Project description
Living Lab approach for healthy and innovative horticultural foods
The development of new techniques has the potential to significantly impact horticultural food production for consumer benefit. The living lab approach integrates research and innovation within a public-private-people partnership. With this in mind, the EU-funded HortiFoodTrends project aims to create healthy and innovative foods using new processing techniques to preserve fruits and vegetables in a living lab setting. The Instytut Ogrodnictwa – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (InHort) will collaborate with European partners to develop novel food products that meet the needs of consumers and the food processing sector. The project will deliver nutritious products to the horticultural food market, aligning with the EU Farm to Fork strategy to provide high-quality, environmentally friendly food products.
Objective
"HORTIFOODTRENDS is a project under which Instytut Ogrodnictwa – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (InHort) will establish and implement into its practice a long-lasting, interdisciplinary collaboration network with high profile European partners: Københavns Universitet (UCPH), Association Groupe ESA (GROUPE ESA) and Centre de recherche de l'Institut Lyfe (LYFE), in the field of novel food product development, considering the needs of the end-user (consumers and food processing sector), with an approach defined as the Living Lab formula. In accordance with the InHort competence, traditionally strongly linked with horticultural producers and the postharvest management of horticultural commodities, the project effort will focus on creating health-promoting novel foods by using emerging processing techniques dedicated to fruit and vegetable preservation. Obtaining appropriate competences to carry out work in the consumer-oriented formula, and in particular using the Living Lab approach, will provide InHort with a unique tool to enhance the knowledge transfer into the agri-food sector. Cooperation of food technologists (technological knowledge aimed at maintaining the health-promoting properties of processed raw materials) with specialists in the field of consumer sciences (knowledge of communicating with consumers) contrasting with consumers’ needs and preferences as well as market and economic conditions articulated by entrepreneurs (work in the Living Lab formula ), is expected to substantially increase the likelihood of delivering innovative nutritionally and sensory valuable products to the HortiFood market. Thus, a conscious consumer, in line with the idea of the EU strategy ""From farm to Fork"", will have better access to high-quality food products produced using current, environmentally friendly modern processing technologies. Besides, within HORTIFOODTRENDS activity strengthening research management capacities and administrative skills are foreseen."
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support ActionsCoordinator
96-100 SKIERNIEWICE
Poland