Innovation Through Networking: How the Hamburg Food Cluster Shapes the City as a Business Hub
The concept of industry clusters—as support networks for a wide range of sectors—has proven highly successful in Hamburg. The Hamburg Food Cluster serves as a prime example of how crucial collaboration between businesses, research institutions, and public administration is to the development of Hamburg as a hub for business and events.
Three Questions for …
The Food Cluster Hamburg was founded in September 2024 and sees itself as a central platform for the food industry in the metropolitan region. Its goal: to bring companies, research institutions, startups, and policymakers in the food sector closer together and to jointly develop solutions for the challenges and opportunities of our time.
We spoke with Sascha Taube, the managing director of the Food Cluster Hamburg, about the tasks and goals of his young organization.
Mr. Taube, what exactly does the Food Cluster Hamburg do?
“The Food Cluster Hamburg is the central network for the food industry in the Hamburg metropolitan region. We bring together companies, startups, academia, and policymakers to drive innovation and actively advance the industry as a whole. In doing so, we see ourselves as bridge-builders: we connect the relevant stakeholders, promote knowledge transfer, and provide concrete support to companies in addressing their challenges. At the same time, we bring the industry’s interests into the political dialogue and advocate for better framework conditions. Our goal is to strengthen the competitiveness and visibility of the regional food industry and to work together to shape a sustainable, innovative, and resilient sector.”
What role does the events industry play for the Hamburg Food Cluster?
“Hamburg is one of Europe’s most exciting food hubs, and the events industry plays a central role in this. It creates spaces for exchange, innovation, and new collaborations across the entire value chain. As Food Cluster Hamburg, we actively help shape these spaces through our own initiatives—ranging from practical training programs to large-scale networking events—always with a clear focus on the industry’s current topics and challenges. At the same time, we strategically leverage our strength as a network within existing formats. We connect event organizers with companies, startups, and experts, provide substantive input, and help identify relevant trends early on. In this way, we help refine event content, open up new perspectives, and bring the right stakeholders together.”
How does the Food Cluster Hamburg collaborate with partners, and how can event organizers benefit from this?
“Collaboration within the Food Cluster Hamburg is based on partnership and is practice-oriented. We see ourselves as a connecting element between business, politics, academia, and other industry stakeholders. For event organizers, this means, in concrete terms: access to a curated network of relevant industry contacts, ranging from established companies and innovative startups to proven experts. We help identify suitable speakers, develop content, and tailor formats to current industry topics. This results in events that offer real added value for participants and for the industry as a whole.”
Thank you very much for the interesting conversation, Mr. Taube!