Project “Enhancing capacity of universities to initiate and to participate in clusters development on innovation and sustainability principles” (UniClaD)
EU program Erasmus +, project KA2 n 609944-EPP-1-2019-1-LT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP
Study tour Hungary, University of Debrecen 11.09 – 15.09. 2023
Monday (11th of September 2023) UD Food Innovation Centre
The participants from Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan took part in study visit in Debrecen and visited the main and the most interesting places and enterprises in the region.
To improve the quality of practical training, the following food technologies will be developed and demonstrated:
- Meat plant
- Dairy and quality control milk laboratory
- Milling plant
- Bakery and confectionery
- Dry pasta plant
- Vegetable and fruit processing plant
In addition to the educational tasks, the planned activities include the development of health-promoting and functional foods and the demonstration of innovative and traditional food technologies, thus providing knowledge transfer services to the business sector. The project will provide an opportunity to put into practice the R&D&I results accumulated in the institution, thereby supporting cooperation between businesses and the research sector and strengthening partnerships. By promoting Hungaricums and local food, the project will contribute to raising public awareness and thus increase the demand for natural products. By developing key labour market skills and ensuring the acquisition of competitive knowledge through the infrastructure developed, we will contribute to improving the competitiveness of the food economy in the long term and support the city of Debrecen's transformation into an innovation-based economic and knowledge hub.
Mircz Nárcisz Cheese Farm
Nárcisz Mircz, a cheese knight of the Hungarian Cheese Knights Order, was also one of the founders of the Hungarian Cheese Makers' Craft Guild.
The encounter and the relationship with cheese in the life of Nárcisz Mircz is quite unique. The master's handcrafted delicacies are known all over the country, and he is a frequent guest at festivals, village fairs, craft fairs and cheese shows. The milk for the cheeses of the Debrecen farmer is produced by his goats and cows grazing on the Hortobágy wilderness, which are not sparing of wild flowers and herbs. The owner had not direct family motivation to become a cheesemaker, although his ancestors on his father's side were foresters in the High Tatras for centuries and farmers on his mother's side. The owner is a chemical engineer by training, so learning new skills for the world of cheese was a necessity. Once he had made up his mind, he started reading books and visiting cheese makers. They make their cheeses simply from milk, without modern technological aids and additives, and season them with their own ideas and values.The range includes 12 to 15 different types of cheese, not forgetting the speciality camembert, which is aged in the mound.
Tuesday (12th of September 2023) Hajnal Tejmalom Dairy Plant
Servet-2000 Ltd. is a 100% family owned agricultural company, founded by Dr. Csaba Lendvai and his wife in 2000. They started as a family business, have four sons Csaba, Gergő, Hunor and Levente and hope to continue and enrich their vision. The farm operates as a family business, Csaba Lendvai's wife Nagy Hajnal is the manager of the company, who is responsible for financial and administrative activities, while the owner of the company is in charge of production management, animal husbandry and coordination of veterinary activities. Two of their four sons are young farmers, Csaba is in charge of animal husbandry and crop production and his twin brother Gergő is in charge of dairy processing. Their family business provides a daily living for 40 people and 40 families. With farmers in the area they work in close cooperation, for example in the purchase of raw materials, meat processing and mutual support in crop production (organic fertiliser application, straw procurement, machinery services).
Their products are genuine, unadulterated Hungarian products made from Hungarian milk. In our dairy in Sárrétudvar they produce cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, butter cream, homemade cheese, fruit yoghurts, cocoa and of course pasteurised milk.
Their family farm is based on the "Farm to Table" principle. Their high quality and delicious dairy products and meat products are based on milk sourced exclusively from their own cattle herd. The milk from their Magyartarka cattle has higher fat and other nutritional values, making their products tastier and healthier.
Their credo is:
Unadulterated Hungarian flavours
Preservative- and additive-free products
Artisanal products
A healthy source of vitamins
Tuesday (12th of September 2023) UD Innovation Center
The University Industrial Park of Debrecen is currently the only university industrial park in the country, where, in addition to research, development, consultancy and service activities, the practical side of education can be presented, and it also provides an opportunity to create a significant innovation technology platform at international level.
The institution is committed to developing active links between higher education and the business sector, and therefore intends to implement model solutions in the University Industrial Park that will provide solutions for innovation activities and management, as well as for local economic development.
The University of Debrecen's aim is to develop the University Industrial Park in a way that supports innovation activities and technology transfer, traditional business incubations and personal incubations of students (practical employment solutions for higher education courses classified as practice-intensive). The development of the industrial park managed by the University aims at attracting R&D actors who, in addition to their role in economic development, are also permanent customers of the University in the field of research activities and act as professional investors and financiers for the University spin-offs and start-ups.
Wednesday (13th of September 2023) Abaújtej Ltd.
The main activity of the company is the purchase and processing of milk, the sale of own-produced products and the sale of co-products. The raw material for the production of the products is purchased in extra quality from dairy farms in the Hernád and Sajó valleys.
The volume of raw milk purchased is around 20 million litres per year, which is processed into daily dairy products in their processing plant with a capacity of 100 000 litres per day.
Their products are sold in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County and in and around Budapest from our base centres in Forró, Miskolc and Gödöllő, with an annual sales volume of HUF 3 billion.In addition to commercial shop chains, public institutions (hospitals, schools, kitchens) are important customers.
Their products:
Fresh pasteurized milk: Made from extra quality milk, freshly delivered daily, homogenised and gently heated to preserve the taste of freshly milked milk.
ABAÚJ cocoa flavoured milk drink: Following the methods of home cocoa production, we produce our "Abaúji cocoa" under industrial conditions.
ABAÚJ sour cream: A product made from 100% fresh skimmed cream using traditional technology.
ABAÚJ cottage cheese: At the Abaújtej, we produce cottage cheese using traditional and gentle technology, while maintaining its homemade character.
ABAÚJ kefir
Kefir produced using traditional technology \"glass-matured\" kefir, which is a \"live-flour product\" in line with the food culture.
ABAÚJ tea butter
A product made from freshly skimmed cream \'physically matured\' in a kneading cylinder.
ABAÚJ gomolya
Wednesday (13th of September 2023) Emőd Agricluture Ltd.
Emőd is located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, in the district of Miskolc, within a quarter of an hour's drive from Miskolc. The steps leading closely to the economy started after World War II. In 1950, the locals had already founded the "Emőd and Vidéke Farmers' Cooperative", but the real predecessor of the Zrt. was founded in 1954 under the name of the Freedom Fighter Cooperative.
Farming is based on approximately 1130 hectares of land, of which 400 hectares are grassland and the rest arable
The farm currently has a dairy cow population of around 400, but aims to increase this to 700 in the future from their own breeding. For a long time the farm was a red Holstein-Friesian breeding farm, but now the red herd has become a minority. The genetic improvement of the herd is based on mating plans by Viktor Szőnyi, which are in line with the objectives. The product they produce is raw cow's milk, which is purchased by Abaújtej Ltd..
They have Lely milking robots in addition to GEA, as well as a Triolet feeding robot
They have about 1130 hectares of land, of which 400 hectares are permanent grassland and about 730 hectares are arable. They aim to keep the hectare ratios similar each year, crop by crop.
Thursday (14th of September 2023) Alföldi Tej Ltd.
The Alföldi Tej Ltd. was established on 30 April 2003 with 23 members, HUF 6.7 million registered capital and 85 million litres of milk production capacity in Hajdú-Bihar County, with its headquarters in Debrecen. Over the past nearly 20 years, Alföldi Tej Kft. has become a prominent player in the Hungarian dairy and milk processing market. The company follows the cooperative model, which is traditionally well established in Western Europe, i.e. it produces its products directly from quality raw materials from the Hungarian dairy farmers. The two plants together use around 270 million litres of milk per year. This raw milk is currently supplied to the company by 69 dairy farmers. The company's primary objective is to offer a wide and reliable range of products to its trading partners and consumers. Alföldi Tej Ltd. has two dairy plants - Székesfehérvár and Debrecen - where it provides stable jobs and career opportunities for more than 700 Hungarian employees.
Also, in the first half of the day, the participants of the study visit visited the University of Debrecen. The participants of the program got acquainted with the history of the university, visited the library and other interesting places.
Thursday (14th of September 2023) Hortobágy National Park, Hortobágy (Grey Cattle, Prewalski’s Horses, Nonius Horses)
The first Hungarian national park to become a World Heritage Site covers more than 80,000 hectares. It is grazed by nearly nine thousand cattle, fifty thousand sheep, four hundred horses and two hundred buffaloes. Despite the stifling environment, tempting to other forms of life, more than 200 shepherds still graze their animals.
The Hortobágy Nature Conservation and Gene Preservation Non-profit Ltd. carries out nature conservation maintenance tasks in the national park.
By preserving this fascinating landscape of unique beauty, clean water, clean air and the natural values of the wilderness, the non-profit organisation has increased the number of herds of old Hungarian livestock (grey cattle, Nonius horse, Hortobágy racka, mangalica, domestic buffalo) in Hortobágy several times over. As a result of these developments, more than half of the Hungarian nature conservation genebank's livestock can be found here.
The company boasts a herd of nearly 60 herdsmen. The knowledge of animal husbandry, the dressage and the cooking skills of the shepherds, goulashers, shepherds, shepherds' herdsmen and their herdsmen are on display at the shepherds' goulash competition, the subsequent horse riding days and the autumn bull auction.
The reserve is a collaboration between the Hortobágy National Park and the Cologne Zoo.
One of the most important tasks of the Hortobágy National Park is the genetic preservation of the traditional Hungarian breed, the Nonius, which was declared a national treasure in 2004, and the breeding of a Hungarian sport horse based on the Holstein breed, which meets the needs of today's breeding. In addition, the stud also plays a key role in the management of nature reserves.
Friday (15th of September, 2023) Dr. Krisztián Kovács and Dr. Viktória Vida presented the Economic and consumer trends in the dairy sector
The first lecturer covered the economic trend starting from the World situation, to EU than Hungarian examples. Pointed out the critical point of the dairy sector, than the expected future. The second lecturer also followed the same order from the World situation than the EU and Hungarian consumers trends. She pointed out the major marketing problems with dairy products, emerging competitors of the animal products as well.
After a discussion on the economics of the dairy sector, the evaluation of the whole study tour started. Personal impressions, take aways were expressed. Fifteen participants were present from Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine.
