A European food network A European consortium integrated small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under one umbrella to promote innovations in food science. Implementation of the proposed strategies was suggested to improve the competitiveness of participating enterprises. Industrial Technologies © Thinkstock Food science is an emerging applied field dedicated to various aspects of food production, including the development of new food products as well as their microbiological and chemical testing. The EU-funded 'Exploitation of functional food science by creating a European network of food industries' (FUNCTIONALFOODNET) project was a pilot effort intended to improve dissemination and exploitation of new functional food science in Europe. To this end, it planned to establish an EU network with links to third countries, involving food industries and in particular SMEs. Part of the FUNCTIONALFOODNET strategy was to identify enterprises from each country throughout Europe that were willing to discuss innovation and development strategies for the benefit of their competitiveness. Integration of companies from EU New Member States was also a significant element of the FUNCTIONALFOODNET plan. The goal of the so-called general network (GN) was to disseminate functional food science to the food industry, emphasising opportunities for exploitation. The product specific network (PSN) was divided into four working groups associated with different products, such as dairy, bakery foods, cereals and drinks. Strong input by scientists, and innovation and technology transfer experts as well as marketing specialists ensured the significant participation of food SMEs from many EU countries. The network activities were operated through workshops and group meetings among participating enterprises. For the FUNCTIONALFOODNET results to reach SMEs and larger enterprises within Europe, they were disseminated to a large European enterprise network via national and international food associations.
