TRUEFOOD Completes 4 Years of Research and Innovation Work

With a project budget of €15,5 million the TRUEFOOD project is one of the largest projects funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme with regard to Research & Technology Development.

16 Apr 2010 --- TRUEFOOD held its final conference, entitled "New roots for traditional European foods: Possibilities for success and sustainability", in Brussels yesterday. The conference, which marked the end of 4 years of research and innovation, involving more than 6,000 SMEs across 15 European countries, focused on increasing the competiveness and sustainability of the traditional food sector. The conference provided stakeholders with the opportunity to debate and share best practice in the area of traditional food production innovation.

With a project budget of €15,5 million the TRUEFOOD project is one of the largest projects funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme with regard to Research & Technology Development. The project’s uniqueness comes from its focus on directly involving Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) which normally do not have direct access to the benefits of high quality R&D.

The conference provided participants with the opportunity to interact with key players from the food production and academic sectors involved in traditional food production innovation, and allowed SMEs from across Europe – including Hak (NL), Mirsa (HU), Prosciutto di Parma (IT), Les Salaisons du Pont d’Amour (BE), and many others – to showcase product innovations and success stories developed as part of the TRUEFOOD project.

Guest speakers at the conference included Michel Coomans (Head of Unit - Food Industry / Enterprise DG), Daniele Rossi (SPES – TRUEFOOD Project Coordinator and Director General Federalimentare), and Mella Frewen (Director General CIAA).

According to Daniele Rossi: “Although they are often overlooked, SMEs are absolutely fundamental to the European food industry and its future. The TRUEFOOD project has made a real contribution to increasing the competitiveness and sustainability of Europe’s SMEs by providing them with direct and unparalleled access to some of the latest innovations in R&D.”

Although the TRUEFOOD project will finish in 2010, its work will continue under the coordination of, and using direct funding from, 12 National Federation Networks and CIAA, and the techno-scientific mediators will continue to feed into and support this work via the national technology Platforms Food for Life.

The conference was organised by SPES FEVIA in cooperation with all the 43 TRUEFOOD project partners.

Following the conference, the team ULg-GxABT (Université de Liège and Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech) was announced as the winner of the TROPHÉLIA Belgium Award for Student Food Innovation for the project “La Reine des bouchées” (the Queen of appetizers). The team won the award based on the coherent approach to the development and marketing of the project itself, as well as the quality and convenience of these portion sized natural products. The objectives of the award are to encourage students from scientific institutions or higher education establishments to create, use and develop new food products, and to join the industry. The Award is one of 14 national awards, which stem from TROPHÉLIA Europe, an initiative established in 2000 by the Vaucluse Chamber of Commerce and Industry in France. The Award will be presented at the 3rd edition of the SIAL in Paris in October 2010.

TROPHÉLIA Europe not only attracts students to the food industry but also delivers an abundance of new ideas to the sector.