AZTI-Tecnalia launches an international contest to discover the food trends of the future The first international community of “foodwatchers” is being created by ‘The Food Mirror’, an initiative launched by AZTI-Tecnalia, a technology centre specialized in food and marine research. Foodwatchers will allow food companies to anticipate consumer demands and thus to detect, early on, business opportunities and market niches in the food and gastronomy sector. The project promoters are now looking for people from all corners of the world to detect and convey new food trends which they find around them. This “foodwatcher” community, expected to be around 15 people, will be chosen via an online contest called ‘The Food Mirror Game’. Contestants in‘The Food Mirror Game’ must pass three stages in order to join the ‘foodwatchers’ community. First, they must identify a product, service or initiative that fits into one of the eight food trends detected by AZTI-Tecnalia in EATendencias (see below). In the second stage, they detect new food trends. And third, they demonstrate their communication skills by sending a video in which they present their reasons for wanting to join the international ‘foodwatcher’ team. All the rules and the entry forms for participating in the game can be found at www.thefoodmirror.com. A jury composed of food sector-related research and communication experts will select three winners from among the 15 or so chosen for the Foodwatcher community. These prize foodwatchers will enjoy a week-long trip with all expenses paid in the Basque Country.Here they will have a multi-faceted touristic and educational, gastronomic and food experience: research, innovation, gastronomy, local products, tourism and Basque culture. Participation in ‘The Food Mirror Game’ allows candidates to utilize all the communication channels (project website, publications, presentations, etc.) that AZTI-Tecnalia and FECYT are useing to publicize and disseminate this initiative. The contestants selected for the ‘foodwatchers’ community and the winners of the gastronomic experience in the Basque Country will be announced in June. By creating the first international ‘foodwatchers’ community, the project aims to anticipate current and future consumer demands and detect business opportunities and niches in the food sector. Knowing the foods of the immediate future allows AZTI-Tecnalia, early on, to develop proposals for the food industry. The end user is society as a whole, who will gain new products and services which respond to its varied needs, such as health and lifestyle desires for example. ‘The Food Mirror’ completes the food market monitoring initiative launched in 2010 by the Trends and Innovation Observatory of the AZTI-Tecnalia Food Research Unit. This project broadens the geographic range of the research by connecting globally with people interested in food innovation, be they professionals, researchers or citizens committed to their role as food consumers. The international ‘foodwatchers’ community will participate in research serving the food sector. Foodwatchers will provide valuable information which will be processed by the AZTI-Tecnalia Trends and Information Observatory and transferred to food companies as a source of inspiration for innovation. Countries Spain
