Perennial Crops – Creating the Conditions for Wider Adoption

Perennial crops have the potential to contribute to more resilient and resource-efficient agriculture. But turning ongoing research into practical cultivation and future food products requires more than plant breeding. Regulations, food safety, collaboration, and functioning value chains all need to develop in parallel. Through several projects and collaborations, Axfoundation works with researchers, farmers, food companies, and public authorities to create the conditions needed for perennial crops, such as perennial grains, to gain wider adoption.

Perennial crops, such as perennial grains, need to be developed in the field, throughout the food value chain, and within regulatory frameworks to contribute to more sustainable agriculture in the future. Photo: Douglas J. Cattani

The Issue

Research on perennial grains has made significant progress, but several conditions need to be in place before these crops can be grown at scale and used as food. These include access to seed, practical cultivation knowledge, breeding and processing, risk sharing with farmers, food safety, and effective regulatory frameworks.
One concrete challenge is the EU Novel Food regulatory framework. New crops such as Kernza® (intermediate wheatgrass) require a safety assessment and authorization before they can be sold as food in the EU. At the same time, research, agriculture, public authorities, and food companies need to develop and collaborate in parallel so that knowledge can be translated into cultivation, products, and functioning value chains.

After many years of research, we know that perennial grains have great potential. Now we need to create the conditions for them to be used commercially as well. If regulations, research, and industry develop in step, more sustainable crops can reach farmers, food companies, and consumers.

– Maria Lundesjö, Project Manager, Future Food, Axfoundation

The Novel Food process – A Bottleneck for the Development of Kernza in Europe

Kernza has significant potential as a future food ingredient, but because it was not consumed to a significant degree in the EU before 1997, it falls under the EU Novel Food regulatory framework. This means it must undergo a safety assessment and be authorized before it can be sold as food on the European market.

The process is important for ensuring that new foods are safe for consumers, but it also creates a threshold for new crops. Established grains benefit from extensive experience with cultivation, handling, processing, and consumption. For a new crop such as Kernza, equivalent knowledge and documentation need to be built from the ground up – often before a fully developed value chain exists or sufficient quantities of the raw material are available for analysis.

In its 2025 scientific assessment, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that the safety of Kernza grain and flour could not be established based on the available evidence. More robust knowledge is needed, including on microbiological quality, the production process, and storage stability.

Axfoundation therefore continues to work with researchers and international partners to help build the knowledge needed for Kernza and other perennial grains to eventually be used as food in Europe.

As part of the work to explore future uses for Kernza, the crop has been tested in different foods at Torsåker Farm – including noodles. Photo: Axfoundation

Our Solution

For perennial grains to move from research into practical cultivation and use, several barriers need to be addressed. Axfoundation therefore works to identify and highlight the barriers slowing development, bring together relevant stakeholders, and contribute knowledge and evidence that can help move the work forward.

A central issue is the EU Novel Food regulatory framework, which affects the ability to develop and introduce new perennial grains as food in Europe. In parallel, Axfoundation works to strengthen Nordic collaboration and clarify the conditions that need to be in place for future cultivation and market development. By bringing together research, agriculture, industry, and public authorities, we aim to help turn knowledge and experience into change.

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Our contribution

Axfoundation works to help shape the conditions that determine whether perennial grains can move from research into practical cultivation and use. This means identifying barriers, bringing together relevant stakeholders, and fostering dialogue about the changes needed in areas such as regulation, food safety, cultivation, and markets.

The work includes:

bringing together researchers, farmers, food companies, public authorities, and other relevant stakeholders around shared challenges.
contributing knowledge, evidence, and dialogue related to Novel Food and food safety.
strengthening Nordic collaboration on perennial grains and creating forums for exchanging knowledge and experience.
mapping farmers’ interest and the conditions needed for future cultivation trials.
highlighting barriers and opportunities for future use, markets, and value chains.
sharing knowledge and experience that can help translate research into practice.

Partners

Work on perennial grains takes place in close collaboration with researchers, farmers, and other stakeholders in Sweden, across the Nordic region, and internationally. Key collaborations include the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), The Land Institute, and other research and development organizations working with perennial grains, plant breeding, cropping systems, food safety, and market development.

The Nordic Perennial Grains Network was founded in 2026 to strengthen the development of perennial grains and perennial cropping systems in the Nordic region. The network brings together researchers and stakeholders from agriculture, industry, advisory services, and policy to share knowledge, build collaborations, and create the conditions for future research and implementation.

Axfoundation leads this work together with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Aarhus University, the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), the Agricultural University of Iceland, the Danish Technological Institute, Lund University, and Hushållningssällskapet Skåne.