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About EIT Food

Supported by the EU, we lead the world’s largest and most dynamic food innovation community. We create connections right across the food system that stimulate new ideas and inventions to drive change.

Who we are

We believe inclusive systems innovation, which enables all people and places to participate and benefit, is essential to a strong food system that is better for everyone. With teams on the ground across Europe, we bridge the gap between countries and regions with low innovation capacity and those leading the way. And we put consumers at the heart of our work, helping build trust by reconnecting them to the origins of their food, directly involving them in the innovation process, and working with the food sector to increase transparency.

Collaboration is central to all our work, which spans the whole food value chain, and is vital to meet the big challenges we face. Together with our community, we will build an innovative and resilient food system that in turn creates a healthier society and planet.

In Your Area

EIT Food is a pan-European organisation with headquarters in Leuven, Belgium, and regional offices in different locations.

About our community

With teams across Europe, our community is working together to build an innovative, inclusive and resilient food system.

Meet the team

Get to know the faces behind EIT Food. We are all passionate about transforming the food system, with expertise and perspectives from across the food chain.

What we do

Our mission is to launch, develop and grow research and innovation in products and services harnessing the power of shared knowledge across EIT Food's innovation ecosystem.
We are attracting, developing and empowering bright minds to lead the transformation of the food system into an innovative sector that produces healthy and sustainable food, and is trusted by society.
Startups play a fundamental role in transforming the food system. EIT Food supports innovative impactful agrifood entrepreneurs and startups to deliver new food innovations and businesses across Europe.
Here at EIT Food, we define Public Engagement as “a set of diverse activities that foster a two-way dialogue between specialists and the public”. As an organisation, we have always prioritised the active and important role consumers play…

Our objectives

At EIT Food, our mission is to transform how food is produced, distributed, and consumed and to increase its value to European society. We will achieve this by solving the biggest innovation challenges through trusted industry, education and research partners working together with informed and engaged citizens.

We will achieve this through our strategic objectives:

Educate to engage, innovate and advance

Providing ‘food system’ skills for students, entrepreneurs and professionals through advanced training programmes

Enhance sustainability through resource stewardship

Developing solutions to transform the traditional ‘produce-use-dispose’ model into a circular bio-economy

Catalyse food entrepreneurship and innovation

Fostering innovation at all stages of business creation

Build a consumer-centric connected food system

Developing a digital food supply network with consumers and industry as equal partners

Create consumer-valued food for healthier nutrition

Enabling individuals to make informed and affordable personal nutrition choices

Overcome low consumer trust

Supporting European citizens in the transition towards a smart food system that is inclusive and reassuring

“Food systems transformation is vital for the health, wellbeing and resilience of people, and of the planet. Together with our community of amazing innovators, we are proud to be part of the movement to create the regenerative food systems our future depends on.”

- Richard Zaltzman, CEO of EIT Food

Our progress

A1
233
partners in our network
Asset 16 EUR
70m
direct financial support in grants and investments
A4
584+
organisations across the globe in our community
Asset 18 learners
13854
learners benefitting from (non-degree) education and training 
A5
533
startups and scaleups supported
A3
224m
investment attracted by startups and scaleups supported by EIT Food
Asset 1
427
designed and tested innovations
A6
55
innovations launched on the market
Asset 20 engagement
19.4m+
engagements across EIT Food and FoodUnfolded digital channels

EIT Food Annual Reports

If you’d like to learn more about our annual highlights and our financial and non-financial performance metrics please explore our Annual Report website.

CAF International Validated Organisation

Organisations that have been validated by CAF International have completed an extensive application and due diligence process with one of CAF International’s Global Offices. The CAF International Validated Organisation Badge is awarded to organisations that are structured and operated as nonprofit entities. This is confirmed by a validation process that goes far beyond a simple reliance on a foreign government database.

The CAF International validation process includes a review of an organisation’s key operational elements such as their governance structure, registration status, annual financial statements, online and media presence, and their board members and senior staff. This validation process ensures that all funds sent to the organisation will be used charitably, and it allows CAF International and their donors to mitigate the risk of fraud, money laundering, and other criminal activities.