that not only meets MiFood’s stringent standards, but harmonises beautifully with the other parts of Villa Flora. With its glass structure, the NCL is a true eyecatcher on the Brightlands Campus, and we are proud to have been allowed to contribute to the success of this project!

In order to keep what was good while at the same time building something better, Volantis had to take into account several aspects in the realisation of the Nutrition Concepts Lab, so as to ensure that the lab would be able to function to a very high standard. The keywords to our success story were as follows:

1. Together: Close collaboration between Volantis and MiFood so as to be able to integrate expertise and goals.
2. Functional: The lab had to meet MiFood’s requirements, allowing the company to retain the bioactive compounds in the mix of vegetables and fruits it was producing by using low temperatures.
3. Location: Integration of the lab into Villa Flora, an office block that also hosts events, allowing the company to collaborate with other parties, such as Maastricht University and Brightlabs.
4. Transparent: Installation of glass panels to allow people to look inside the lab from the campus, without causing any noise pollution.
5. Insulation: Insulation of walls, doors and locks so as to minimise noise pollution.
6. Hygiene: Construction of a hygiene sluice to prevent the lab from getting contaminated by dirt or animals.
7. Energy-efficient: Raising awareness of the importance of minimising the company’s energy consumption and implementation of energy-efficient solutions, such as heat reuse.
8. Seeking to use green and sustainable methods and use resources efficiently, in line with MiFood’s values and objectives.

So how did MiFood benefit from collaborating with Volantis? In a whole lot of ways! Let’s ask MiFood’s Raymond Nolet to sum it up:

‘Thanks to our partnership with Volantis, MiFood is able to produce the product we had in mind. We produce a mix of vegetables and fruits at low temperatures, meaning we get to retain the bioactive compounds, at the location where we wish to produce our products, at Villa Flora, which is the same location that houses the parties with which we are engaged in a close collaboration: Maastricht University and Brightlabs.

We managed to fit it into the situation as it is at present. A lab and process unit in a large office block that also hosts events. That’s genuinely unique, but it was also quite the challenge. We can now conduct research and development in this enormous and modern complex. Without Volantis’ help, we would not have been able to realise this in this way, or our lab would have inconvenienced the other parties much more. As it is, our lab has been encapsulated in such a way that we’re not causing any inconvenience to anyone, but visitors to Villa Flora ARE able to see our processes and follow everything we’re doing. That’s obviously quite impressive, and has been a great added bonus for all parties here. In addition, Volantis really raised our awareness of how to consume energy in a proper and energy-efficient way, and how to reuse the heat we produce in Villa Flora. This brought about a huge change in our team’s mindset with regard to energy consumption. Basically, reducing unnecessary energy consumption has become a fun game for us.

So yes, we’re definitely very happy with our partnership!’