TopDutch Innovation Challenge
The TopDutch Innovation Challenge is bringing Japanese excellence together with worldwide innovation, through the Dutch collaboration-culture. Working together on common ground to find solutions to sustainability challenges.
On September 24th we’ll present our year of innovation at the World Expo in Osaka. See you there?
Challenged-based innovation
The TopDutch Innovation Challenge is an exercise in ‘challenged-based innovation’. The idea is to take a large company with a vision for an innovation that would make their processes more sustainable, and match them with a party who has the expertise to realize it.
Once a match is made, the two parties agree to bring their heads together and collaborate for an extended period on a solution to this sustainability challenge.
The Investment and Development Agency for the Northern Netherlands (NOM) adds its expertise in order to scout for potential solution providers, provide access to its network, and offer the support of its business developers and project managers.
World Expo Osaka 2025
From April 13 to October 13 2025, the World Expo with the theme ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’ will take place in Osaka, Japan. About 150 countries and 25 organizations will participate in it, and 28 million visitors are expected to arrive. This makes the Expo an international stage for countries to present themselves to the world.
The Netherlands will have a powerful presence at the Expo, with the large Netherlands Pavilion offering visitors a unique taste of the nation’s innovation, sustainability and the solutions it offers for global challenges.
The Netherlands has their own theme for the Expo: 'Common Grounds: a Dutch invitation for creating healthy societies together'. With this, the Dutch pavilion will aim to be a platform to bring different perspectives and expertise together to create common solutions.
Japanese challenges and Dutch innovations
The Expo in Osaka is the perfect opportunity to both celebrate and intensify the innovative cooperation between Japan and the Netherlands. In the TopDutch region, we’re doing this by organizing an innovation challenge. Two top Japanese companies with a base in the Northern Netherlands are ready to spend the next year innovating together with a Dutch start-up to find a solution to a challenge they are facing.
Soy sauce producer Kikkoman and coffee roaster UCC have formulated challenges to make their production process even more sustainable and circular.
UCC's Challenge
The company UCC currently roasts its coffee using natural gas. In order to continue to produce their delicious coffee through the sustainable transition, this originally Frisian coffee roaster with a Japanese parent-company wants to prepare for a future without natural gas.
UCC wants to transition from roasters running on natural gas to hydrogen. In the short-term, the first step is to make their largest roaster compatible with both natural gas and hydrogen. At first, hydrogen will be used for testing the technology and gaining experience using hydrogen as a fuel. As the price of hydrogen becomes competitive with that of natural gas, a long-term fuel transition will be made.
Kikkoman's Challenge
Kikkoman is a world-famous Japanese soya sauce brand with a presence in the TopDutch region for over 25 years. As part of their commitment to sustainability and circularity, Kikkoman want to find a more valuable use for their waste streams.
Kikkoman hopes to find a suitable and innovative application for the waste stream ‘soy cake’. The waste is often used as a base for animal feed, but what if they could use it to make bio-based materials for their own packaging?
Teijin Aramid's Challenge
Teijin Aramid, another leading Japanese company with a base in the Northern Netherlands, has already found a solution to their challenge by participating in the Sustainable Industry Challenge organized by our partners at Chemport Europe.
Teijin Aramid’s challenge focused on recovering aramid plastic fibers from rubber materials for reuse. Winner Uplift360 developed a method to recycle aramid fibers from defense waste, a technique applicable in this context. They will also present their innovation and collaboration experience on the world stage at Osaka 2025.
Get in touch
Do you have questions about the TopDutch Innovation Challenge, or want to know more about our activities during the 2025 World Expo in Osaka? Feel free to get in touch with us.
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