Biotech4Food

Why this project?

The Biotech4Food project seeks to address several overarching challenges, each of which affects the ecosystem of bio-based industry. These challenges present us with innovation opportunities if we can translate them into technological solutions in the food value chain. In this challenging environment, it is very important for EU agrifood companies to be able to maintain and strengthen their local and international competitive positions within the global value chains. It is also important to be able to respond flexibly and efficiently to rapidly changing consumer demands and to protein diversification and, on top of that, to be able to focus on sustainability and increased circularity in their processing systems.  

Biotechnology, as one of the "Key Enabling Technologies", can stimulate and enhance innovation within the agrifood sector and support the sustainability and resilience of food companies as a response to these challenges.

Methodology and expected results

Biotech4Food (European I3 project) was initiated from the Thematic Smart Specialisation Partnership "Ingredients for a Circular Economy" (I4CE Partnership). The project is supported by the Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) instrument, which aims to promote innovation through Smart Specialisation and interregional cooperation.

The overall objective of the Biotech4Food project is to support agrifood SMEs in setting up interregional innovation investments at the crossroads of biotechnology and the agrifood industry so they can focus on commercialisation and scaling up within their companies.

Making targeted investments in biotech solutions will accelerate market introduction and facilitate scale-up. Biotech4Food focuses on enhancing the capabilities of the less developed and transition regions involved in I4CE by connecting them with more developed regions, thereby bringing together supply and demand and accelerating innovation.

In more concrete terms, Biotech4Food will do the following:

1. Create a strategy and structured links among EU Quadruple Helix stakeholders in the regions concerned.
2. Offer supportive campaigns aimed at ecosystem and capacity building and facilitate/accelerate scale-up and go-to-market strategies in the agrifood value chain.
3. Accelerate innovation by supporting SMEs in adopting and implementing innovative biotech solutions.
4. Establish a portfolio of interregional innovation investment projects aimed at implementing biotechnology solutions to support the green transition of the agrifood industry.

Project partners

The project consists of a consortium of 7 agrifood innovation clusters, 3 RTOs, one regional authority and 13 SMEs from different regions. Flanders' FOOD is one of the agrifood innovation clusters that is co-sponsoring this project and is also responsible for setting up a shared strategic vision based on the setup of value chains and roadmaps. Wagralim has assumed the role of coordinator of the project. The consortium has been endorsed by 10 regional authorities and represents 20 NUTS2 EU regions from five countries.

All cluster partners are members of the S3 Partnership "Ingredients for a Circular Economy" (I4CE).