Food Pioneers buys Food Hub, ending founders' 10-year run
What's the deal? Dutch knowledge organization Food PioneersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired Food HubDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Netherlands-based training and education provider focused on the food and agriculture transition. The deal ends a ten-year run for Food Hub's three founders.
What each side does: Food Hub, founded in 2016 by Joris Lohman and Joszi Smeets, later joined by partner Jeroen van IJzerloo, has run courses for thousands of professionals, entrepreneurs, students, farmers, and policymakers, plus advisory work with companies and public bodies. Food Pioneers is the public name of Stichting Flevo Campus, a foundation set up in 2018 under Almere's food strategy that connects entrepreneurs, researchers, educators, governments, and residents.
What's the endgame? Existing Food Hub courses will continue, and Food Pioneers plans to expand the offering to cover the protein transition, regenerative agriculture, entrepreneurship, and sustainable food innovation. The aim is a single, larger training platform.
What changes? Food Hub's three founders are moving on. Lohman is continuing as a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, Smeets stays a trainer and process facilitator, and van IJzerloo now advises food and agriculture organizations.
"We're each going our own way, but the mission we started with continues," said co-founder Joszi Smeets.
Why it matters: Director Filip Otten, who has led Food Pioneers since 2025, said pairing Food Hub's knowledge base with his organization's network would widen the reach of both. "By combining the strength of Food Hub with our network, our programs, and our expertise, we can reach more people," he said.
The signal: The deal folds a decade-old independent training brand into a publicly backed platform, consolidating food-transition education under one roof at a time when protein and regenerative agriculture programs are in demand.
Read more: vegconomist
