Stimulating Healthy Food Service Innovation Erasmus Project

Project Title

Stimulating Healthy Food Service Innovation

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

Food 2030 (EU food innovation policy) highlights boosting innovation and empowering communities as a key priority. It wants value-added products to meet the needs, values and expectations of society in a responsible and ethical way. However, the food service market (caterers, cafes, takeaways, pubs/restaurants, café, food trucks, contract caterers, hospitals, schools etc.) is challenged by a lack of growth ( just 5%in three years in the UK), price pressure from food retailers and changing consumer behaviour. Obesity is a public health time bomb but as consumer interest in healthy and sustainable food continues to rise, European food service businesses face a win-win opportunity: they can grow their businesses AND empower consumers to make healthier choices.

Stimulating Healthy Food Service Innovation (SUSTAIN) seeks to empower food service SMEs with the innovation knowledge and skills to introduce healthy, affordable products to market, thus boosting their competitiveness and contribution to a healthier society. To ensure our approach seeks maximum reach and impact, we will provide enterprise support centres – the main source of training and support for small businesses –with the resources they need to radically improve the innovation training they provide to small food service firms. Our SMART objectives are closely linked to our project outputs:
i. Provide SMEs, VET trainers and policymakers with rigorously researched, up-to-date knowledge on the business opportunities arising from the healthy food agenda. (IO1: Good practice healthy food service compendium)
ii. Provide food sector trainers with new resources to introduce healthy food innovation courses for their client base reaching 2,000 food service SMEs (IO2: OERs)
iii. Boost the effectiveness of the aforementioned courses and widen access to food service SME owners and employees by developing an online platform, “Healthy Food Innovation and Digitization for the Food Service Sector” (IO3).
iv. Widely disseminate our resources, particularly with VET and food sector policymakers to maximise uptake in the short to medium term.

SUSTAIN will impact the following participants:-
1 Organisations linked to target groups: organizations providing VET to food service companies and representative bodies for food service companies
2 Policy makers in terms of public health and economic development
3 Partners’ links to associates, peers, stakeholders and policy makers at regional, national and EU (e.g. the Regions of Gastronomy network, the Balkans sustainability development network).

In terms of results, SUSTAIN will
– Provide 500 SMEs, VET trainers and policymakers with rigorously researched, up-to-date knowledge on the business opportunities arising from the healthy food agenda. (IO1: Good practice healthy food service compendium)
– Provide 100 food sector trainers with new resources to introduce healthy food innovation courses for their client base reaching 2,000 food service SMEs (IO2: OERs)
– Benefit 1,000 food service SME owners and employees through the online platform, “Healthy Food Innovation and Digitization for the Food Service Sector” (IO3).

SUSTAIN partners will :
– gain distinctive insights and strategies into food service innovation that arise from the unique combination of perspectives and types of organizations involved in the knowledge sharing process. Their new expertise will help their positioning and competitive advantage in their respective
spheres of work.
– acquire new didactic strategies and will improve their own competences in knowledge sharing and strategic relationship building and have a clear understanding of how to sustain and grow the project in the long term

SUSTAIN has been designed to impact positively in the long term to build the capacity of food service SMEs to introduce healthier options leading to more growth in the SME sector, greater choices of healthier food service offerings for the consumer and ultimately, improved health in communities and reduced health care costs. Such an initiative has never been more important. Obesity is rising at an alarming rate with estimates indicating over 51% of EU adults are overweight and 20% are obese.

Project Website

http://foodinnovation.how

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 282483 Eur

Project Coordinator

Trade Management Services ltd & Country: UK

Project Partners

• CENTRO DE FORMACION DE ADMINISTRACION Y HOSTELERIA SL
• Visja strokovna sola za gostinstvo in turizem Maribor
• MOMENTUM MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED
• Galway County Council
• Balkanska Agenciya za Ustoychivo Razvitie
• European E-learning Institute