Traditional Food Network to improve the transfer of knowledge for innovation

Final Report Summary - TRAFOON (Traditional Food Network to improve the transfer of knowledge for innovation)

Executive Summary:
TRAFOON is a network of 29 European research institutions, technology transfer agencies and SME associations and during 3 years has covered the value chain of 4 groups of traditional food products based on (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables & mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits & olives.

The project focused on the innovation, protection, preservation and further development of traditional foods in Europe and it aimed at supporting the small and medium sized producers of these products. The often small-scale producers are nowadays facing the challenges of having to meet many existing European regulations and to acquire new knowledge on improved technological solutions related to their products while at the same time preserving the tradition and the authenticity of their products. TRAFOON also provided for knowledge and concrete suggestions to enhance the business and marketing aspect of those traditional products to make the producers more competitive or to keep them in the market at all. The needs of these traditional small and medium enterprises (SME) were collected by the respective branch-specific associations. The technological, legal or business-related solutions for these ‘hot topics’ were transferred through more than 55 Training Workshops (TWs), where specifically trained mediators were used to communicate these solutions in the language of the respective countries.

TRAFOON has offered targeted, need-based services to strengthen the SME’s innovative capability, such as training on intellectual property rights, European food law, use of labels, quality management, marketing, product development strategies and production protocols, safety and environmental performance. The project aimed to stimulate the entrepreneurship among food researchers, commercial take-up of food R&D results, and entrepreneurial networking as well.

The project had the positive impact on communication between SMEs and research institutions, consumer satisfaction due to improved traditional food supply, and entrepreneurship and competitiveness of SMEs in traditional foods. Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIAs) for traditional foods at National (http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-srias-at-the-national-level/) and European (http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-sria-at-the-european-level/) level have been created and communicated to policy decision makers.

A multi-lingual online Information Shop (www.trafoon.org) containing all the relevant information gathered and implemented within the TRAFOON network has been created. The Information Shop includes information (PDF files, ppt presentations, audio and video files etc.) about innovations in production and marketing of traditional food using regional raw materials in different languages. In addition, this Information Shop is a living archive and is central to the sustainability of TRAFOON also after its official end.

Project Duration: 01.11.2013 – 31.10.2016

Participating countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland

Web sites: www.trafoon.eu and www.trafoon.org

Project Context and Objectives:
To support traditional food SMEs, TRAFOON was set sail in November 2013 to establish a knowledge transfer network with a focus on food products made of grains, fish, vegetables, mushrooms, sweet fruits, and olives. The TRAFOON network interlinks researchers, knowledge transfer agents, and SME associations in 14 European countries to foster the transfer of sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship in the sector of traditional foods for the benefit of the regions of Europe and the European consumers.

The overall project objectives are:

a. Knowledge transfer and application of research results to traditional food producing SMEs

There are several unique necessities and opportunities to be considered when implementing innovation in traditional food producing SMEs. It needs to be ensured that the new knowledge fits to the requirements of the SMEs and that they in fact can be implemented and lead to actual innovations. To ensure that the proposed innovations fit the requirements, a closer involvement of the companies in the whole process is necessary. To break-up the traditional uni-directional cycle of donor versus receiver, TRAFOON applies a multi-component approach, where all concerned parties are involved in the whole innovation process chain, especially the SMEs becoming principal actors in the process.

TRAFOON has addressed this objective by establishing and supporting a network of SMEs, SME associations, knowledge transfer agencies, and research institutes. Within the network, emphasis has been put on information circulation between R&D and SMEs in order to install an effective flow of innovation/technology knowledge transfer answering the needs/demands of SMEs by the close collaboration and feedback communication within the entire innovation transfer chain. Based on this close communication, the project has already identified and collected the most limiting current knowledge gaps (Inventory of Needs) for traditional food SMEs. Since the project aims at the knowledge transfer of technical innovations and existing research results from past and current EU projects, EU-SME initiatives, as well as national and regional projects, TRAFOON has collected and analysed relevant and finalised national and FP6/7 projects to prepare updated lists on current technical innovations for traditional food SMEs, including innovations in the production, processing, food safety, food quality, and packaging of traditional food products. During 5 multi-stakeholders workshops (MSWs) in the respective food categories, TRAFOON partners, SME associations, and external specialist have analysed and prioritised the needs/demands of SMEs and matched them with the identified available innovations. Also during these MSWs, research strategies to overcome these issues towards competitive production and marketing of traditional food products have been developed.

Based on the results of the different MSWs, more than 55 Training Workshops (TWs) for SMEs of the respective food category and core region (where the respective traditional food product plays an important economical and traditional role) have been held in Europe in 2015 and 2016. Per traditional food category and core region, at least two Training Workshops for SMEs of traditional foods have been carried out. The detailed information (date, location, venue, agenda, etc.) of the different TWs can be found on TRAFOON website (http://www.trafoon.eu/training-workshops/).

• Grains: 7 TWs in 2015 and 4 TWs in 2016
• Fish: 5 TWs in 2015 and 6 TWs in 2016
• Vegetables & Mushrooms: 6 TWs in 2015, including one TW on the occasion of EXPO Milano, and 6 TWs in 2016
• Sweet Fruits: 10 TWs in 2015 and 5 TWs in 2016
• Olives: 2 TWs in 2015 and 2 TWs in 2016

Each Training Workshop addressed the requirements of SMEs which were identified by the IoN, including trainings on the technical innovations which are specific to the traditional food category (WP 2-5), generic topics on food processing, food packaging, food safety, food quality, and stabilisation of processing protocols (WP 6) as well as marketing, legal issues, European food law, IPR, certification, and labelling (WP 7). The TWs allowed SMEs to give feedback and specify the needs or address additional knowledge gaps and shortfalls in the implementation of innovations. The feedback nature of the TWs implemented during 2015 acted as a mechanism to capture innovative ideas, knowledge, and experiences from (traditional food and other) SMEs for integration within the web-based Information Shop and was used in the development and implementation of the second round of TWS in 2016. Unresolved problems formed the basis of the development of future research strategy agendas for the respective traditional food category.

Additionally, special TWs and Conferences were also implemented within the project:

• Food Quality & Food Safety: 1 TW in the frame of the “Mediterranean Food and Nutrition Conference” in Slovenia, 2105
• Entrepreneurship for SMEs: 2 TWs in 2016
• Entrepreneurship for food researchers: 1 TW in the frame of the International ISEKI Food Association Conference (2016)
• Stakeholder workshop: 1 TW in the frame of the International Novi Sad Agricultural Fair (2016)
• TRAFOON International Conference: Bonding tradition with innovation in Poland, 2016

A multi-lingual online Information Shop (www.TRAFOON.org) containing the information gathered and implemented within the TRAFOON network has been created. The Information Shop includes information (PDF files, e-books, audio and video files etc.) about innovations in production and marketing of traditional food using regional raw materials in different languages. TRAFOON partner IFA, responsible for the development of the Information Shop, will maintain it during the following two years after the official end of the project. Additionally, this online tool contains databases of experts and organisations to enable potential future collaborations and SME-oriented research projects, and includes all technology/innovation knowledge transferred during the TWs and guidelines for successfully transferred innovation.

b. Foster entrepreneurship for innovation and adaptation of the production of traditional foods to endure in dynamic markets

SMEs of traditional foods must extend their skills in modern as well as competitive marketing and production techniques to comply with existing European regulations, to promote the aspects of their products related to nutrition and health, and to be able to reach new markets. TRAFOON has provided for knowledge and concrete suggestions to enhance the business and marketing aspect of those traditional products to make the producers more competitive or to keep them in the market at all. TRAFOON stimulated innovation implementation and entrepreneurship by combining the transferred technical innovations with business schemes and legal aspects suitable and essential for the respective traditional food product. Through emphasising the most relevant information, providing the proper links to the information and assisting in developing effective strategies from marketing and regulatory perspective, WP 7 (Fostering Entrepreneurship) provided SMEs with a new capability that will be useful in establishing new markets. At the beginning of the project, 4 questionnaires (Innovation audit form), 1 for each traditional food category (WP 2-5), were developed including issues from the entire food production chain, but also questions related to entrepreneurship and legal aspects (WP 7). Partners of this WP took part at the five different MSWs (September-October 2104), where collected needs and demands on this topic were analysed and discussed. Based on these results, during each TW for SMEs of the respective food category and core region, specific sessions on marketing, legal issues, European food law, IPR, certification, and labelling were carried out.

Additionally, 2 TWs were conducted with the generic topic of “Fostering entrepreneurship” to SMEs in Málaga (Spain) and in Sion (Switzerland). These Workshops were implemented as a 1-day training event, and provided soft and technical skills to the SMEs. General modules on legal aspects of food research were also included. A third Entrepreneurship TW, in that case specific for food researchers, was held on the occasion of the 4rd International ISEKI Food Association Conference (Vienna, Austria). This TW provided the knowledge enablers including the development of business skills, such as business plan, marketing, and financing, and a comprehensive overview on the European patent system.

An alternative channel used by TRAFOON to foster entrepreneurship for the respective traditional food products was the Information Shop (www.TRAFOON.org). The developed online tool contains a specific “Entrepreneurship” section where all stakeholders can find relevant information, guidelines, links, and assistance on business and legal aspects for selected traditional food products in diverse European languages. This section also includes 3 additional deliverables (not included in the DoW, but carried out with the agreement of TRAFOON Project Officer, Mrs. Uta Faure):

• Report on Case Studies of Entrepreneurship in the Field of Traditional Food
• US Market Study for European Traditional Food
• China Market Study for European Traditional Food

These 3 additional deliverables are included in this final report as attached documents.

c. Development of a strategic research and innovation agenda for traditional foods

At the beginning of the project, TRAFOON has collected and analysed relevant and finalised national and FP6/7 projects to prepare updated lists on current technical innovations for traditional food SMEs. During 5 multi-stakeholders workshops (MSWs) in the respective food categories, TRAFOON partners, SME associations, and external specialist have analysed and prioritised the needs/demands of SMEs and matched them with the identified available innovations. Based on the detected innovation gaps and the identified needs that require further research, and complemented by SWOT analysis of the demands of SMEs during the MSWs, TRAFOON has developed 4 SRIAs for the core regions of the TRAFOON traditional foods categories: (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables and mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits and olives. TRAFOON SRIAs at National level will inform national policy makers about future research need of traditional food SMEs, especially fostering rural development. Additionally, a SRIA on "Food Quality and Food Safety" and a SRIA for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Traditional Food Production have also been developed. These 2 SRIAs and these so called “TRAFOON SRIAs at National level” are available at http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-srias-at-national-level/.

Additionally, a general SRIA for traditional foods at European level has been developed. The selection of the topics took place in a meeting organised at the University of Hohenheim (2-3 of August, 2016) “TRAFOON SRIA at European level” (http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-sria-at-the-european-level/) includes, from a European perspective, a collective list of identified and prioritised innovation needs of SMEs working on traditional food products based on (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables and mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits and olives. This SRIA also presents identified needs of two cross-sectional issues: “Food Quality & Food Safety”, and “Entrepreneurship in Traditional Food Production”. TRAFOON SRIA at European level will inform the European Commission and European policy makers about future research answering the identified needs of SMEs producing traditional food in Europe.

Furthermore, a joint TRAFOON-TRADEIT document: “Summary of Strategic Research and Innovation Needs of Traditional Food Producers in the EU” has been developed. This document was officially presented during the TRAFOON-TRADEIT joint Closing Conference in Brussels (19-20 October, 2016) and it can be found this final report as attached documents.

d. Development of a sustainable knowledge transfer and entrepreneurial network

TRAFOON has put special emphasis on the sustainability of the developed information flow between SMEs and R&D institutes by means of several tools. The Information Shop (www.TRAFOON.org) will play a central role in the sustainability of TRAFOON also after its official end. To ensure that the valuable results and insights gained in TRAFOON will be sustained after the project timeline, an online database is building-up continuously during the project. The online Information Shop is publicly accessible and enables interested parties to access the methods used and results obtained via an easy to use web interface. Information, available in several European languages, is sorted according to products categories (grain, fish, vegetables, and fruits) and topics (primary production, processing, quality & safety, labelling, marketing, and miscellaneous). As previously mentioned, the Information Shop contains a specific “Entrepreneurship” section where all stakeholders can find relevant information on business and legal aspects for selected traditional food products.

TRAFOON partner IFA, responsible for the development of the Information Shop, will maintain the Information Shop during the following two years after the official end of the project. Furthermore, IFA will prepare an open online platform where the relevant materials (databases, guidelines, ppt presentation, videos, etc.) from TRAFOON Information Shop and from additional projects/networks (e.g. TRADEIT, EuFooD-STA ERASMUS + project, ISEKI website, etc.) are combined. This “neutral” online tool will be openly available for SMEs and all stakeholders, and will be maintained and further developed by IFA in the frame of future funded projects and initiatives (e.g. H2020, COST Actions).

Project Results:
WP1 (Know-How-Transfer & Sustainability):

WP1 was a generic platform which developed knowledge transfer strategies within the TRAFOON food categories (WP2-WP5), and the supplemental generic WP6 and WP7. Activities were carried out satisfactorily in view of the objectives, deliverables and timelines of the work package. The developed work, results and timelines are described per tasks as follows:

T1.1. Development of an overall strategy of Inventory of needs (IoN). ACC was the responsible partner for this task. A procedure was developed that TRAFOON project partners used in order to collect the information on SMEs needs from WP2 to WP7. The procedure ensured homogeneity and comparability among the data collected from the different food categories from the project. It included two formularies: i) the “innovation audit form”, for the assessment of the innovation performance of the surveyed companies, and ii) the “technologic need form”, for the identification of the technological needs of the companies. Deliverable 1.1 included the procedure to collect information and the two related forms. It was submitted to EC and delivered to WP 2-7 partners at Month 3, a month later than indicated in the DoW. The causes for the delay were the tight schedule (kick off meeting at the end of M1) and the Christmas and New Year holiday period. This short delay did not affect the correct development of the related tasks (2.2 3.2 4.2 and 5.2).

T1.2. Development of different communication and training methods. Different communication and training methodologies were developed to ensure an easy and successful interaction, communication and knowledge transfer between innovation donors (research institutions, entrepreneurship and business experts, etc.) and innovation requesters (SMEs) in the field of production/processing of traditional food. The developed communication and training methods were:

• Multistakeholder Workshops. The aim of these workshops was to give the chance to meet consortium partners and representatives of stakeholders for the qualitative analysis of results of the Inventories of Needs and the development of suitable knowledge transfer activities. Aqua TT was responsible for the development of the corresponding guidelines for the Multistakeholder Workshops.

• Training activities on “Fostering entrepreneurship”. These training events provided soft and technical skills to all stakeholders, including i) an introduction to the concept of entrepreneurship and innovation skills, ii) a specific session for food researchers, including the development of business skills and an overview of the European patent system, and iii) a brokerage event where all stakeholder had the opportunity to meet and discuss. AAC was responsible for developing the guidelines for these activities.

• Training Workshops. These workshops addressed the requirements of SMEs previously identified by the IoNs. Additional knowledge gaps and shortfalls in the implementation of innovations were also identified. Thus far, unresolved problems formed the basis of the development of research strategy agendas for the respective traditional food category.

Deliverable 1.2 included all the guidelines for the communication and training methods. It was submitted on M10, with two months of delay, mainly because some discussions arose about the nature of the brokerage events described in Task 1.2.1 of the DoW and its relation with the task where the guidelines were going to be used: task 1.4 “training activities on fostering entrepreneurship”. Eventually guidelines for training activities on “Fostering entrepreneurship”, including brokerage activities, were developed as described in D 1.2. Guidelines for Multistakeholder Workshops were disseminated through partners before the delivery of D.1.2 and the delay on the submission of the deliverable did not affect the correct development of the related Tasks 2.3 3.3 4.3 5.3 6.2 and 7.2.

T1.3. Establishment and maintenance of a web-based Information Shop. IFA, in collaboration with AAC, WBF, AquaTT, SIG and UHOH, developed the web-based information shop (http://www.TRAFOON.org). The TRAFOON information shop aims at enabling all stakeholders from SMEs and R&D the access to the information gathered and implemented within the TRAFOON network and the associated networks of the partners. The TRAFOON information shop will be maintained after the project by the ISEKI-Food Association.

The webpage has different sections: one for each TRAFOON food sector, (fish, grain, vegetables+mushrooms, fruits+olives, entrepreneurhip), databases section, training section, newsletters, forums, etc., all of them publicly accessible. The project effort was mainly focused on two sections of the website:

• Databases section (https://www.trafoon.org/databases). The aim of this section is to provide information about innovations in production and marketing of traditional foods and facilitate the communication between SMEs and R&D institutions. The section includes three databases:

- Information database. It provides information (links to web pages, audios, videos, PDF files and eBooks) of research outcomes potentially useful for innovation activities. This information can be searched by language, TRAFOON food sector, food-chain sector (primary production, processing, quality & safety...) and format of the information (web page, pdf file, video...). The database includes so far 751 records.

- Organisations database. It includes information on associations, Research/technology transfer institutions, suppliers (industry, distribution, consultancy), public authorities, project consortiums and any other bodies (miscellaneous) involved in the technology transfer process of the TRAFOON food sectors. At the end of the project the database includes information on 529 organisations, 122 of them suppliers (mainly SMEs) which showed interest in appearing in the database as a networking tool for future innovation activities.

- Experts database (187 records). It includes information on experts (individuals) available for consultancy on knowledge transfer in the TRAFOON food sectors.

Databases information was provided by all the TRAFOON consortium partners through different collection campaigns, carried out during the project, and by their own initiative.

• Training section (https://www.trafoon.org/training). The information of the training workshops organised under tasks 2.4 3.4 4.4 5.4 6.3 7.3 and 7.4 was uploaded to the training section of the information shop. The section contains the presentations of all the workshops (files in pdf format): 15 workshops of the fruits-olives sector, 9 workshops of the fish sector, 11 workshops of the vegetables-mushrooms sector, 11 workshops of the grain sector, 3 entrepreneurship workshops, 1 quality & safety workshop, 1 stakeholders workshop, 1 workshop on organic food and 1 international conference focused on the TRAFOON project.

Furthermore, guidelines for successfully transferred innovations of each TRAFOON sector, prepared under tasks 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.4 were web published and can be publicly accessed through the main page of the website (https://www.trafoon.org/guidelines-for-successfull-transferred-innovations) or through each food sector section. Also in the entrepreneurhip section of the website (https://www.trafoon.org/sectors/entrepreneurship) information on food market studies and on case studies of entrepreneurship in the field of traditional foods were published.

The TRAFOON information shop was disseminated during the training workshops of the project and during the poster session of the ISEKI-Food Conference 2016 (Vienna Austria).

The information shop website was launched on due time (M3), but submission of the Deliverable 1.3 was delayed (M20) in order to have a significant amount of records in the databases. The publication of the "guidelines for successfully transferred product innovations" on the website (Deliverable 1.4) was also delayed due to a delay in the receipt of the guidelines from the corresponding WPs. The delay of both deliverables did not affect the correct development of the project.

WP2 (Products of Grains):

T2.1. Update of transferable innovations (from national and FP6/7 projects)
An inventory was made of (likely) relevant and EU FP6/FP7 projects and national projects, also including stakeholder organisations, based on contributions from Slovenia (UL), Poland (PAN-O), France (INRA), Germany (UHOH & SEZ), Netherlands (DLO & NBC) and Ireland (UCC).
Deliverable D2.1 completed (M2).

T2.2. Development, implementation and quantitative analysis of an inventory of needs in innovation for SMEs
A questionnaire was agreed upon for this purpose for all types of products in the Project. This questionnaire (Innovation Audit Form) was used as guidelines for interviews performed in Slovenia, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands (DLO and NBC). INRA (France) faced a delay but caught up with interviews that were finalised by February 2015. INRA contributed to the Multistakeholder Workshop under T2.3 below, based on existing experiences and projects.

T2.3. Qualitative analysis of results of inventory of needs and development of suitable knowledge transfer activities
The results of the questionnaires were presented at a Multistakeholder Workshop held on October 1-2 2014 in Wageningen, Netherlands, that was attended by HOH, SEZ, PAN-O, INRA, UCC, UL, DLO, NBC, plus a representative from WP7 (EBN/SPI), stakeholders FDE and AOECS, and a representative from EU project TRADEIT. The results were subjected to a SWOT analysis and based on the SWOT, an Inventory of Needs (the IoN) was drawn up. This formed the basis for the workshops to be held locally under T2.4 below.

Main issues (IoNs) derived from SWOTs:
• Supply/diversity
• Knowledge transfer raw material/processing/ functionality
• Authenticity
• Marketing/labelling
• Shelf life
• Food safety
Deliverable D2.2 completed (M10).

T2.4. Preparation and Implementation of knowledge transfer activities requested by SMEs
On the basis of the IoN, national training workshops (TWSs) have been organised by the partners from participating countries. The first round of TWSs encompassed theoretical workshops (France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands in 2015), except for Slovenia in 2015 combining theory with a practical workshop. Topics dealt with in the respective workshops on innovation and tradition were: spelt and other traditional wheat and traditional sourdough application (Netherlands; Germany), durum wheat processing (France), buckwheat processing (Slovenia), and innovative gluten-free production (Ireland). Together, these TWSs have led to an overall List of Needs/Topics, that were the basis for five practical TWSs held in 2015 and 2016 in France, Germany and the Netherlands. In addition, in Poland, a theoretical workshop was organised in 2016 about buckwheat, oats and gluten-free. The workshops are listed below.

Practical workshops in France treated durum wheat processing. In the Netherlands and Germany, practical aspects of sourdough for obtaining high-value products from spelt, emmer and einkorn were treated. The last practical workshops in Germany and the Netherlands, respectively, were each transnational with participants both from Germany and the Netherlands and also included visits to bakeries and in Germany, a field visit to ancient grain trials. In Slovenia, the practical workshop covered bread and pastry making from buckwheat. Subjects discussed in workshops also included authenticity of traditional grains raw material and products, and communication about the products (story telling). The practical workshops also enabled the exchange of knowledge and experience among the participants and with the experts, which was appreciated by the participants. Participating SMEs were predominantly positive about and satisfied with the content and the organisation of each TWS.
Deliverables D2.3 Training modules (report M36), D2.4 First round of SME training workshops (report M28) and D2.5 Second round of SME training workshops (report M36) completed.

T2.5. Processing of information for the Information Shop
Information on the training resources and Guidelines for transferred innovations were uploaded onto the Information Shop. Recommendations in Guidelines were, a.o.:

• Personal beforehand deliberation between expert and participant was seen as extremely important in order to develop the most relevant training program, and to raise optimum interest for attending the workshop.
• Showing that innovations are possible with key examples is a motivating factor for SME, provided that the hurdles are also clearly identified.
• Offering a well-balanced training programme based on providing new insights and creating the opportunity for hands-on experimenting with a diversity of methods is appreciated.
• Providing a platform at which the SMEs can interact mutually and with the invited experts is well appreciated.
• A challenge is to bring small bakeries to travel abroad as was experienced with bakeries from Germany invited to travel to the Netherlands. The interest and motivation is there, only the time is lacking. The cross-border benefit, though, is great as processes and ingredients differ a lot from country to country.
• More attention to ‘story telling’ about ancient grains, to reach a broader consumers’ public.
Deliverable D2.6 Guidelines for transferred innovations (report M36) completed.

T2.6. Preparation of a strategic research and innovation agenda for grain products (SRIA)
Based on the detected innovation gaps and the identified needs that require further research, and complemented by SWOT analysis of the demands of SMEs during the MSWs, we developed a SRIA for grains. These so called “TRAFOON SRIAs at National level” were made available at http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-srias-at-national-level/. Additionally, a general SRIA for traditional foods at European level has been developed during a workshop at Hohenheim, 2-3 August 2016. The SRIA contains a collective overview of identified and prioritised innovation needs of SMEs working on traditional food products in grains.

Subjects identified are:
• Functional breeding of ancient grains
• Processing of ancient grains to improve health qualities
• Batch-to-batch quality and identity preservation for product consistency
• Establishment of consortia (legal organisations) for cooperation on acquisition/funding, marketing, pilot-scale product development
• Consumers’ perception on ancient grains concerning health issues
• Valorisation of by- and waste-products
Deliverable D2.7 Report of the grain category SRIA (M33) completed.

List of Training workshops:

1. France (INRA):
- 19. 11.2015 Seminar: Durum wheat and Pasta: innovation and tradition (“Blé dur et Pâtes: l’innovation au service de la tradition“) Campus de la Gaillarde, INRA - Montpellier SupAgro
- 10.03. 2016, Practical workshops (4): Durum wheat and Pasta: innovation and tradition ("Blé dur et Pâtes : l’innovation au service de la tradition - Ateliers pratiques") Campus de la Gaillarde, INRA - Montpellier SupAgro

2. Germany (SEZ):
- 22.06.2015 Seminar: Tradition and Innovation in the Baking Industry, Bad Boll
- 10/11.11.2015 Practical workshop: Ancient grains, gluten-free grains and marketing issues, Stuttgart
- 5/6.07.2016 Practical workshop (international): Baking with traditional grains (“Backen mit Urgetreide”) (with NBC, NL), Stuttgart

3. Ireland (UCC):
- 14/15.05.2015 Seminar: Creating value in wheat and gluten-free based bakery production chain, Cork

4. The Netherlands (DLO):
- 12.05.2015 Seminar: The story of special grains: From Tradition to Innovation, NBC, Wageningen
- 13.10.2015 Practical Workshop: Sour Dough, with spelt, emmer and wheat, NBC, Wageningen
- 28/29.06.2016 Practical Workshop (international): Sourdough and ancient grains (with SEZ, DE), NBC, Wageningen

5. Poland (PAN-O):
- 29.06.2016 Seminar: From tradition to innovation in buckwheat, oats and gluten-free, Warsaw

6. Slovenia (UP):
- 3/4.06.2015 Seminar and practical workshop: Buckwheat between tradition and innovation, Maribor

WP3 (Products of Fish):

T3.1. Update of transferable innovations (from national and FP6/7 projects)
In total, 72 different projects (40 EU projects of FP5, FP6 and FP7; 3 Cost projects; 13 national Czech and 16 national Polish projects) were analysed for the update of transferable innovation and inventory of innovation needs for future development of traditional aquaculture and fish product in core region of WP3 of Trafoon project (Czech Republic and Poland). Update of transferable innovation and inventory of innovation needs were summarised by all participants of Trafoon project cooperating within WP3 (Czech Republic – JU; Poland – UWM and PAN–G; Ireland – Aqua TT and UCC; Belgium – FEAP) with the aim to summarise known facts, knowledge, information and technological process related to traditional fish culture and fish products in this core area. This summary of knowledge was used during following steps of Trafoon project and for cooperation with Czech and Polish fish farmers during their training and innovation of their fish production, processing and marketing of fish products. Deliverable D3.1 completed (M2).

T3.2. Development, implementation and quantitative analysis of an inventory of needs in innovation for SMEs
This task dealt with the identification of knowledge needs from aquaculture producers and processors in the core region. A questionnaire for SME fish producers, processors and fish farmers’ associations was developed by FEAP with support from the Czech and Polish partners included in WP3. The goal of this activity was to capture the current and potential future challenges affecting the traditional aquaculture and fish production of SMEs. Specifically, the questions were related to fish production, fish food safety, processing, health aspects, and finally covering general business aspects (labelling, packaging and certification).

This questionnaire was sent to 48 SMEs in the Czech Republic and 140 SMEs in Poland. This action was coordinated by Czech and Polish partners with help of the national fish farmers’ associations (Czech Fish Farmers Association, Polish Fisheries Association and Polish Angling Association). Unfortunately, the response rates were rather low, resp. 46% and 11% for the Czech Republic and Poland. All respondents were active in fish production and few of them were also involved in processing. Carp and its culture and processing was mentioned as the major produced species and other economically important species were named as interesting ones for development (such as: rainbow trout, pike, perch, pikeperch, catfish, tench and whitefish) of pond culture and flow-through system or newly established RAS. The whole process with interviews was finished in the middle of June 2014 and all obtained results were discussed during following Multistakeholder Workshop.

T3.3. Qualitative analysis of results of inventory of needs and development of suitable knowledge transfer activities
The results of questionnaires were presented and discussed at the Multistakeholder Workshop held on October 7-8 2014 in Vodňany, Czech Republic, that was attended by 30 aquaculture stakeholders from JU, UWM, PAN–G, Aqua TT, FEAP, Czech Fish Farmers Association, Polish Fisheries Association, Polish Angling Association, Hungarian Aquaculture Association plus a representative from WP7 (EBN). The conclusions of this workshop highlighted the SWOT analysis and the most important innovation needs for the aquaculture sector in the Czech Republic and Poland. This also included as the idea of how to enable the knowledge transfer and solution of responses to these innovative needs through Trafoon training workshops held locally under T2.4.

Main issues (IoNs) derived from SWOTs:
• Diversification of fish production by other traditional species,
• Increase volume and quality of fish production by using of RAS,
• Improve fish feeds and feeding technigues and their sustainability,
• Decrease of the effect of fish predators and destructor (such as: cormorants, otters and beavers) on aquculture,
• More adequate medicines and vaccines for fish culture,
• Disease management providing more information on new issues,
• Increase of natural disease resistance in cultured fish,
• Prolong shelflife of raw material or fish products,
• Improve marketing and change the fish production according to needs of market and customers,
• Improve the marketability of traditional fish products,
• Maximise the relationship between RTDs and SMEs,
• Improve cooperation between Czech and Polish fish producer organisations.
Deliverable D3.2 completed (M10).

T3.4. Preparation and Implementation of knowledge transfer activities requested by SMEs
On the basis of the IoN, national training workshops (TWSs) have been organised by the partners from participating countries of WP3. In total, 12 different training workshops (list of workshops are mentioned below) were organised with the aim to offer different training events concerning to aquaculture technology, feeding of fish, sustainable fish production, health aspects of fish production, food quality and safety, marketing, entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer into fish sector for practical fish farmers, producers and processors. In total, 5 training workshops plus one practical excursion across German intensive RAS culture facilities were organised during the first round of TWSs in 2015 for Czech and Polish SMEs. During the second round of TWSs in 2016, 6 training workshops were organised in both core countries of WP3. Most of the training workshops were organized as practical workshops and enabled the exchange of knowledge and experience among the participants and the experts, which were appreciated by the participants. Participating SMEs were predominantly positive about and satisfied with the content and the organisation of each TWS. Deliverables D3.3 Training modules (report M36), D3.4 First round of SME training workshops (report M28) and D3.5 Second round of SME training workshops (report M36) completed.

T3.5. Processing of information for the Information Shop
Information on the training resources and Guidelines for transferred innovations were uploaded onto the Information Shop. Recommendations in Guidelines were:

• Well organised and detailed inventory of needs from SMEs and development of suitable knowledge transfer are very important and useful for the organisation of successful training workshops.
• Training materials including theoretical (printed presentations, agenda, summaries of lectures, copies of expert or scientific journal and contact information) and practical (fish tissue, equipment, samples and other demonstration material) materials are welcome and widely used during the trainings for better educational and innovative process.
• New partnerships and cooperation are supported during trainings for next innovation, cooperation or business.
• Timely preparation of workshop program and agenda, publishing of several promotional information and closed cooperation with farmers and their association highly increase attendance and effectivity of training workshops.
• Structure of workshops must be clear, attractive and realistic with short presentations and time for discussion. Discussion, practical demonstrations and keeping of time schedule are very important for successful workshop.
• Date, term and venue of training workshops must be chosen very professionally according to request of SMEs.
Deliverable D3.6 Guidelines for transferred innovations (report M36) completed.

T3.6. Preparation of a strategic research and innovation agenda for traditional inland aquaculture and freshwater fish production and fish products (SRIA)
Based on the detected innovation gaps and the identified needs that require further research, and complemented by SWOT analysis of the demands of SMEs during the MSWs, we developed a SRIA for traditional inland aquaculture and freshwater fish production and fish products. These so called “TRAFOON SRIAs at National level” were made available at http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-srias-at-national-level/. Additionally, a general SRIA for traditional foods at European level has been developed during a workshop at Hohenheim, 2-3 August 2016. The SRIA contains a collective overview of identified and prioritised innovation needs of SMEs working on traditional inland aquaculture and freshwater fish production and fish products.

Deliverable D3.7 Report of the traditional inland aquaculture and freshwater fish production and products SRIA (M33) completed.

List of Training workshops:

1. Czech Republic (JU):
- 1/2.09.2015 Potential of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for Czech fishery production, Vodňany
- 21–24.09.2015 Practical excursion to fish farms in Germany, Germany
- 14/15.10.2015 Ponds of South Bohemia and Waldviertel – production constituent and important component of the life in both regions, Vodňany
- 10.12.2015 Health aspects of fish production, Vodňany
- 1/2.02.2016 Improving fish feed and feeding techniques, fish processing, labelling and marketing with fish products, Vodňany

2. Poland (PAN-G, UWM):
- 9/10.06.2015 Innovation in traditional fish production technology, Ustroń
- 21/22.05.2015 Health management of cultured fish in terms of food quality and safety, Olsztyn
- 8.04.2016 Food quality and safety in aquaculture sector, Ogonki
- 15.04.2016 Food quality and safety in aquaculture sector, Iława
- 22.04.2016 Food quality and safety in aquaculture sector, Mścice/Koszalin
- 14/15.06.2016 Direct sales, marginal, localised and restricted aktivity as elements of expanding of the income sources of fish farms, Radom
- 15/16.05.2016 Improvement of information and knowledge transfer between science and practice in fishery sector, Ustroń

WP4 (Products of Vegetables & Mushrooms):

T4.1. Update of transferable innovations (from national and FP6/7 projects)
An inventory of relevant EU FP6/FP7 and national projects has been done as a source of transferable source of transferable innovations in the field of traditional food made of vegetables and mushrooms. The inventory was performed by searching the available databases (CORDIS and national databases in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland), as well as by extensive literature search. The partners involved were IO (Poland), UHOH (Germany) DLO (The Netherlands), INRA and CNRS (France).
Deliverable D4.1 completed (M2).

T4.2. Development, implementation and quantitative analysis of an inventory of needs in innovation for SMEs
All the partners involved in the WP identified producers of traditional food made of vegetable & mushroom in their respective countries. A questionnaire (Innovation Audit Form) prepared by Partner 26 (EUCOFEL) and translated to national languages by respective partners, was sent via e-mails to traditional food SMEs, SME associations and consumer’s organisations. In addition, the surveys were also done via telephones. In some countries, the inventory done via e-mails was supplemented by personal, semi-structured interviews with selected stakeholders. The data collected were analysed by each partner using SWAT approach. The qualitative analysis of all the surveys was done by EUCOFEL.

T4.3. Qualitative analysis of results of inventory of needs and development of suitable knowledge transfer activities
The results of the inventories of needs (IoN) done in Partners’ countries were discussed and confronted with the results of the inventory of transferable innovations (T4.1) during the Multistakeholder Workshop (MSW), which was held on 2-3 September 2014 in Skierniewice, Poland. It was attended 37 participants, including representatives of the TraFooN partners: UHOH, IO, DLO, UNIBO, CNRS and EUCOFEL, stakeholders: representatives of SMEs from Poland and The Netherlands, Polish Chamber of Regional and Traditional Food, Polish Association of Juice Producers, Association of Cultivated Mushrooms Producers, Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers, and researchers. The needs for innovations in the fields of traditional products made of vegetables and mushrooms, reported by stakeholders from the five countries varied significantly, but some were common for all the producers, irrespectively of their location. Upon prioritisation by the stakeholders during MSW training workshops (T2.4) they provided the input for elaborating Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (T.4.6). The results of the IoN helped also to plan the agendas of training workshops (T 4.4)
Deliverable D4.2 has been completed (M13).

T4.4. Preparation and Implementation of knowledge transfer activities requested by SMEs
Two rounds of training workshops (TW) were conducted during 2015 and 2016. The target trainees included owners/managers of SMEs producing traditional food from vegetables and mushrooms, vegetable farmers and mushroom producers, agricultural advisers, and representatives of producer’s groups and NGO. In total, the TWs were attended by 494 participants. The topics for lectures during the first round of TWs were selected on the basis of the IoN and were region-specific. In the second round the needs reported by trainees during the first round were also included in the agenda. They covered food quality, especially quality standards and certificates, pesticide residues, cultivation and fertilisation of selected vegetable crops and vegetable storage and processing. In one case, the participants expressed interest in pesticide application techniques, including requirements for sprayers, safety zones and environmental pollution due to wind drifts.

Altogether, 11 TWs were conducted in the frame of WP4; 2 in France, 2 in Italy, 2 in The Netherlands and 5 in Poland. Nine of the TWs concerned traditional foods made of vegetables and two of traditional food made of mushrooms. Higher number of TWs dedicated to vegetables was due to higher importance of this commodity for European economy and wider culinary use as well as larger number of stakeholders expressing the needs for trainings. The list of the training workshops conducted within WP4 is presented below.

During the workshops the participants were asked to prioritise the innovation needs using the standard questionnaire elaborated by the Management Team. The highest ranked topics/areas were used as the base for developing SRIA.

Upon completing a TW, the trainees were asked to evaluate the quality of a training using standard form prepared by the Management Team. In general, they evaluated very high both the organisation of the workshops, agenda, the lecturers and the benefits they expected to gain from participating.
The conclusions from the TWs and the feed backs from the trainees were the base for elaborating the Training Modules (T4.5)

Deliverables D4.3 Training modules (report M36), D4.4 First round of SME training workshops (report M28) and D4.5 Second round of SME training workshops (report M29) were completed.

T4.5. Processing of information for the Information Shop
The information on experts, organisations, products and technologies in the area of traditional food made of vegetables and mushrooms has been collected by the Partners starting with commencement of the project and successively uploaded on the Information Shop. The information about planned TWs was posted at least a month in advance and the presentations of the lectures were uploaded promptly upon completing the trainings.

The Guidelines for transferred innovations were based on experience gained during organisation of TWs and consisted of best practices for successful transfer of knowledge and innovations.
Deliverable D4.6: Guidelines for transferred innovations (report M36) completed.

T4.6. Preparation of a strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) specific for vegetables & mushrooms category.
The SRIA was elaborated basing on the IoN analysed during MSW (T4.2) and further prioritised by stakeholders during TWs (T4.3) and on the gaps in the transferrable innovations identifies within T4.1.

For the sake of the TraFooN project, the innovations were divided into four areas: primary production, processing, product and marketing. Due to different technology level and market/consumers demands, the major areas prioritised by the stakeholders in each core country differed significantly. Some of the common areas included:

For vegetables:
• Plant breeding
• Integrated pest management
• Water- and energy-efficient vegetable production and processing
• Food quality and safety
• Innovative packaging
• Consumer studies
• Improving marketing strategies

For mushrooms:
• Substrate: enhancing nitrogen content using protein-rich raw materials
• Rapid sensor-based analytical method for in-situ measurements of physicochemical characteristics of compost and mushrooms
• Integrated pest management
• Energy efficient systems in primary production and postharvest processing
• Utilisation of surplus production (new concepts and processes for value addition adopting the appropriate postharvest technology such as drying, pickling, canning etc.)
• Innovative packaging for shelf life extension
• Professionalisation of the production system for exotic fungi
• New varieties of certain mushrooms adapted to production systems
• Sustainable use of spent mushroom substrate and by-product
• Innovative solutions for sustainable mushroom packaging
• Increase overall transparency of fresh and processed mushroom products (labelling and traceability)
Deliverable D4.7: Vegetables & mushrooms category specific SRIA (M33) completed.

List of Training workshops:

1. France (CNRS/ University of Strasbourg):
- 20.04.2015 Chou et choucroute. L’innovation au service de la tradition (Cabbage and sauerkraut. Innovation in the tradition of service), Chambre d’agriculture de Région Alsace, Strasbourg

2. France (INRA – UMR IATE):
- 8.04.2016 Transformer des légumes méditerranéens: entre innovation et tradition (Processing of Mediterranean vegetables: between innovation and tradition), Centre Technique de la Conservation des Produits Agricoles, Avignon

3. Italy (UNIBO) :
- 28/29.05.2015 Traditional food, tipicity and organic farming: opportunities and perspectives, University of Bologna, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Bologna
- 27.05.2016 La gestione dell’acqua nella coltivazione di prodotti orticoli (Water management in vegetable cultivation), University of Bologna, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Bologna

4. The Netherlands (DLO):
- 3.06.2015 Mushroom workshop Trafoon, University and Research Centre. Wageningen
- 13.10.2015 Nieuwe kansen voor traditionele groenten (New opportunities for traditional vegetables), ‘Bij Daphne in de Kas’, Amersfoort-Vathorst

5. Poland (IO):
- 27.03.2015 Tradycyjna żywność z warzyw (Traditional food made of vegetables), Podkarpacki Ośrodek Doradztwa Rolniczego, Boguchwała
- 23.02.2016 Grzyby uprawne w produkcji żywności tradycyjnej (Cultivated mushrooms in traditional food production), Łódzki Ośrodek Doradztwa Rolniczego, Bratoszewice
- 4.03.2016 Tradycja i innowacje w produkcji warzyw w Polsce (Tradition and innovations in vegetable production in Poland), Zajazd Lwowski, Klwów
- 6.04.2016 Tradycyjna i integrowana produkcja oraz innowacyjne metody przechowywania warzyw (Traditional and integrated production of vegetables and innovative methods of their storage), Podkarpacki Ośrodek Doradztwa Rolniczego, Boguchwała
- 25.05.2016 Jakość i bezpieczeństwo w produkcji i przetwórstwie warzyw (Food quality and safety in vegetable production and processing), Zajazd Biała Dama, Nieborów

WP5 (Products of Fruits):

T5.1. Update of transferable innovations (from national and FP7 projects)
Regarding “sweet fruits” products, 47 European projects and more than 45 national projects from Poland, Serbia and Switzerland were listed, while, for olives products, 22 European projects and 19 national projects from Spain were included in the deliverable.
Deliverable D5.1 List of finalized projects completed (report M2)

T5.2. Development of an inventory of needs in innovation for SMEs
In order to analyse the situation, questionnaires or semi-structured interviews were carried out using the TRAFOON innovation audit form. Other partners working in the “sweet fruits” areas (BU, PAS-O) not included in this task, worked sending questionnaires to SMEs in their countries (Serbia and Poland), in order to obtain data on SMEs needs in those countries that would be essential to plan later the subsequent multi-stakeholder and Training Workshops according to SMEs local needs.

Finally, a total of 75 SMEs needs’ questionnaires were collected and analysed:
- 17 from Spain and Portugal on “olives”
- 37 from Switzerland on “sweet fruits”
- 13 from Poland on “sweet fruits”
- 8 from Serbia on “sweet fruits”

T5.3. Qualitative analysis of results of inventory of needs and development of suitable knowledge transfer activities
Two multi-stakeholder workshops (TWs) were held involving SME associations, mediators and knowledge donors with the objective to confirm the identified needs obtained with the questionnaires in the previous task and to prioritise them and match them with the expertise and project results found in task 5.1.

The multi-stakeholder workshop on “sweet fruits” took place on September 30 2014 in Sion (Switzerland). The workshop was organised by HES-SO and lead by ACW. It was attended by 20 participants including 15 consortium partners and 5 representatives of the Swiss SME associations.

The multi-stakeholder workshop on “olive oil and table olives” took place in Cordoba (Spain) on September 30, 2014. The workshop was organised by IFAPA and lead by AAC. 19 participants attended the MSW among them, 9 representatives of the SME associations and 10 experts from research and technology donors.

Deliverable D5.2 Multi-stakeholder workshops completed (report M10)

T5.4. Preparation and Implementation of knowledge transfer activities requested by SMEs
This task included the preparation of the training material for knowledge transfer activities by donor partners in order to answer the innovation needs identified in task 5.3. for each country. Two rounds of Training Workshops per core region were held during this task.

List of WP5 training workshops organized during 2015:

- Training Workshop on Olives in Spain, Jaen, 05-06/05/2015 (partners: AAC/IFAPA)
- Training Workshop on Berries in Switzerland, Uitikon, 19/05/2015 (HES-SO)
- Training Workshop on Berries in Switzerland, Conthey, 22/05/2015 (HES-SO)
- Training Workshop on Olives in Portugal, Santarém, 08/06/2015 (SPI)
- Training Workshop on Fruits in Poland, Olsztyn, 18/06/2015 (IAR&FR)
- Training Workshop on Fruits in Serbia, Belgrade, 24/06/2015 (BU)
- Five Summer Training Workshops on Apricots in Switzerland, Valais, 25/06/2015; 09/07/2015; 23/07/2015; 06/08/2015 and 20/08/2015 (HES-SO)
- Training Workshop on Raspberry in Serbia, Ivanjica, 22-23/10/2015 (BU)

List of WP5 training workshops organized during 2016:

- "Innovation in production and processing of plum" Training Workshop on Plum in Serbia, Cacak, 26/02/2016 (Partner: BU)
- "Innovation in processing of plum" Training Workshop on Plum in Serbia, Kraljevo, 25/03/2016 (BU)
- Training Workshop on Olives in Portugal, Santarém, 07/06/2016 (SPI)
- Training Workshop on Olives in Spain, Cordoba, 08-09/06/2016 (AAC/IFAPA/CITOLIVA)
- "Contributions of private and public R&D into value creation in food and agriculture sector", Sion, Switzerland, 23/06/2016 (HES-SO)
- Training Workshop on Apricots in Switzerland, Saxon, 05/08/2016 (HES-SO)
- Training Workshop on Soft Fruits in Poland, Rzeczniów, 16/09/2016 (IAR&FR)
- Training Workshop on Pome Fruits in Poland, Goszczyn, 17/09/2016 (IAR&FR)

The training workshops on “sweet fruits” were dedicated to the fruits important for the specific countries i.e. raspberry and plums in Serbia, apricots and berries in Switzerland and pome and soft fruits in Poland.

As for “olives and table olives”, the topics were concerned to primary production, processing and marketing and commercialization aspects.

Deliverables D5.3 Training modules (report M36), D5.4 First round of SME training workshops (report M28) and D5.5 Second round of SME training workshops (report M36) completed.

T5.5. Processing of information for the Information shop
The Information Shop was fed with resources on the technologies transferred during the training workshops. Additionally, the Guidelines for successfully transferred product innovation were developed. Based on the experience in workshop organisation the recommendations for workshop contents and structure, designing and planning, date, venue, invitations, agenda were worked out.
Deliverable D5.6 Guidelines for successfully transferred product innovations (report M36) completed.

T5.6. Preparation of a strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) for products of fruits
According to the gaps detected from task 5.1 to task 5.3 (list of transferable innovations, inventory of needs and multi-stakeholder workshop), a TRAFOON SRIA at National level was developed for SMEs producing traditional fruit products. Additionally, SWOT analysis was carried out.

SRIA was developed to serve as a source of information for national/regional policy makers about future research need of traditional food SMEs, especially fostering rural development.

Fruit category specific SRIA was prepared for each country. The specific challenge, scope and expected impact were identified for each subject in four categories: Primary production, Processing, Product and Marketing.

Additionally, a general SRIA for traditional foods at European level has been developed during a workshop at Hohenheim, 2-3 August 2016. The SRIA contains a collective overview of identified and prioritised innovation needs of SMEs working on traditional food products in olive products and sweet fruits.
Deliverable D5.7 Report of the fruit category specific SRIA (M33) completed.

WP6 (Food Quality & Food Safety):

The overall objective of WP6 is the development of different activities and support actions in the area of food quality and safety was achieved along the lines and with cooperation with activities on Fish, Grain, Vegetables, Mushrooms, Sweet fruits and Olives and respecting production and processing chains. All partners worked on the tasks as planed and achieved reasonable good results as expected and according to the timing proposed for the development of this work package.

Within WP6, the following tasks have been achieved and completed:

T6.1. Transferable innovations (from national and FP7 projects)
The list of relevant and finalized national and FP6/7 projects has been updated for the use in the inventory of needs performed by all traditional product subcategories, with the focus on the following food quality and safety elements:

I Threats for food safety and early detection of contaminants:
- Chemical/biochemical (heavy metals, toxic compounds from raw materials and processing residua...)
- Biological (microbiological, biotechnological...)
- Physical (radiation, metal particles...)
- New challenges? (emerging pathogens and/or their virulence or toxic metabolites)

II Food quality and its markers
- Stability and shelf-life
- Authenticity and provenience
- Raw materials, processing, preservation, packaging
- New challenges? (reliable biomarkers for food quality)

III Food chain management
- Traceability (of raw materials, contaminants, products...)
- Barriers (technical/technological, human....)
- Processing wastes, food wastes
- New challenges? (climate, global crises & market changes)

IV Nutritional safety, consumer issues
- Safe diets for general and special groups of consumers
- Functionality of food products
-Information for consumer (labeling etc...)
- Consumer trust, expectations, requirements

V Others (important, but not yet mentioned)
e.g. Education of all food chain stake-holders

T6.2. Qualitative analysis of results of inventory of needs and development of suitable knowledge transfer activities
Preparation, attendance and post-processing (Vegetables & Mushrooms (IO), Fish (UCC), Grains (UP, UL), Sweet fruits (IAR & FR) and olives (IFAPA)) of the multi-stakeholder workshops in cooperation with the traditional food subcategories has been based on survey and professional discussion. The quality was found very relevant and many very specific elements were detected as can be seen from individual reports, however safety although constantly addressed in evaluation and in discussion, was by principle very weekly considered at stakeholders meetings, but prolonged discussion showed that more activity should be conducted to keep this awareness permanent in relevant circles, not just for chemical (pesticides, medical residues) also for microbial and physical and finally nutritional safety.

T6.3. Development and implementation of training activities on “Food safety & Quality”
The main training activity conducted in WP6 was the organisation of a Training Workshop on Food Safety & Quality in the frame of the Annual Conference "Mediterranean Food and Nutrition“ (October 16-17 2015, Portorož, Slovenia). The TRAFOON Training Workshop took place at the LifeClass Hotels, The Congress Centre with a big attendance. Leading subject of the Conference was Food Safety & Quality with special focus on Mediterranean Food and Nutrition. The Workshop was held in English and Slovenian.

T6.4. Processing of information for the Informationshop
The information on experts, organisations, products and technologies in the area of Food Quality & Food Safety has been collected by the Partners starting with commencement of the project and successively uploaded on the Information Shop. The information about planned TWs was posted at least a month in advance and the presentations of the lectures were uploaded promptly upon completing the trainings.

The Guidelines for transferred innovations were based on experience gained during organisation of TWs and consisted of best practices for successful transfer of knowledge and innovations.

T6.5. Preparation of a strategic research and innovation agenda
A strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) was developed for SMEs producing processed traditional products respecting actual food quality safety achievements. This SRIA is available at TRAFOON website.

All deliverables related to WP6 have been completed on time.

WP7 (Fostering Entrepreneurship):

Results and achievements will be described per individual Task listed previously.

T7.1. Update of transferable innovations (from national and FP7 projects)
9 EU Funding Programmes (CIP-EIP, CIP-ICT, FP6, FP7, INTERREG, LEADER, LIFE, LIFE+, LLP) were taken into account and several keywords were used (Marketing, Labelling, Legal aspects, Certification, Technology transfer & Education and Entrepreneurship).

In this task, the relevant FP6/7 projects for the use in the inventory needs performed by all traditional food subcategories were identified. An updated list of transferable innovations from these projects, including topics related to developing business plans and legal aspects that allow strengthening the competitiveness of SMEs and stimulating the entrepreneurial skills in traditional food stakeholders, was produced. The task was performed by all the partners of the WP defined in the DoW (SPI, EBN, IFA, GGIR).
The results of this task were provided in D7.1 List of finalized projects.

T7.2. Qualitative analysis of results of inventory of needs and development of suitable knowledge transfer activities
To analyse the current situation relevant finalized FP6/7 projects were used (D7.1 List of finalized projects), an inventory of needs was done, using questionnaires, and Multi-stakeholders workshops were held.

The main needs transverse to all WPs are related to (a) marketing (b) labelling and (c) legal aspects including certification.

(a) The most frequent concerns of SMEs related to marketing are directly related to trading of their assets and with the best way to communicate the products to the market. So, the most prominent needs are referent to the advertisement of products properties (health, allergies, special components ...) and with how can they turn the product appellative to consumers for instance by improving the packaging material and design.

(b) Also the labelling of the products is a big concern, what to put in it and how, is a recurrent question SMEs do no find the answer for. The unification of labelling content as well as legal aspects across EU and non-EU is an issue that in some cases difficult or prevent products trading. Therefor there is a common need to standardize these procedures and define common regulations/standards.
Another identified common need is the certification of traditional products and raw materials according the EU schemes known as PDO (protected designation of origin), PGI (protected geographical indication) and TSG (traditional specialty guaranteed) that promote and protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs and organic certification. The results are summarized in table 1.

(c) Another identified common need is the certification of traditional products and raw materials according the EU schemes known as PDO (protected designation of origin), PGI (protected geographical indication) and TSG (traditional specialty guaranteed) that promote and protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs and organic certification. The results are summarized in table 1.
The results of this task were provided in D7.2 List of detailed and up-to-date R&D&I needs of traditional food producing SMEs concerning fostering entrepreneurship available.

T7.3. Development of suitable training activities for SMEs on “Fostering Entrepreneurship”
Several modules were developed and included in face-to face training activities, organized in collaboration with the partners in charge of other WPs. The main modules/themes produced were: (a) Entrepreneurship & Marketing; (b) Generating Value by Communicating Benefits of Product’s Origin; (c) Gluten-Free Products: Key Drivers of Competition; (d) IP in the Real World; (e) Marketing Strategies - Importance of Labelling and Trust in the Supply Chain; (f) New Product Development and Market Assessment; (g) SMEs Funding; (h) The use of Brands for the Licensing of Plant Varieties. These modules were incorporated in the database folder in Trafoon Information Shop: https://www.trafoon.org/databases

Autonomously, in April, 2016, TRAFOON Entrepreneurship Workshop for SMEs of agricultural and fisheries sector took place at "Parque Tecnoalimentario Costa del Sol Axarquía" in Malaga last 8th April 2016. The workshop was conceived taking into consideration the outcome of T7.2 and after the request of few companies from the Region that got in contact with EBN. In order to respond to the needs in the most efficient way, local expert were chosen and the workshop was delivered in Spanish. 4 modules were developed / presented by invited guests.

More than 50 participants participated in the workshop. An evaluation form was given to all the participants to report their opinion about the project Workshop

On June 2016, there was a workshop on Entrepreneurship in SION (Switzerland) dedicated to “Contributions of Private and public R&D to value creation in the food and agriculture sector”. The event was an opportunity to share and reflect on how SMEs create the value without internal R&D and where businessmen in the creation of value in food sector and experts from public R&D met and networked. The language of the workshop was French

The modules were: “Innovate and create an added value”, “Implementation of innovation in an international company”, “What kind of R&D for value creation in SMEs?”, “Generation and transfer of know-how)”, “Public R&D: a source of innovation for SMEs?”
Additional training and reference material were developed and realized in the framework of additional activities (China Market Study and United States Market Study) mentioned below in this document.
The results of this task were provided in D7.3 Training modules for SMEs.

T7.4. Preparation and Implementation of training activities on “Fostering Entrepreneurship” to all stakeholders
Training modules were prepared in order to provide soft and technical skills to the stakeholders within a workshop. Partners involved in this task organised a training workshop in the framework of the 4th ISEKI International Food Conference, gathering together researchers and few SMEs in the sector in Vienna, on July 2016. The general aim of the ISEKI_Food conference series (Porto 2008, Milano 2011, Athens 2014 and Vienna 2016) is to contribute to the creation of an "open" international forum for researchers, education scientists, technologists and industry representatives as well as food consumers, to promote constructive dialogue and collaboration on topics relevant to food science and technology, industry and education and to present and disseminate the results of the activities developed by the ISEKI_Food network projects. Thanks to the close collaboration of ISEKI, a TRAFOON project partner, the entrepreneurship workshop took place on July 5th and was promoted in the conference official programme.

The following modules were presented: (i) Technology meets the market: how technology transfer generates innovation; (ii) IPR Protection, (iv) Formulation of the business plan, (iv) Costing and pricing: how much would an innovation cost.

The workshop announcement and programme are available here: https://www.food-sta.eu/event_2016-7-05_enterpreneurship
The results of this task were provided in D7.4 Training modules for food researchers.

T7.5. Processing of information for the InformationShop
Based on the outcomes of the inventory of needs, all information was uploaded and organised together with other WP results within the Information Shop. This multi-lingual online Information Shop (www.trafoon.org) containing the information gathered and implemented within the TRAFOON network was created by WP1. This free access online tool includes information (PDF files, e-books, audio and video files etc.) about innovations in primary production, processing and marketing of traditional food using regional raw materials in different languages. The Information Shop also contains databases of experts and organizations to enable potential future collaborations and SME-oriented research projects, and includes all technology/innovation knowledge transferred during the TWs and guidelines for product innovations in diverse European languages. The following information was uploaded to the Information Shop: Málaga Workshop, Sion workshop, Vienna Workshop.

The results of this task were provided in D7.5 Toolkit on “Fostering entrepreneurship in traditional foods” published online (integrated in WP1).

T7.6. Preparation of a strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) for innovation and entrepreneurship in traditional food production
Based on the detected innovation gaps and the identified needs that require further research, and complemented by SWOT analysis of the demands of SMEs during the MSWs, TRAFOON has developed four SRIAs for the core regions of the TRAFOON traditional foods categories: (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables and mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits and olives. TRAFOON SRIAs will inform national policy makers about future research need of traditional food SMEs, especially fostering rural development. Additionally, a general SRIA (no product-specific) for traditional foods at European level was developed within WP7. This document intended to inform the European Commission and European policy makers about future research answering the identified needs of SMEs in Europe. A deliverable entitled “SRIA” (D7.6) was produced.
The results of this task were provided in D7.6 SRIA

Additional Activities to the DoW (WP7):

T7.7. Case studies of entrepreneurship in the field of traditional food
A compilation of case studies of entrepreneurship was developed by SPI and presented to the audience of several workshop as example of entrepreneurship. 8 case studies were developed: Orti della Valle del Carpina, Aqua4C, Land Pack, NonoSentido, Terrius, Lía, Yonest, and Frutaformas. Each case had the following information: (i) Brief presentation, (ii) Products, (iii) Innovation and Other relevant aspects, (iv) Lessons learned and reflections. As there was no task or deliverable associated to the document, it was included in D7.4 as an attachment.

T7.8. Characterization of export markets – USA and China
Market studies of China and USA were produced. The goal was also to provide relevant information and business intelligence to entrepreneurs in the traditional food sector. For this reason the content was mainly focused on traditional food companies. As there was no task or deliverable associated to the document, it was included in D7.3 as an attachment.

WP8 (Communication & Public Relations):

The main aim of this work package was to promote and to communicate the TRAFOON project activities to national and European institutions in the food sector, including at political level.

T8.1. Communication to national and European stakeholders in the food sector
The main communication channels through which the TRAFOON project was presented to targeted policy makers in the food sector and general public are the following: Personal interactions; Networks; Internet; Mass media. This activity was used as an instrument for: (1) networking of the TRAFOON project with targeted stakeholders in the food sector, (2) mass media communication and (3) organisation of 2 stakeholder workshops and sessions at the annual meetings of relevant associations in the food sector.

In order to focus communication of the TRAFOON project, the following templates were developed: press release, newsletter and communication & dissemination template (D8.1). The templates were created for targeted communication in addition to the generic information material produced in WP10. Press releases and newsletters enabled visibility of the TRAFOON project activities through available mass media tools and communicate major project activities and results. The Communication and Dissemination template was developed for the purpose of collecting TRAFOON Communication Activities. Every 3 months project partners were asked to send their communication activities in this template.

Twitter account (@TrafoonProject) and LinkedIn group were created in order to improve sharing information and discussion on various issues among project partners and other interested parties. This has provided communication support before and after training workshops in the form of promotion on social networks.

A stakeholder databank which contains basic data on stakeholders from various European countries was created (D8.2). The stakeholder databank was envisaged as a tool for targeted communication with various stakeholders in the traditional food sector. This databank enabled communication with single SMEs and food companies in general, SME associations, clusters, professional food organisations, food and beverage producer’s federations, ETPs, NTPs, policy decision makers, other companies in the food production and delivery chain, consumer organisations, mass media organisations, TTOs, incubators and technology parks, thus networking the TRAFOON project with targeted stakeholders, institutions and individuals.

The stakeholder database template was sent to all project partners with a request to provide at least 15 entities in each stakeholder group. The stakeholders were local, regional, national or international. In total, contact data of 1269 Stakeholders in the food sector was collected.

In order to present the progress in TRAFOON and the relevant results that can be used by the community, on May 17th 2016 at Novi Sad Agricultural Fair it was organised the 1st TRAFOON Stakeholder workshop (D8.4). Besides presenting project results, this workshop included three additional topics relevant from stakeholders in the agro food sector: “Stakeholder dialogue”; “National Food Technology Platforms: Strategic Research and Innovation Priorities, with specific focus to SME’s needs” and “BioSenseCenter experience – How to approach European funds for R&I”.

The workshop was jointly organised by partner 15 (Faculty of Agriculture – University of Belgrade, BU) and partner 16 (Institute Mihajlo Pupin, IMP) and it was attended by 49 participants including representatives of SMEs, Faculties, Institutes, and Knowledge transfer agency, Regional Chamber of Commerce, Intellectual Property Office, Associations, Clusters, Foundations, and Serbian Academy of Sciences. Participants of this workshop, both presenters and participants in auditorium agreed on the following conclusions: (1) networks which integrate all stakeholders can effectively facilitate the dialogue between traditional food producers, researchers, decision makers, civil society, and other; (2) technology platform in the area of traditional food is the best direction for integration of the all stakeholders in the area of traditional food; (3) Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Traditional Food should be focused on selected priorities and activities in order to secure wider support and better position within EU programing and funding structures; (4) although it is rather difficult to achieve successful application in Horizon 2020, it is necessary to organise adequate institutional support for both researchers and traditional food producers, who are ready to innovate.

One of the agreements on the 1st Stakeholder Workshop among project partners was to present project outcomes on the different events such as conferences, congresses, fairs aiming at reaching as much as possible stakeholders, instead of organising a 2nd Stakeholder workshop (D8.5). As part of this activity, TRAFOON project was promoted in the following events: CEFOOD2016, Kiev, Ukraine; ISEKI Conference, Vienna, Austria; IUFoST 2016, World Congress of Food Science and Technology, Dublin, Ireland; International scientific conference: Technology, Culture and Development, Tivat, Montenegro; Fruits of West Pomoravlje, Food Fair, Zablaće - Čačak, Serbia; International Conference: Bonding tradition with innovation – successful strategies in food chain value, Olsztyn Poland; B-FoST, Ohrid, Macedonia; FOODTECH2016, Novi Sad, Serbia; and Economic conference, Budva, Montenegro. On each event the general information about TRAFOON Project was given and results were presented. The promotional material (flyers, newsletter) was also disseminated. The total number of participants present at all events was more than 4000.

T8.2. Development and Communication of a Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA)
Implementation plans for the SRIA (D8.3) contained steps that brought to creating Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Traditional Food. It included two main phases: 1. Stakeholders Consultation Session 1 (SCS1): Creation of the vision and prioritisation and relevance of the subject areas / topics; 2. Stakeholders Consultation Session 2 (SCS2): Creation of the vision.

As a result of various project activities, within WP8 it was created the Consolidated future research agenda (D8.6). Based on the innovation gaps detected and the needs identified that require further research, and complemented by the SWOT analysis of the demands of SMEs during the MSWs, TRAFOON has developed four SRIAs for the core regions of the TRAFOON traditional foods categories: (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables and mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits and olives. These product category SRIAs per countries are available at http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-srias-at-national-level/. TRAFOON SRIAs at the national level will inform national policy makers about the future research needs of traditional food SMEs, fostering rural development in particular.

Additionally, a general Consolidated SRIA for traditional foods at the European level was developed. “TRAFOON SRIA at the European level”, includes, from a European perspective, a collective list of identified and prioritised innovation needs of SMEs working on traditional food products based on (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables and mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits and olives. This SRIA, available at http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-sria-at-the-european-level/ also presents identified needs of two cross-sectional issues: “Food Quality & Food Safety”, and “Entrepreneurship in Traditional Food Production”. TRAFOON SRIA at the European level will inform the European Commission and European policy makers about future research answering the identified needs of SMEs in Europe.

In addition to the activities on WP 8 stated in the Annex I, partners on WP 8 from Serbia (BU and IMP) organised the first TRAFOON annual consortium meeting on October 22-23, 2014 in Belgrade, Serbia. Around 50 participants attended the meeting which was devoted to the presentation of results of the 1st project year and making plans for future project period.

IMP and BU have also developed Serbian Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for traditional fruits on the basis of results obtained during TRAFOON training workshops in Serbia. This is the extended version of Serbian national SRIA for traditional fruits which is part of “TRAFOON SRIAs at the national level”.

• Highlight clearly significant results

- Developed communication templates and Stakeholder databank as a basis for communication with various stakeholders
- Promotion or project results on full-day Stakeholder workshop 1
- Project promotion on various events (Stakeholder workshop 2)
- Developed a Consolidated Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda
- Developed National SRIA for traditional fruits (in Serbian and English)

WP9 (Impact assessment):

Following the final version of the Impact assessment Plan for the project and the tools for gathering and analyzing information for the monitoring of project impacts, the objective of WP9 during the last period it has been to identify and present the main impacts of the TRAFOON project. The study of the project impact includes three kinds of analysis procedures addressing performance impacts, knowledge transfer impact and other general impacts involving economic, social and environmental issues. In this regard, main activities were related to over 35 international workshops participated by traditional food representatives and stakeholders from 14 different countries, mainly from the private sector. These events were focused on offering technical support by technicians and researchers to companies (especially SMEs) with the aim of improving the competitiveness of this sector in European entities. A survey particularly focused in traditional food SMEs companies and private sector stakeholders has been carried out during the implementation of workshops and analyzed to identify the project impact at the end of the EU funding period

• Main Results;

1. Performance Monitoring Analysis: The Performance Monitoring Analysis has been focused on the implementation of surveys and the evaluation of the companies and private sector participants’ perception on the quality of the Workshops developed during the project implementation by project partner in 14 different countries. The training activities during the project were especially addressed to the target group of “Traditional Food Companies Stakeholders” (TFCSs). This group was widely represented due to the fact that the 14 associations of food companies participating in the Training Workshops represented around 5,800 European food companies. A good participation of SMEs and relevant associations in Workshops indicates the interest of these stakeholders and the importance of improving the innovation and knowledge transfer in the sector as key factor in the sustainability of the different business models in the opinion of main stakeholders. Another successful aspect to be noticed was the achievement of an optimal involvement of stakeholders and representatives from different geographical points of Europe.

Concerning the quality evaluation of the Ws, participants were asked about their agreement in relation to the following concepts and questions:

• Appropriateness of the structure and implementation of sessions.
• Clearness of the presentations performed.
• Regarding whether or not the training received during sessions may improve performance and innovation profile of the organizations.
• Concerning whether or not the content of sessions was appealing and relevant.
• In relation to whether or not workshop kept interesting during all the sessions and focused on the main topics.
• Their opinion about the foreseen improvement of the collaboration between research sector and traditional food sector through the different approaches, solutions and/ or recommendations indentified.

In this regard, the general evaluation of the workshops was very good according to participants’ judgment, who pointed out a good development and quality of the sessions regarding appropriateness of structure and implementation, clearness of presentations and the content (87% of responses).

2. Knowledge Transfer Impact Analysis: The Knowledge Transfer Assessment attempts to proof the accomplishment of the major intends of TRAFOON project, the improvement of the transfer of knowledge for innovation between traditional food companies – SMEs- and private sector representatives, and in which way it benefits them.

Participants were asked to indicate the envisaged advantages to be gained through the training and information sessions carried out in the project. In this sense, responses were very diverse; however the most expected benefits to be reached were linked to the following topics:

Responses by every participant:
• Improvement of labelling (19%)
• Increase of margin per product (21%)
• Reduction of waste (17%)
• Sales in new markets (23%)
• Obtaining certification of origin (20%)
• Reduction of costs (33%)
• Enhacement of business marketing (26%)
• Environmental impact reduction (21%)
• Increase of sales (28%)
• Reduction of water and energy costs (19%)
• Improvement of workers' conditions (24%)

Responses by participating SMEs:
• Improvement of labelling (23%)
• Increase of margin per product (26%)
• Reduction of waste (18%)
• Sales in new markets (23%)
• Obtaining certification of origin (19%)
• Reduction of costs (30%)
• Enhancement of business marketing (26%)
• Environmental impact reduction (18%)
• Increase of sales (30%)
• Reduction of water and energy costs (20%)
• Improvement of workers' conditions (17%)

Therefore, participants foresee a positive impact in all these issues due to their participation in the TRAFOON training and information events.

3. General Impact Analysis: The aim of the General impact assessment is to evaluate other indirect benefits of the implementation of the project. The study has focused on finding out other general parameters none addressed on the knowledge transfer analysis and that may result affected by the activities and outcomes of TRAFOON project. Concretely, the analysis has been centred on studying the differences between the expectations of the attendees, especially private sector representatives and participating SMEs, about the repercussions of project training activities on the employment. As suggested by the analysis of the responses by participants more than 70% believed that the Ws will have a positive impact in the employment:
• 37% of participants in the survey thought that TRAFOON activities will boost both the creation and the stability of jobs.
• 10% of participants believed that TRAFOON activities will only address to the creation of jobs.
• 13% of participants expected TRAFOON activities to improve only the stability of the jobs.
• 15% of participants assumed that Ws will not have positive impact in the employment within the traditional food sector.

Conclusions & recommendations
In general, after analysing the opinion of main stakeholders around Europe, the activities implemented during the TRAFOON are successful in terms of quality of the actions and the positive impact they had in participants. Moreover, the evaluation of participants reveals that project activities were well performed and efficient. The most adequate issues according to SMEs participants were the “expected positive impact that these actions will have on their daily performance and their innovation profile”, as well as the “the clearness of the presentation” during trainings and the “appropriateness of the content of the sessions”.

Finally, the expected benefits from the innovation transfer approaches in workshops according to SMEs were interlinked to the potential Increase of sales (30%), Reduction of costs (30%), Enhancement of business marketing (26%) and Increase of margin per product (26%) among other potential benefits. However, stronger efforts must be implemented to influence the perception of participants regarding the importance of the transfer of innovations to traditional food sector companies with regard to the Improvement of workers' conditions (17%), Environmental impact reduction (18%) and the Reduction of waste (18%), all of them important issues for the development of a circular economy in the sector

Traditional food companies and research and technology donors agree on the need of transferring innovations related to optimization of processes efficiency, development of additional traditional products, improvement of labeling, food safety and saving water and energy. These innovations are sought with the objective of gaining improvements in terms of sales, both global ones and in new markets, reduction of troubles associated to wastes, enhancement of business marketing and labeling and increasing the margin per product.

In this sense, since innovation transfer needs are properly identified, it suggests that main progresses might be connected to the way these collaborations are implemented – i.e. better adaptation to the constraints of food companies - and measures driving these collaboration to results and outcomes that greater benefits traditional food firms

Moreover, the assessment of the responses by Public Authorities and Research and Technology Donors in questionnaires reveals the large opportunities of TRAFOON project to achieve a considerable advance in the traditional food sector (employment, consumption of products, reputation and image, negative environmental impacts...etc.) given the lack of current strategic planning and the high level of traditional food companies that have not yet incorporated innovations to their organizations to become more competitive.

Nonetheless, as it has been pointed out by the associations of consumers in questionnaires, the connection of traditional food with cultural heritage, the presence of familiar and small businesses in the sector and the product origin identification should be carefully considered in the development of future activities, together with the safeguarding of traditional character attributes, particularly, taste and processes issues.

• Statement on the use of resources:
The final allocation of resources has been higher than expected due to the final amount of time devoted by our staff in the proper implementation of WP9 tasks. This time is connected to a constant monitoring and communication with partners in order to monitor the real and proper distribution and gathering of questionnaires in workshops, as well as to sending to the WP leader all the answered questionnaires in time. The time devoted to give a common format to every document and to create a final protocol for the analysis of questionnaires took also longer than expected. An increase of 5,4 person months was needed in this WP.

WP 10 (Coordination & Management):

The Coordination and Management WP (WP 10) monitored the activities and excellence performed in TRAFOON, ensuring the timely delivery of all deliverables, the overall management of the project – internal and external – and representing the project consortium towards the European Commission and the public.

The management of TRAFOON performed by UHOH included both the scientific and the financial management.
• Consortium management tasks and achievements

The management of TRAFOON included the following tasks:

T10.1. General Co-ordination and Financial Project Management
T10.2. Scientific Project Management
T10.3. Administrative Project Management
T10.4. Development and maintenance of a project website
T10.5. Production of promotional materials for national and transnational communication

All deliverables within WP10 included in the DoW have been delivered on time without any significant deviation.

D10.1 Website
Deliverable completed
Partner UHOH, Coordinator of the TRAFOON project, has developed the project website, launched under the http://www.TRAFOON.eu on 01.12.2013. UHOH is also the responsible partner for the regular maintenance and update of the website. This deliverable presents the different sections, functions, and contents of TRAFOON website.

D10.2 General project material
Deliverable completed
This report contains the development of TRAFOON general promotional materials for national and transnational communication. The TRAFOON logo and a PPT template have been designed by partner UHOH at the beginning of the project, as well as general information in English language about the project in various formats/media (press release, poster and flyers).

D10.3 Minutes of the first consortium meeting
Deliverable completed
This report includes the minutes of the first TRAFOON consortium meeting (22 – 23 October 2014, Belgrade, Serbia)

D10.4 Minutes of the second consortium meeting
Deliverable completed
This report includes the minutes of the second TRAFOON consortium meeting (12 – 13 November 2015, Athens, Greece)
The TRAFOON first consortium meeting took place in Belgrade, Serbia (October 22-23 2014).

• Changes in the consortium

1. Addition of a new Consortium Partner ‘UNIVERZA na PRIMORKEM / UNIVERSITÀ del LITORALE’ and the splitting of the tasks of the Consortium Partner ‘UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI’ between these two partners as follows:

The responsible person, Mr. Peter Raspor, is no more employed by ‘UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI’ (UL) and changed his employment to ‘UNIVERZA na PRIMORKEM / UNIVERSITÀ del LITORALE’ (UP). Due to lack of a suitable expertise to replace Mr. Peter Raspor in TRAFOON, UL had to reduce their participation in TRAFOON and handed over the major responsibilities to the new Consortium Partner UP. UL was mainly foreseen to act as the leader of WP 6 “Food Quality & Food Safety” and include the expertise of Mr. Peter Raspor in the WP 2-5. To account for the ambitions and goals of TRAFOON as a project that will deliver valuable results for as much regions of Europe as possible, we were determined to add UP as a new Consortium Partner and split the tasks, responsibilities and budget between UL and UP.

2. The participation of the partner 30 (SLOW FOOD ASSOCIAZIONE) is terminated from 15 March 2015.

3. The participation of the partner 31 (UNIVERZA na PRIMORSKEM / UNIVERSITÀ DEL LITORALE) is terminated from 31.01.2016.

• List of project meetings, dates and venues

- TRAFOON Kick-Off Meeting, Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany, November 26-27 2013
- First Consortium Meeting Belgrade, Serbia, October 22-23 2014
- Second Consortium Meeting, Athens, Greece, November 12-13 2015
- TRAFOON – TRADEIT Joint SRIA Meeting, Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany, August 02-03 2016
- TRAFOON – TRADEIT Joint Final Conference Brussels, Belgium, October 19-20 2016

• Project planning and status

Although some deliverables showed delays, the overall project status and progress was fully in line with the envisaged goals and results.

TRAFOON communication and dissemination activities of partner UHOH include presentation and/or poster in different conferences, congresses and workshops, TV/radio appearance, articles, etc. Many of these activities included cooperation with other projects/programs (e.g. TRADEIT, ISEKI Food Association, different COST Actions, etc.). Additionally, a TRAFOON book for European consumers, “Traditional Food: A Culinary Trip Through Europe”, has been developed with the support of the whole TRAFOON consortium. The main aim of this book is to increase the awareness and consumption of traditional food in Europe.

Potential Impact:
With its tailored approach, TRAFOON strongly supported the goals and strategic direction of the Work Programme 2013, Cooperation, Theme 2: Food, Agriculture And Fisheries, And Biotechnology, The SME network of sub-networks (Grains, Fish, Vegetables & Mushrooms, and Sweet Fruits & Olives) in TRAFOON was specifically designed to transfer innovations from previously conducted FP6/FP7 EU research projects and also to take-up the current and most pressing needs of traditional food producing SMEs in Europe and turn them into innovation and market opportunities. With this approach, TRAFOON clearly demonstrated its significant impact on the central goals of the Work Programme 2013:

1) Focusing on innovation to strengthen EU’s science base in the bio-economy;

2) Maximising the impact of research and innovation on European societies and economies.

In addition, special consideration has been given to contributing to the strategic goals of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on "Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability". Following the European goal to "...not only how to produce more, but also how to produce better" (EIP, 2012), the technology transfer in TRAFOON has contributed with technological solutions and also focus on ethical, social and sustainable innovations for producers of traditional food products.

The optimisation of innovation transfer to SMEs producing traditional food by the integration of advanced technologies and the uptake of research results from previous EU initiatives stayed at the core of TRAFOON to meet the consumers’ requirements for high-quality products, healthy diets, affordable prices, fair and equitable relations along the food supply chain and food safety. The project goals were thus fully in-line with the topics listed in Activity 2.2 Fork to farm: Food (including seafood), health and well-being.

TRAFOON directly targeted these expected impacts in the context of the wider set of objectives listed in the Work Programme 2013, including those described in KBBE.2013.2.3-02: Network for the transfer of knowledge on traditional foods to SMEs. In order to bring about these expected impacts, specific project activities were implemented throughout the WPs. These impacts had an essential role in reinforcing European goals in the following aspects:

1. Strengthen the EU’s science base in the bio-economy:

Within TRAFOON, more than 55 Training Workshops (TWs) for SMEs of traditional fish based foods, products of grain, products of vegetables and mushrooms, and products of fruits and olives have been held with a total audience of more than 2500 people. Per traditional food category and core region, at least two Training Workshops for SMEs of traditional foods will be carried out in the National language. Each Training Workshop addressed the requirements of SMEs which were identified by the inventory of needs at the beginning of the project. In all these TWs, general topics of “food quality and safety” and “entrepreneurship” have also been transferred.

To reach a larger number of SMEs, a multi-lingual online Information Shop (www.TRAFOON.org) containing the information gathered and implemented within the TRAFOON network, as well as all presentations and material transferred during the TWs and guidelines for successfully transferred innovation. The Information Shop includes information (PDF files, e-books, audio and video files etc.) about innovations in production and marketing of traditional food using regional raw materials in different languages. TRAFOON partner IFA (ISEKI Food Association), responsible for the development of the Information Shop, will maintain it during the following two years after the official end of the project. Additionally, IFA will prepare an open online platform where the relevant materials (databases, guidelines, ppt presentation, videos, etc.) from TRAFOON Information Shop and from additional projects/networks (e.g. TRADEIT, EuFooD-STA ERASMUS + project, ISEKI website, etc.) are combined. This “neutral” online tool will be openly available for SMEs and all stakeholders, and will be maintained and further developed by IFA in the frame of future funded projects and initiatives (e.g. H2020, COST Actions).

2. Maximising the impact of research and innovation:

The project aimed at the knowledge transfer of technical innovations and existing research results from past and current EU projects (FP6/FP7), EU-SME initiatives, as well as national and regional projects in the processing and production of traditional food. An inventory and analysis of transferrable project results were conducted by TRAFOON consortium. The updated lists on current technical innovations for traditional food SMEs, included innovations in the production, processing, food safety, food quality, and packaging of traditional food products. During 5 multi-stakeholders workshops (MSWs) in the respective food categories, TRAFOON partners, SME associations, and external specialist analysed and prioritised the needs/demands of SMEs and matched them with the identified available innovations. This was the basic for the agendas of the different TRAFOON TWs for SMEs (more than 55 TWs in 14 European countries).

3. Strategic goals aimed at completing and further developing research agendas with a view to research and innovation activities beyond 2013, upgrading and sharing knowledge:

Based on the innovation gaps detected and the needs identified that require further research, and complemented by the SWOT analysis of the demands of SMEs during the MSWs, TRAFOON has developed four SRIAs for the core regions of the TRAFOON traditional foods categories: (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables and mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits and olives. These so-called “TRAFOON SRIAs at the national level” are available at http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-srias-at-national-level/. TRAFOON SRIAs at the national level will inform national policy makers about the future research needs of traditional food SMEs, fostering rural development in particular. Also two specifics SRIAs on “Food Quality & Food Safety” and “Entrepreneurship in Traditional Food Production” have been carried out within the project.

Additionally, a general SRIA for traditional foods at the European level has been developed. “TRAFOON Consolidated SRIA at the European level”, includes, from a European perspective, a collective list of identified and prioritised innovation needs of SMEs working on traditional food products based on (1) grains, (2) fish, (3) vegetables and mushrooms, and (4) sweet fruits and olives, including identified needs of two cross-sectional issues: “Food Quality & Food Safety”, and “Entrepreneurship in Traditional Food Production”. TRAFOON SRIA at the European level will inform the European Commission and European policy makers about future research answering the identified needs of SMEs in Europe. “TRAFOON Consolidated SRIA at the European level” is available at http://www.trafoon.eu/trafoon-sria-at-the-european-level/.

Furthermore, a joint TRAFOON-TRADEIT document: “Summary of Strategic Research and Innovation Needs of Traditional Food Producers in the EU” has been developed. This document was officially presented during the TRAFOON-TRADEIT joint Closing Conference in Brussels (19-20 October, 2016) and it can be found this final report as attached documents.

4. Support productivity, sustainability and competitiveness of the European agri-food market:

All TWs for SMEs implemented during the life time of the project in 14 European countries included sessions related to primary production, food processing, food safety and food quality, but also concerning marketing, labelling, certification, food law, IPR and other legal and business aspects. Additionally, 3 special TWs focused on “Fostering Entrepreneurship” were also implemented within the project:

• “Entrepreneurship Workshop for SMEs of agricultural and fisheries sector”: The workshop took place at the at "Parque Tecnoalimentario Costa del Sol Axarquía", Málaga, Spain (08 April 2016). The agenda included sessions on the importance of the business plan, the internalisation of the products and the costs management for the agricultural and fisheries sectors. The language of the workshop was Spanish.

• “Contributions of private and public R&D into value creation in food and agriculture sector”: This event was an opportunity to share a reflection on R&D: How SMEs create the value without internal R&D? How does a multinational company organise its R&D? Participants had the opportunity to meet people innovative in the creation of value in food sector and experts from public R&D. The workshop took place at the EPFL Valais Wallis in Sion, Switzerland (23 June, 2016). The language of the workshop was French.

• Joint TRAFOON - FooD-STA Training Workshop on Entrepreneurship for food researchers in Austria: In the frame of the TRAFOON (FP7) and the FooD-STA (ERASMUS+) projects and on the occasion of the 4th International ISEKI-Food Conference, a joint TW took place aiming at forstering entrepreneurship dedicated to researchers and stakeholders of food sector (05 July, 2016). The workshop was certified by IFA according the EQAS scheme. The language of the workshop was English.

5. Contribution to consumer satisfaction:

In the long-term, after improving the knowledge/innovation transfer for traditional food producing SMEs in Europe (e.g. introduction of SME Associations like mediator between Academia and SMEs, organising more than 55 TWs and conferences in Europe, developing the Information Shop as online platform with relevant information, guidelines and material for SMEs in different languages), TRAFOON will contribute to consumer satisfaction by providing SMEs working in traditional food products with knowledge, sustainable innovation and new skills on entrepreneurship. With the activities implemented in TRAFOON, SMEs will be able to improve their competitiveness, and to provide consumer oriented products, while maintaining high bio-resource efficiency, contributing to a healthy nutrition in European consumers.
Furthermore, to increase the awareness and consumption of traditional food in Europe, TRAFOON has published “Traditional food: a culinary trip through Europe”. The 180 pages book brings the consumer the opportunity to learn more about traditional food products from 11 European countries. In an easy to read style, the book presents interesting general information and anecdotes about European traditional food, including traditional recipes and high quality pictures (landscape, traditional food producers, raw material, traditional dishes, etc.). To reach a wider audience, the book has been prepared in English and translated into different languages (e.g. German, French, Polish). The pdf version of the book is already available at http://www.trafoon.eu/ and it can be found in this report as attached document. All TRAFOON partners will disseminate this document through their networks (email, websites, social media) and they will distribute physical copies during conferences and events. Additionally, TRAFOON consortium will bring the book to different European Consumers Associations.

6. Develop smart specialisation strategies:

TRAFOON is a network of 29 European research institutions, technology transfer agencies and SME associations from 14 European countries. From the beginning of the project until the end, TRAFOON partners have been in close contact with National traditional food producing SMEs and SME Associations. Thanks to this direct communication, the project identified and collected the needs of these SMEs for the different core region. Within TRAFOON, all knowledge transfer activities for SMEs (e.g. workshops, conferences) have been implemented at a National level. All TWs were held in the National language of the corresponding core region and based on their specific identified need/gaps for innovation. These were built upon each nation/region strengths and technological developments, allowing the identification of the unique characteristics of each region/nation, strengthening its competitiveness and thus its economy.

As previously mentioned, based on the innovation gaps detected and the needs identified that require further research, TRAFOON has developed four SRIAs for the core regions of the TRAFOON traditional foods categories: grains (The Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Slovenia), fish (Czech Republic and Poland), vegetables (Poland, Italy, France and The Netherlands), mushrooms (The Netherlands, Germany and Poland), sweet fruits (Switzerland, Serbia and Poland) and olives (Spain, Portugal). TRAFOON SRIAs at the national level will inform national policy makers about the future research needs of traditional food SMEs, fostering rural development in particular.

TRAFOON: Improving the transfer of knowledge for innovation

The innovative approach of TRAFOON has had the capacity to correct current barriers in the field of traditional foods, such as: (i) the reduced use of traditional food products with an economic relevance in the respective countries’ food sector, (ii) the unsuccessful transfer of knowledge between the actors of the innovation value chain, or (iii) the increased demand of standardised and quality controlled products. The impact of TRAFOON can be measured through the development of a comprehensive network of stakeholders with the necessary skills to increase the competitiveness of the respective sector in their region. Specifically, TRAFOON has had a direct impact on:

- The ability of SMEs to promote the unique assets of their region/sector;

- The capacity of the stakeholders to effectively transfer knowledge and technology to the relevant actors, through a specialised network;

- The competitiveness of the agro-food sector in the different regions/sectors tackled in the project;

- The communication skills of the network regarding the quality, excellence and added value of traditional food products;

- The consumption of traditional food products by the civil society;

- The development of future research agendas in the area of traditional foods;

- The exploitation of results of previous European projects.

The need for a European Strategy

TRAFOON was designed under the assumption that a technology transfer network in traditional foods can best be addressed at the European level, through an integrated approach involving multiple European countries. Indeed, the implementation of this network was tackled in a coordinated manner, in compliance with the key EU research programmes, food legal aspects, and protocols for food quality and safety, as well as with existing regional initiatives in the field of technology transfer.

Therefore, the need for a European strategy was particularly relevant for TRAFOON. The network supported “EU Innovation Union in the form of upgrading and sharing knowledge” by connecting existing coalitions of research institutions, technology transfer organisations and associations of SMEs on regional, national and European level. Indeed, the implementation of an effective and prolific transfer of knowledge between the actors of the area could only be accomplished by developing a network of subnetworks at a European level. The project made use of each region/nation’s area of excellence, combining them into a specialised European network.

Moreover, TRAFOON was presented by a motivated consortium of 29 partners from different European countries, which guaranteed a European dimension to the project. All necessary skills and the specific know-how for the implementation of the project (ranging from food production, processing, labeling, to marketing, food quality and safety, or legal and business aspects) can only be found in such a multidisciplinary combination by bringing together different European countries. A limited national or regional approach would thus be insufficient to effectively meet the objectives of TRAFOON.

As a result of its nature, TRAFOON made use of other national or international research activities, namely on-going and previous National and European projects, or National and European technology platforms, such as ‘Food for Life’. The partners of the consortium have a network of contacts through which input from similar national and international activities was incorporated into the project activities. This extensive network, branched throughout Europe, was also enable an effective dissemination and exploitation of the project results, directly impacting the success of TRAFOON’s network.

Dissemination & Exploitation

The dissemination and exploitation of the results drawn from the project activities was one of the key enablers of the success of TRAFOON. The project partnership was fully aware of the importance of dissemination and exploitation of the project. A Dissemination and Exploitation strategy was developed with the active involvement of the network. This strategy included a detailed definition of the target groups of the dissemination and exploitation activities, which included the relevant stakeholders of the value chain of knowledge transfer in traditional foods.

The dissemination and exploitation strategy also presented a detailed plan of the dissemination/exploitation activities, and provided details on the communication materials to be used, as well as a methodology to evaluate and monitor the results of the dissemination and exploitation activities. The Dissemination and Exploitation strategy enhanced the project dissemination and exploitation activities by: (i) raising awareness within the partnership of the importance of these actions, (ii) presenting a calendar of activities and defining each partner´s role, and (iii) presenting a set of tools that supported the communication with stakeholders. This consequently increased the impact of the project.

Main dissemination activities and channels

To achieve an optimal dissemination of the insights and results achieved in the course of the project,
TRAFOON combined the following dissemination activities and channels:

Project website (www.trafoon.eu): A professionally designed project website was developed by partner 1 (UHOH), Coordinator of the TRAFOON project, which is open to access by both the consortium members and the public (with open access to the ‘external-oriented’ website parts and limited access - only for project partners - to the ‘internal’ part). The website was launched on 01.12.2013. UHOH will maintain TRAFOON website during the following two years after the official end of the project.
TRAFOON website´s main pages:

- Home: This page shows the project logo, provides an overview of the TRAFOON consortium (involved European countries and the partners´ logos) and the different sections within the website. In the right side of this page, the icons of the four different food categories addressed by TRAFOON (fish, grain, vegetables + mushrooms, and fruits + olives) are featured. Relevant information about each food category is shown clicking on the corresponding icon. Also in the right side of the website, the information about TRAFOON on twitter (@TRAFOONProject) and the partner login for the intranet section are shown. The TRAFOON intranet section is used to store all the project documents (communication templates, restricted documents, etc.) on a secure server. Access to this restricted area for the persons involved in the TRAFOON project is gained through a general login name and password.

- About TRAFOON: This page provides a summary of the project as a whole. Five different TRAFOON flyers (General Information, Fish, Grain, Vegetables & Mushrooms, and Fruits & Olives) are available to be downloaded from this page.

- TRAFOON SRIAs at the European and at the National level: On these sections, the different TRAFOON SRIAs are available for download.

- Training Workshops: This page provided information about the different TRAFOON Training Workshops (food category, agenda, venue, location, registration, etc.). TRAFOON organised more than 55 Training Workshops for SMEs in 14 European countries during 2015 and 2016.

- News & Events: These two independent pages present news and relevant events (workshops, congresses, conferences, etc.) related to TRAFOON project, the traditional food sector and the food sector in general.

- Partners: TRAFOON has 29 partners from 14 European countries. In the partners section all partners and their contact persons are listed. Clicking on “partner description”, which can be found below each partner logo, more information about the corresponding partner is provided.

- Contact: On this page stakeholders have the opportunity to get in contact directly with the TRAFOON Coordination team. It enables people to ask questions or send comments.

- Impressions: This page provides a visual overview of the TRAFOON conferences, activities, and workshops that have already been hold

Web-based Information Shop (www.trafoon.org): Partner 24 (IFA), in collaboration with the whole TRAFOON consortium, developed the web-based information shop. IFA will maintain the Information Shop platform during the following two years after the official end of the project. The webpage has different sections: one for each TRAFOON food sector, (fish, grain, vegetables & mushrooms, fruits & olives, and entrepreneurhip), databases section, training section and guidelines section.

- Experts database: It includes information on experts (individuals) available for consultancy on knowledge transfer in the TRAFOON food sectors.

- Organisations database: It includes information on associations, Research/technology transfer institutions, suppliers (industry, distribution, consultancy), public authorities, project consortiums and any other bodies (miscellaneous) involved in the technology transfer process of the TRAFOON food sectors.

- Information database: It provides information (links to web pages, audios, ppt presentations, videos, PDF files and eBooks) about innovations in production, processing and marketing of traditional food using regional raw materials in different languages.

- Training section: TRAFOON organised Training Workshops for SMEs in 14 European countries on 6 different food categories (Grain, Fish, Vegetables, Mushrooms, Sweet Fruits and Olives) and on specifics topics (Entrepreneurship, Food Quality and Food Safety, Stakeholders) during 2015 and 2016. These Training Workshops aimed at improving communication and transfer of innovations between research and food SMEs. All presentations of the different Training Workshops can be found in this section.

Project flyers/posters: project flyers helped partners present the project shortly both in face-to-face activities during workshops, meeting and conferences, as well as by email. 5 different versions of the flyers were produced: a general one with an overview of the project, and 4 food specific (Grain, Fish, Vegetables & Mushrooms, and Sweet Fruits & Olives). All flyers are available at TRAFOON website. The flyers were completed with different posters (TRAFOON overview, TRAFOON Training Workshops in 2015, Results from the Inventory of Needs of Traditional Food SMEs in Europe). Flyers and posters were translated to different languages of the project partners (e.g. German, Spanish, Polish, Italian). TRAFOON flyers and posters are attached to this final report.

Project mass media tools: 3 TRAFOON Newsletters were sent and focused on announcing relevant activities, events and results, while press releases were used mainly for announcing important outcomes and upcoming events. The project also made use of Web 2.0 technologies (e.g. twitter) in order to increase visibility of the project’s activities. Close connection to the regional/national media was provided through articles in newspapers, as well as radio and TV interviews.

“Traditional Food: A Culinary Trip through Europe” book: The main aim of this book, developed by the whole TRAFOON consortium, is to increase the awareness and consumption of traditional food in Europe. The 180 pages book brings the consumer the opportunity to learn more about traditional food products from 11 European countries. In an easy to read style, the book presents interesting general information and anecdotes about European traditional food, including traditional recipes and high quality pictures (landscape, traditional food producers, raw material, traditional dishes, etc.). To reach a wider audience, the book has been prepared in English and translated into different languages (e.g. German, French, Polish). The pdf version of the book is already available at http://www.trafoon.eu/. All TRAFOON partners will disseminate this document through their networks (email, websites, social media) and they will distribute physical copies during conferences and events.

Relevant International and National conferences/congresses, events and scientific journals: TRAFOON’s results were presented at International and National conferences/congresses on traditional food/food sector issues in general and other events like fairs, meetings and workshops were also taken advantage of to spread information about the project and also to engage interested parties. Moreover, in order to liaise the results of the project to all stakeholders with potential interest in the project, scientific papers are envisioned to be published in relevant journals of the four traditional food areas also after the official end of the project. A list of conferences and events where TRAFOON´s results were presented (e.g. workshop organisation, oral presentation, poster) can be found below:

- EXPO Milano 2015, Italy
- EFFoST 28th International Conference (2014), Uppsala, Sweden
- EFFoST 29th International Conference (2015), Athens, Greece
- IUFoST 17th World Congress of Food Science and Technology (2014), Montreal, Canada
- IUFoST 18th World Congress of Food Science and Technology (2016), Dublin, Ireland
- ProBIO. Making more of Bioeconomy R&D Results (2015), Brussels, Belgium
- SC2 Dissemination Event. Session: Innovation and skills development (2016), Brussels, Belgium
- 8 th International European Forum (2014), Innsbruck-Igls, Austria
- World Food Day 2015: Mediterranean Food and Nutrition, Portoroz, Slovenia
- 3rd International ISEKI_Food Conference (2014), Athens, Greece
- 4th International ISEKI_Food Conference (2016), Vienna, Austria
- COST - European Cooperation in Science and Technology (2014), Parma, Italy
- COST - Food waste in the European Food Supply Chain (2014), Athens, Greece
- 3rd North and East European Congress on Food (NEEFood) (2015), Brasov, Romania
- 6th National Scientific Conference "Rural area and Agriculture in the Process of Change" (2015), Opole-Kamień Śląski, Poland
- ANUGA FoodTec (2015), Cologne, Germany
- 3rd Symposium on traditional food from Adriatic to Caucasus (2015), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzigovina
- 4th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (2015), Ulm, Germany
- 10th National Conference on Carp Farmers (2015), Słok k/Bełchatowa, Poland
- International Conference “Food in the Bio-based Economy; Sustainable Provision and Access", Wageningen, The Netherlands
- International Conference of Agricultural Economists (2015), Milan, Italy
- 83rd Novi Sad International Agricultural Fair (2016), Novi Sad, Serbia

In the frame of different EFFoST Conferences and IUFoST Congress, TRAFOON, in collaboration with TRADEIT, has organised 3 special sessions. The main aim of these events was to discuss the recent developments in the traditional agri-food sector assessing the particular technological, innovation and entrepreneurship needs. The sessions focused on issues related to primary production, sustainability, food safety, quality, processing, waste utilisation, labeling and certification. Marketing and business models were also addressed to enable SMEs to upgrade and up-skill through the networking and entrepreneurial training.

1. TRAFOON/TRADEIT Common Session at the 28th EFFoST Conference (27 November 2014, Uppsala, Sweden)

2. TRAFOON/TRADEIT Session: “Innovation and sustainability for traditional food small-scale producers” at the 29th EFFoST Conference (12
November 2015, Athens, Greece)

3. TRAFOON/TRADEIT Session: “Knowledge transfer and innovation for SME Food Producers” at the IUFoST 18th World Congress of Food Science and Technology (24 August 2016, Dublin, Ireland)

TRAFOON Impact Assessment: Conclusions & Recommendations

In general, after analysing the opinion of main stakeholders around Europe, the activities implemented during the TRAFOON are successful in terms of quality of the actions and the positive impact they had in participants though some recommendations to improve the future transfer of innovation in the traditional food sector may be suggested.

In this regard, main activities were related to more than 55 international workshops participated by traditional food representatives and stakeholders from 14 different countries, mainly from the private sector. These events were focused on offering technical support by technicians and researchers to companies (especially SMEs) with the aim of improving the competitiveness of this sector in European entities.

The European private sector of traditional food had a high participation during these events through the participation of at least 225 traditional food SMEs, 87 large companies and 14 international associations that represented about 5,800 food firms, besides other stakeholders in the traditional food sector such as researchers, innovation transfer entities, entrepreneurship consultancies...etc.

Moreover, the evaluation of participants reveals that project activities were well performed and efficient. The most adequate issues according to SMEs participants were the “expected positive impact that these actions will have on their daily performance and their innovation profile”, as well as the “the clearness of the presentation” during trainings and the “appropriateness of the content of the sessions”.

Finally, the expected benefits from the innovation transfer approaches in workshops according to SMEs were interlinked to the potential Increase of sales (30%), reduction of costs (30%), enhancement of business marketing (26%) and increase of margin per product (26%) among other potential benefits.

However, stronger efforts must be implemented to influence the perception of participants regarding the importance of the transfer of innovations to traditional food sector companies with regard to the improvement of workers' conditions (17%), environmental impact reduction (18%) and the reduction of waste (18%), all of them important issues for the development of a circular economy in the sector.

Traditional food companies and research and technology donors agree on the need of transferring innovations related to optimisation of processes efficiency, development of additional traditional products, improvement of labeling, food safety and saving water and energy. These innovations are sought with the objective of gaining improvements in terms of sales, both global ones and in new markets, reduction of troubles associated to wastes, enhancement of business marketing and labeling and increasing the margin per product.

In this sense, since innovation transfer needs are properly identified, it suggests that main progresses might be connected to the way these collaborations are implemented – i.e. better adaptation to the constraints of food companies - and measures driving these collaboration to results and outcomes that greater benefits traditional food firms.

Moreover, the assessment of the responses by Public Authorities and Research and Technology Donors in questionnaires reveals the large opportunities of TRAFOON project to achieve a considerable advance in the traditional food sector (employment, consumption of products, reputation and image, negative environmental impacts...etc.) given the lack of current strategic planning and the high level of traditional food companies that have not yet incorporated innovations to their organisations to become more competitive.

Nonetheless, as it has been pointed out by the associations of consumers in questionnaires, the connection of traditional food with cultural heritage, the presence of familiar and small businesses in the sector and the product origin identification should be carefully considered in the development of future activities, together with the safeguarding of traditional character attributes, particularly, taste and processes issues.

List of Websites:
www.trafoon.eu
www.trafoon.org

Susanne Braun, Coordinator (s.braun@uni-hohenheim.de)
Francisco Javier Casado Hebrard, Project Manager (fjcasado@uni-hohenheim.de)

Final Report Summary - TRAFOON (Traditional Food Network to improve the transfer of knowledge for innovation)

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