The Hub in Germany, located at the Institut für Lebensmittel- und Umweltforschung e.V. (ILU) has two remits, Bakery and Sustainability. Consultation and collaboration with SMEs and innovators in the sectors revealed a range of interests for German SMEs and formed the basis of the Missions delivered between October 2015 and March 2016. They are:

1. Subsidies for the use of renewable energies
2. Reduction of the costs for energy consumption
3. New possibilities to save energy and water
4. Improvement of food safety: Rapid determination systems
5. Baking with ancient grains
6. Development of vegetarian and vegan products
7. Labelling (allergens, vegetarian and vegan products)
8. Exclusion of chemical food additives

Based on the first three needs above, an SME Mission was undertaken in October 2015 with a focus on reducing operating costs through improving sustainability; the details are provided below.

Affordable AND Sustainable
This Mission took place on the premises of Märkisches Landbrot GmbH in Berlin and followed a workshop on environmental management. This company is a traditional delivery bakery of organic products, which has been certified to the environmental management standard EMAS since 1995 and was first food processing company in Europe to achieve it.

All participants of the Workshop and the Mission got an intense insight into the whole company through a site inspection, where related sustainable technologies and the present implementation of environmental management were showcased.

A presentation and case study discussion with an independent energy consultant from ZAB Brandenburg, a stakeholder organisation, rounded off the program. This gave the SMEs information about technologies and funding possibilities based on their needs, which we had identified before the event.

Making Food Safer
The next Mission took place on the Potsdam University campus in November 2015 and focused on rapid determination systems for the improvement of food safety. This event contained a number of technology presentations, which were showcased locally by technology providers. After that, the SMEs discussed their needs with analytical companies as well as among each other involving the case studies. This event was organized together with ZAB Brandenburg, Potsdam University, Potsdam Transfer and ILU / TRADEIT.

Ancient Grains and Reducing additives
The Missions for February-March 2016 are based on needs 5 to 8 listed above. One event will have a focus on baking with ancient grains and the other addresses labelling issues in the Bakery sector. A further Mission will concentrate on using foaming technology to replace food additives and to generate vegan foams. Expert speakers and technologists from ILU and IGV GmbH will present their knowledge theoretically and practically in ILU`s application laboratories.

If you are interested in the opportunities outlined here then please contact Martha Walter (Martha.Walter@ilu-ev.de)