Review FoodPackLab Event Activities 2019

FoodPackLab is funded by the European Union’s COSME Programme (2014-2020). It promotes the collaboration between food processing, packaging and photonics innovation clusters in the EU in order to identify and develop solutions to problems arising during the food processing and packaging stage that limit the food shelf life before being thrown out.  In 2019, the consortium members have taken a large step towards by organizing three innovative workshops in an international and cross-sectorial context successfully.

The first FoodPacklab innovation workshop took place in Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) in January 2019. The consortium members from Food-Processing Initiative e.V and secpho opened the workshop by explaining how photonics technologies revolutionize the food industry by addressing food processing and packaging challenges of companies. Followed by a presentation from the LZH with the focus on innovative solutions in the field of glass processing with laser radiation.

In the second part of the event, two rounds of B2B meeting took place. The companies discussed possible collaborations as well as innovative solutions within the food industry. The highlight of the event was a special lab tour within the Laser Zentrum. Finally, the workshop was closed by a discussion dealing with the question how to collaborate in the internationalization of technologies to non-EU countries.  We were very satisfied with the first workshop. The event created the structure for international collaborations and potential projects in order to meet challenges within the food industry. For more details about the event click here. 

In May 2019, secpho and Packaging Cluster arranged the second international FoodPackLab event in Barcelona. The event was addressed to New Technologies in Agriculture & Food Industry and we were proud to welcome more than 70 international participants.

The matchmaking event brought together international experts from the photonics, packaging, agriculture, and food industry and fostered cross-sectorial collaboration between stakeholders. The varied program featured innovative workshops focusing on challenges from the agriculture and food sector and solutions provided by packaging and photonics technologies. Moreover, B2B meetings and networking opportunities provided the perfect opportunity to connect with new business partners and to boost international collaborations. For more details about the event click here. 

As a result of inter-cluster collaboration between Systematic Paris-Region and the food innovation cluster Vitagora, the third FoodPackLab innovation workshop achieved great success in Paris in October 2019. More than 80 international participants from photonics, packaging and food sector attended the event. It was addressed to the digital transformation of the agriculture and agri-food sector and contained two main parts: company presentations with a plenary session and two FoodPackLab innovation workshops. Furthermore, the event underlined the importance of cross-sectorial collaboration and share experience and knowledge in order to identify future business opportunities or partners. For more details about the event click here.