Food Solution projects 2021 – EIT Food

FoodFE

Duration : 01/01/2021 – 31/12/2021

Education projects

Coordinator: University of Cambridge

E-Seniors is member of the second project Recover your joy of eating

The objective of the Food Solution projects is to generate a multidisciplinary, challenge-based learning program for predominantly master students. FS projects will serve as a catalyst for the creation of innovative, more sustainable and feasible solutions to real-life challenges related to the valorization of side streams, special dietary needs, health, the digitalization of food value chains and packaging. 168-210 students from 10 academic organizations, academic supervisors as well as partners from several organizations from industry, retail and research will jointly tackle these challenges by forming multidisciplinary consortia consisting of 3-4 universities and 4-8 partner organizations, with each of the consortia focusing on one of the mentioned projects. Moreover, the students are not only mentored by the different organizations but also educated in innovation & entrepreneurship by a professional consortium providing innovation & entrepreneurship content education through online sessions (+asynchronous learning material) focusing i.a. on the entrepreneurial mindset, commercial potential of ideas, IP, and market attractiveness.

Multidisciplinary student teams work on 4 different projects and develop a product/packaging prototype and valid business case (mentored by all partners):

- A: Empty All (innovative packaging solutions for B2B and B2C). Food industry, dealing with viscous and sticky food products faces big challenges, striving to a circular economy system for each type of food–packaging combination. Wasting food due to inappropriate packaging design causes major losses in food industry, whilst packaging materials ‘contaminated’ with food left-overs are impossible to recycle efficiently. "Empty All" hence aims to reduce non-intended food and packaging waste by improved packaging design and technology.

- B: Recover your joy of eating: Appealing and tasty food product concepts for the elderly (FoodFE). Food products for the elderly need to be designed towards their specific and altered metabolic state and need to be cost efficient in production due to low income levels of target groups or foods being delivered in retirement homes where cost pressures are high. "FoodFE" aims to design novel food products for the elderly that address the issue of loss of taste, palatability and efficiency of nutrient uptake.

- C: Product concepts through great innovations with oat-based ingredients (grOAT). In "grOAT" the challenge will be the development of an innovative, healthier and sustainable product for the bakery and/or dairy and/or confectionery industries using an oat-based ingredient that is characterized by a high content of proteins and omega-6/-3 fatty acids. Due to its high content of fiber it could also be used to bring texture to the final product.

- D: DIG-it / business solutions through digitalization of food value chains. In “DIG-It”, state of the art digital technologies across the value chain will be presented - as well as possible realities within the food systems where these technologies have been or could be applied. The students will identify gaps + opportunities, work on innovative solutions and also build a business canvas for the solution.