NutraIngredients Award winner 2021: Sandra Einerhand on championing the nutrition cause

The founder and head of Einerhand Science & Innovation, her consultancy won the Luxlife Food and Drink award for being the best European Early Life Nutrition Consultancy in 2020.

In 2021, the company went on to receive the Go Global Award in the Health Tech category.

Sandra Einerhand is also the co-founder and chair of the Nutrition Consultants Cooperative (NCC) in the Netherlands - a cooperative of independent nutrition consultants working in the Netherlands on global multidisciplinary projects.

Sandra sat down with NutraIngredients to reflect on the 12 months since winning the Award and how the accolade has influenced her work and interests.

Firstly, what were your thoughts and feelings when you heard you were being nominated for 2021’s NutraChampion Award? ​

Sandra Einerhand (SE): “It was a privilege to accept the Nutrachampion award last year although I really missed meeting people in person. ​

“Of course, I was flattered and honoured to be awarded. It still is a very proud and humbling experience for me. It has created quite a buzz.”​

What difference did the Award make if any for your research direction or business strategy in these past 12-18 months?​

SE: “I was surprised by the many responses I got from friends, colleagues, and other people from the food industry as well as academia all over the world. ​

“My international network is expanding rapidly which is really great. Their feedback helped me to focus not only on the development of healthy foods but also on the sustainability aspect of these foods. Future foods should be good for people and planet.​

“When I started my nutrition consultancy in 2015, I focussed on the health aspect of foods, but now I believe that I should focus my attention on both, because sustainability and health are equally important. ​

“Together with the Nutrition Consultants Cooperative that I am chairing, we are creating tools and services in order to help companies develop sustainable and healthy foods.”​

Has the Award resulted in more recognition at industry events and/or further opportunities to speak/present?​

SE: “Certainly. Although the pandemic made it difficult to present live, I was lucky to be invited to present at several international events/exhibitions and conferences last year. ​

“At Vitafoods, I am honoured to be invited to participate in a panel discussion on alternative protein quantity and quality across the lifespan. ​

“Also, I noticed that I get more responses when I post any updates/videos/activities on social media. These responses help me focus on creating messages that are relevant to the online readers.”​

Likewise, do you think the win has opened up more opportunities for your company’s business’ growth and development?​

SE: “Absolutely. Not only did it open up more opportunities but also different and bigger ones. ​

“Like I mentioned earlier, the sustainability aspect has become more important. Therefore, I now focus more on where the food (ingredients) come from, how they are being produced and in what quantities and with what kind of quality.”​

Finally, do you have any advice for those looking to get nominated for future NutraChampion awards?​

SE: “I strongly believe that Science and Innovation are driving the success in the food business that we are in. ​

“Therefore, I would suggest future Nutrachampion award nominees to focus on those two key drivers of success. ​

“This is what I have done during my whole career. I have focussed on creating innovative food products (e.g. infant-, senior- and medical foods and food ingredients like prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, plant-based proteins and certain lipids) with scientifically proven health benefits. ​

“While doing so, I have built a great network of people around me. Apart from these key drivers, it is also important to be honest, credible and authentic.”​

The winners of the 2022 NutraIngredients Awards will be revealed during a live broadcast on NutraIngredients.com on the 4 of May, at 4pm CET (Paris time), and our finalists are excited to hear the results. You should be, too!

Head on over to the NutraIngredients Awards website​​ to learn more and to register your interest.