When a chef’s hand is needed: Europe's challenge is no longer innovation. It’s scale

Europe possesses many of the ingredients needed to lead the next transformation of the global food system. We are home to world-leading universities, research organisations, entrepreneurs, food manufacturers and innovative farmers. Europe produces breakthrough technologies in biotechnology, precision agriculture, alternative proteins, however, the EU is falling dangerously behind the United States and China in areas such as artificial intelligence leadership due to severe investment gaps, regulatory burdens, and market fragmentation. (1) Plus, it also benefits from a large consumer market and a strong commitment to food security, responsible innovation and environmental stewardship. 

Yet in an increasingly competitive world, having the right ingredients is not enough. Whilst Europe can generate new ideas, the challenge is whether it can consistently transform them into industrial capability, globally competitive businesses and economic growth. Are we able to turn European innovation into large-scale adoption, impact and growth?

Too many promising innovations remain caught between successful research and widespread adoption. Startups struggle to access scale-up capital, industrial infrastructure, specialist skills, regulatory support, early customers and strategic partners. In some cases, ideas developed in Europe create more economic value elsewhere. 

Europe is increasingly recognising this as a strategic challenge. The European Commission’s new AgRI 2040 and Food 2040 strategic approach takes a whole-value-chain approach, placing greater emphasis on connecting research and innovation with testing, investment, deployment and market uptake. It aims to create a more seamless journey from research to deployment, while strengthening the uptake of innovation by farmers and other actors across the agrifood system.

Closing this gap therefore requires more than support for individual ventures or technologies. It requires stronger connections between research, industry, investment, skills, policy and markets. 

This is the challenge at the heart of EIT Food’s strategy to 2035. Rather than focusing solely on supporting individual innovations, EIT Food is increasingly focused on creating viable pathways to transformation at scale.

1. Connections: bringing sectors and expertise together 

For Constellr, which applies space-based thermal data to agriculture, EIT Food has helped connect two highly specialised worlds. Through the EIT Food Accelerator Network, the company gained access to agrifood expertise, partners and networks to support the application of its technology in the sector. EIT Food later complemented these connections with direct funding through its Startup Impact Fund, supporting Constellr’s continued growth. 

2. Finance: combining capital with specialist expertise 

For precision-fermentation company Onego Bio, EIT Food has combined investment with access to a wider innovation community. Alongside a direct €1.5 million investment, its involvement in RisingFoodStars and the Protein Diversification Think Tank has connected the company with industry, research, investors and specialist expertise, providing a broader infrastructure for scale. 

3. Scale-up: creating connections for continued growth 

For Notpla, which develops seaweed-based alternatives to single-use packaging, EIT Food’s support is focused on scaling an already proven innovation. Through RisingFoodStars, the company has gained access to EIT Food’s wider network and opportunities for growth, while EIT Food has also invested in its $25 million fundraising round through AgrifoodInvest, supporting its next phase of expansion. 

4. Validation: creating a pathway from research to industrial scale 

For deep-tech company Orbem, EIT Food’s support has evolved alongside the business: from entrepreneurial development through the Global Food Venture Programme, to market and customer validation through Seedbed, and technical expertise and industrial connections through the EIT Food Accelerator Network. Together, these different layers of support have helped create a pathway from academic research towards industrial deployment and investment. 

Europe’s competitiveness also depends on its ability to test solutions in real operating environments. 

Laboratory results and pilot projects can demonstrate technical potential, but businesses, investors, policymakers and users need evidence that innovations work under practical conditions. They need to understand performance, cost, risk, environmental impact and applicability across different regions. 

This is particularly important in agriculture, where conditions differ considerably between landscapes, farming systems and markets.  

To help generate that evidence, EIT Food brings together researchers, innovators and farmers through different initiatives, like Test Farms and the regional landscape initiatives as part of our resilient agriculture portfolio, like Navarra 360°, creating opportunities to evaluate technologies in real agricultural environments. These activities generate robust, field-based evidence from pilots and enable a transparent assessment of performance, scalability and impact — strengthening trust and enabling informed decisions that drive long-term agricultural resilience. Stories of farmers like Alberto Alfaro confirm that these programmes raise confidence for the application of new technologies and sustainable practices. 

The EIT Food-coordinated Horizon Europe project LILAS4SOILS applies the same principle to carbon farming in southern Europe. It tests practices intended to support climate adaptation and mitigation and contributes to the EU Mission Soil objective of conserving and increasing soil organic carbon stocks. 

Real-world testing reduces uncertainty. Farmers can assess whether a practice supports a viable business; technology providers can validate their solutions; investors can evaluate risk; and policymakers can use practical evidence to inform implementation. This shortens the distance between research, adoption and scale.

Europe has set ambitious objectives for climate neutrality, food security, biotechnology, soil health, digital transformation and competitiveness. Their value will ultimately depend on implementation. 

The European Commission’s new AgRI 2040 and Food 2040 strategic approach makes that challenge explicit. Bringing together research and innovation priorities for agriculture, forestry, rural areas and food systems, it aims to strengthen the journey from knowledge and research to testing, investment, market deployment and wider uptake. Food 2040, in particular, places greater emphasis on impact, scale-up and deployment, while maintaining a systemic, cross-sectoral approach to food-system transformation. 

This creates an important role for innovation ecosystems that can connect the different parts of that journey. EIT Food helps bridge policy ambition with the conditions facing researchers, entrepreneurs, businesses, farmers and consumers. Researchers need test environments. Entrepreneurs need routes to market. Businesses need skilled people. Policymakers need real-world evidence. Consumers need credible information and confidence that new technologies offer genuine benefits. 

This role is increasingly recognised within the European policy landscape. The AgRI 2040 and Food 2040 approach identifies EIT Food as part of the infrastructure supporting the pathway from research to deployment and market uptake, alongside closer connections between Horizon Europe’s collaborative agrifood research. 

Across EIT Food, this translation from ambition to implementation takes different forms. Think and Do Tanks in areas such as protein diversification, resilient agriculture and healthy ageing help shape strategic conversations around future priorities. Entrepreneurship and investment activities help innovators progress towards market and scale. Education initiatives build the workforce needed to adopt emerging technologies. Field initiatives generate practical evidence for adoption. And research from the EIT Food Consumer Observatory, such as the report on consumer perceptions of the EU Biotech Act, brings citizens’ perspectives into innovation and policymaking. 

These activities all contribute to the same objective: helping turn Europe’s research and policy ambitions into innovations that reach markets, strengthen competitiveness and deliver tangible benefits for farmers, businesses and citizens.