Food Solutions - Processing4Health

Develop shelf-stable and perceived and healthy processed foods

Objectives

Would you like to tackle a real-world sustainability challenge in the Food Industry?

When you join our Food Solutions programme you will benefit from entrepreneurship and product development education to produce an innovative, tangible food solution. Throughout the programme, you will be working within a multi-disciplinary team and be supported and mentored by experts from industry, research and science.

In this Food Solution, Processing4Health, you will design and develop new health-promoting and shelf-stable processed food products for the food industry.

At the end of the programme, you will be able to:

Analyse the food system and identify a problem that can be addressed by a sustainable solution
Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team and mobilise resources to develop a solution to a food system problem
Evaluate a target market and competitors in order to assess the commercial potential for a product innovation
Critically assess alternative product concepts to craft and communicate a sustainable value proposition
Iteratively design a prototype using MVP (minimum viable product) principles
Adopt technologies and techniques to deliver an innovative product and viable business case

University students from B.Sc, M.Sc and PhD are invited to create teams and join the program.

Students must be enrolled at a participating University.

The programme is open to all disciplines, including: food engineering, chemical engineering, any agro-food disciplines, other relevant engineering and exact scientific disciplines, business, marketing and economics.

Other disciplines are invited based on your knowledge and interests.

Students from different disciplines within the team can better meet the Food Solution’s challenge.

Advantages

By following this programme you will:

You will be a part of an international network of like-minded students, experts from the academic and industrial partners and the EIT Food network
Great networking opportunity.
Study in a project-based learning approach.
Extending your knowledge in the fields of food product development, processing, food safety, business modelling, marketing, entrepreneurship and more.

Career Opportunities

Connections with food industry experts in Europe
Co-creation and collaboration competencies (including problem solving and critical thinking)
Leadership, networking and communication skills
International teamwork
Entrepreneurial innovation skills
Extending knowledge in relevant topics, such as food product development, processing, food safety, circular economy and more.

Duration & Dates

The programme lasts 8.5 months with regular mentoring meetings. Expected effort is a few hours per week. It starts on 31st March 2022 until December 2022.

Audience & Eligibility

Students from B.Sc, M.Sc and PhD from a participating University

Level

Beginner/advanced

Price

Free

Language

English

Registration Open & Seats

Open

Location

Online, cet-timezone

Course soon available

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Structure & Modules

Programme Content:

Food processing is crucial for the production of safe, diverse, tasty and fitting the energetic current lifestyle. Yet processed and shelf-stable foods are often perceived as unhealthy or harmful by consumers, although in many cases it is a misconception.

The food industry is also striving for the development of new and improved food products which provide added and beneficial nutritional values.

Join a team of students to tackle this challenge and develop your food solutions!

Throughout the programme, the teams will be supported by their University mentor(s) and the industry partners. In addition, you will benefit from elite innovation and entrepreneurship training through the Entrepreneurship Spine learning blocks.

Programme Structure:

The programme takes place over 8.5 months and will require you a few hours a week on average.

Four joint specific Processing4health events are planned:

Kick-off event: March 2022

Introduction of the teams, mentors and challenges.

Check-in event: May-June 2022

The teams present their initial ideas to the university mentors and industry partners.

Intermediate meeting: September- October 2022

The teams present their advanced product concepts and the early version of their business plan.

Final event: November-December 2022

The teams present their product concept to the international jury.
Before the final event, each team has to submit their annotated slides and further required information on their product concept. The templates, requirements will be shared in advance.

Four live Entrepreneurship Spine workshops will take place on the first Wednesday of May, June, July and September at 17:00 CET.

An international jury will judge the final product concepts and submissions, and the best solutions will be awarded prizes by EIT Food Education.