Objective The €160.6 billion EU-27 meat processing sector employs over 1 million workers and is dominated by SMEs (94%) with small productions and traditional processes. SMEs in this vital sector are facing global competition from multinationals which are more productive and have superior marketing capacity. Moreover, the current crisis is reducing demand for premium meat and traditional quality products that are the core business for most European sector SMEs.The solution to maintain sector viability is for SMEs to increase productivity and manufacture with consistent quality. The SMEs behind this proposal (processors RDVIC and SANMI, and equipment manufacturers/distributors JCB and STRASSER ) have identified the need for a technology to sort meat prior to processing, without which 30-40% of all processed meats do not reach the expected final quality. To become more competitive, processors must be able to select higher quality meats for higher added-value processes (e.g. long dry-curing, use of natural ingredients), while lower quality meats can be separated and treated to achieve an acceptable and consistent final quality.With the support of RTDs (CRIC, UNIMAN, IRTA and SSICA), the SMEs propose the development of QMEAT, an automatic non-contact system based on Magnetic Induction Spectroscopy and Image Analysis, to determine the Water Holding Capacity and colour of meat pieces prior to processing. This system is expected to increase the production of high-quality products by at least 20%, with benefits of at least €700-1500 per tonne. The estimated tag price for the QMEAT system will be of €80,000; an investment fully recoverable in 6-9 months of operation for companies producing a minimum of 110 tonnes per year.With a time-to-market of 18 months, QMEAT represents a real business opportunity for the SMEs, who will jointly exploit the results to reach a foreseen 2% EU market penetration and an accumulated income of €24 million over a 5 year time frame. Fields of science engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcolorssocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivitynatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsspectroscopy Programme(s) FP7-SME - Specific Programme "Capacities": Research for the benefit of SMEs Topic(s) SME-2011-1 - Research for SMEs Call for proposal FP7-SME-2011 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme BSG-SME - Research for SMEs Coordinator NTRAM GENERAL S.A. EU contribution € 61 160,00 Address CALLE VICTOR PRADERA 45 08940 Cornella De Llobregat Barcelona Spain See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Anna Szathmary (Mrs.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (8) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all JCB. ELECTROMECANICA SL Spain EU contribution € 233 581,74 Address CALLE VICTOR PRADERA 45 08940 CORNELLA DE LLOBREGAT See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Narcis Clavell (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Total cost No data STRASSER GMBH & CO KG Austria EU contribution € 258 657,74 Address GEWERBERSTRASSE 1 5151 NUSSDORF AM HAUNSBERG See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Stefan Strasser (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data EXTRAPERNIL SA Spain EU contribution € 237 507,74 Address PASSEIG DE LA GENERALITAT 69 08500 VIC See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Núria Vilacís Erra (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data PROSCIUTTIFICIO SAN MICHELE SRL Italy EU contribution € 219 177,76 Address VIA CAVO 16 43037 LESIGNANO BAGNI PR See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Giulio Gherri (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER United Kingdom EU contribution € 33 642,08 Address OXFORD ROAD M13 9PL Manchester See on map Region North West (England) Greater Manchester Manchester Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Liz Fay (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data INSTITUT DE RECERCA I TECNOLOGIA AGROALIMENTARIES Spain EU contribution € 16 499,94 Address CTRA C-59 KM 12 TORRE MARIMON 08140 Caldes De Montbui Barcelona See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Other Administrative Contact Eliecer Lopez Jimenez (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data STAZIONE SPERIMENTALE PER L'INDUSTRIA DELLE CONSERVE ALIMENTARI AZIENDA SPECIALE Italy EU contribution € 17 105,60 Address VIALE FAUSTINO TANARA 31/A 43100 Parma See on map Region Nord-Est Emilia-Romagna Parma Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Ermes Monica (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data ASSOCIATION POUR LA RECHERCHE, L'EXPERIMENTATION, LA VULGARISATION DES PRODUITS AGRO-ALIMENTAIRES D'AQUITAINE ET DE MONTAGNE France EU contribution € 20 766,00 Address ROUTE DE SAMADET ABIOPOLE 64410 ARZACQ ARRAZIGUET See on map Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Isabelle Chalan (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Total cost No data