To determine the current status of the Food and Research Innovation landscape in the context of Traditional, Craft and Ethnic Food producing SMEs recent European-wide and National Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas including the ETP Food for Life, SRA 2007 and SRIA 2012, JPI A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life, Commission, Food and Drink Industry, Innovation Strategy and policy documentation were reviewed to identify components relevant to the Traditional Foods Industry.

Key scientific challenges for the Traditional Food Producing SMEs identified:

• Health & Nutrition: With increasing consumer demand for both healthier food and for foods with specific health benefits there are a significant market opportunities to capitalise on. RDI is required to develop and characterise convenient, high quality personalised food products to meet diverse consumer demands, including studies to explore and verify the effect of specific foods on human health.
• Safety: Food safety remains a priority of the European Food Industry, with recent large food safety incidents. Key RDI needs are technologies for the characterisation early detection and elimination of chemical, biological, processing related hazards.
• Sustainability and Ethical Production: Covering multiple topics such as food security, sustainable agriculture, bio economy challenge, resource efficiency and food distribution. SMEs also face tough economic constraints to comply with stringent EU environmental legislation on (for example, IPPC, Emissions Trading Schemes compliance costs).
• Food processing and packaging: New processing, production and packaging technologies are required which achieve a balance between enhanced process performance and impact upon food quality, safety, environmental performance and impact (e.g. low waste, active, intelligent packaging).
• Consumer awareness: Studies are required to better understand the consumer and to ensure that new food related developments, as part of balanced diets and active lifestyles, are accepted by the consumer.
• The food chain: There is a need to adjust the trend towards increased process integration along the value chain to the organization of a flexible and responsive network approach to adapt rapidly, to overcome structural problems and to focus on consumer needs. Technologies developing improved logistics (from farmer, processor, distributer, retailer, consumer), greater knowledge of consumer preferences, pricing strategies, exploration of alterative retail structures and social innovation led activities are required.
• Innovation: Continued facilitation and promotion of innovation in the food sector is required to ensure the sector evolves and regains its competitive positioning in a global setting.

This insight will be drawn upon in future stakeholder consultations to accelerate and focus discussions on key areas of importance to the traditional, craft and artisan agro-food producers to develop a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for the European SMEs.

The research agenda developed will proposes topics to promote investment in development of technologies and processes that are relevant and economically viable in the setting of small and micro scale food enterprises.

There is at present European wide consultation toward the identification of research needs and topics, suggestions and recommendations are welcomed at info@tradeitnetwork.eu