Innovative Food Cluster for the food innovation

By project STRING

Published on 02 July 2018

Hungary

Dél-Alföld

About this good practice

The Pharmaplis Innovative Food Cluster operates the so-called „I-Shop’ store. The aim of I-Shop is to develop and sell new products (bread, special cheese, pizza with sorghum, traditional ice creams, purple corn, frozen wine, etc.), which are developed in cooperation of University and SMEs. In order to sell these new products, they created a shop and participate in exhibitions to meet consumers. At these occasions, sellers who are researchers or students can proceed to a market evaluation. The I-Shop is a marketing tool based on functional food products developed by our projects and designed by University employees to test & evaluate new & proven food products and their marketing to a specific target audience. The Shop is the cradle of new products that can grow up here to show off their abilities. The value of the developments is increased and the I-Shop supports the evaluation of the market before the sale. University staff can directly evaluate (taste) the products. There is a significant opportunity for media coverage, the promotion of healthy food and the role of the University in this. The purchasing base also helps the clinical trials. Within the Debrecen University, the I-Shop, which tests unique food products, also strengthens the weight of the University in Innovative Food Industry. I-shop customers are provided by university staff. People can order special products, which are new & not available elsewhere, by e-mail, the internet, a telephone.

Resources needed

The cluster company builds on human resources for executives, 4-5 employees, PhD students, volunteers & trainees. The innovative cluster members and the University provide ideas, know-how & patents. Possible sources for funding are H2020 programme of EC- pillar „Societal challenges” & nat. subsidies

Evidence of success

Selenium is a well-known antioxidant which behavior strongly depends on its chemical form. A novel technology for producing Se nanospheres inhomogeneous in form and size has been developed in our laboratories. Our invention enables the production of red elemental Se nanospheres in high purity by using micro-organisms applied in the food industry. Food supplements and dairy product were developed by using this new form of selenium and some already available in food stores.

Potential for learning or transfer

The system is well suited for promoting healthy food consumption and the role of the university in this. University workers are able to appreciate and accept the ideas of the new & revolutionary products. They know that with the advancement of life sciences, they have an effective tool to improve their quality of life. For this reason, the I-Shop wants to assess the market potential of new products through the consumer habits of university workers. New opportunities for researchers & students are opening up to help the I-shop become a product of ideas and research results. The daily connection with food production sites allows the developments to accelerate significantly, without having to wait for years to get the result of a useful original idea on the shelves. We believe that these opportunities are attractive for many other Universities across Europe and their local food industry. They could adopt this good practice and take it a step further.