Project Introduction
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Traditional Foods are a significant element of the cultural heritage of each member state and are critical economic inputs to many regions. To meet growing consumer demands, a significant increase in innovation is required from Traditional Food Producing SMEs to generate food products that are authentic, yet meet 21st century standards in food safety, consumer demands in the area of nutritional content, sensory value, convenience, traceability, environmental impact and sustainability.
Europe’s future economic growth and jobs will increasingly come from innovations in products, services and business models. Furthermore, in order for traditional food producers to compete in the increasingly global European food market issues such as supply chain, marketing and business models will have to be addressed by SMEs. This is a particularly challenging task for Traditional, Craft and Artisan Food producing SMEs as few have the resources or capability for research and innovation and seldom possess the financial and human resources needed to participate in collaborative projects with universities or research centres.
This issue has been recognised as an area that requires significant investment and support on an EU level, this has been delivered through the funding of two projects by the European Commission specifically designed to support the Traditional Food Producers across Europe, TRADEIT (www.tradeitnetwork.eu) and a second project TRAFOON (www.trafoon.eu) .
Objectives of the TRADEIT Project
| 1. | Establish a European network and regional Hubs to connect stakeholders in traditional food production across the EU | | 2. | Promote smart specialisation and innovation through dedicated technology transfer activities | | 3. | Transfer knowledge to traditional food producing SMEs in key areas related to their competitiveness, using hands-on training and novel approaches to learning | | 4. | Promote innovation in academic research through provision of entrepreneurial training to food researchers | | 5. | Support Network Collaboration and Learning | | 6. | Develop a strategic research and innovation agenda for the traditional food sector | | 7. | Ensure competitiveness and sustainability of the wider traditional food sector through open source training and resources available through the TRADEIT network and Hubs
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The key outcomes will be the development of a sustainable network for the upgrading and up skilling Traditional Food Producing SMEs, innovation promotion and the delivery of a research agenda for the traditional food sector thereby increasing the competiveness of the traditional food producing SMEs and regional economies.
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