Does your organization have a solution to the challenge presented by Valio?

Bio and circular economy business accelerator BioPaavo by Jamk has launched a business-driven hackathon commissioned by Valio Ltd, the largest dairy company in Finland. The challenge is to find new ways to balance seasonal variation in milk production.

Bio and circular economy business accelerator BioPaavo by Jamk has launched a business-driven hackathon commissioned by Valio Ltd, the largest dairy company in Finland. The challenge is to find new ways to balance seasonal variation in milk production. The amount of milk offered to dairy varies notably throughout the year. The biggest seasonal peaks are in spring and winter, and the amount decreases towards autumn. However, there can be big differences between the dairy farms. For example, feeding, timing of calving and the health status of the cattle affects production volumes. By levelling the seasonal variation of milk production, the dairy production planning would be easier throughout the whole production process, and it would be more profitable to the milk producer.

What is Valio looking for?

Concrete farm-level solutions that could balance seasonality. We welcome as participants for example start-ups, equipment suppliers, dairy entrepreneurs, research groups, SMEs, consulting organizations, as well as companies offering data analytics and technologies.

Ideas are evaluated especially using the following criteria:

 *The effect of the solution on the seasonal variation of milk production and the equalization of production peaks at farm level

 *The overall economy of the solution at farm level

 *The solution’s impact on resource management and production planning at Valio

Depending on the maturity of the idea, the winner or winners will either have the opportunity for direct business cooperation or a chance to start a joint project or pilot. Depending on the solution, Valio or the milk procurement cooperative/cooperatives of the Valio group can directly join the joint piloting or commercial cooperation.

The hackathon is part of Valio’s responsible and climate smart primary production development, which aims for carbon-neutral milk by 2035.

Read more about the challenge and apply here: https://www.jamk.fi/en/project/biopaavo/biopaavo-hackathon/valiohackathon 

The hackathon is implemented as part of the international BioBoosters project, which is led by Jamk University of Applied Sciences! The BioBoosters network includes 9 different partners in the Baltic Sea region, and total 18 business-driven hackathons will be organized by 2025. Information about the project: https://interreg-baltic.eu/project/bioboosters/