- Email: [email protected]
Food Forum: a research forum for an innovative and globally competitive European Food Industry
Food Research International 33 (2000) 295±297
www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres
Discussion
Food Forum: a research forum for an innovative and globally competitive European Food Industry R.B. Leslie, J.C. Oliveira, A.G. Medina * Sociedade Portuguesa de InovacËaÄo, Edf. Les Palaces, R. JuÂlio Dinis, 242±Sala 208,4050 Porto, Portugal
Abstract This contribution describes the rationale, origin, speci®c objectives, current activities and anticipated outcomes of the EU Concerted Action Ð ``Food Forum: a research forum for an innovative and globally competitive European Food Industry'' # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Rationale Compared to several other industries, the European Food Industry is technically unsophisticated, despite the widely accepted view that in many key areas of food science, Europe enjoys a world-leading position. Furthermore, rapid advances in, for example, nutrition, food bioscience, novel processes, etc., provide great promise of product innovation, which will contribute to the well-being of the European citizen, and the global competitiveness of the European Food Industry. However, extrapolation of recent history does not give con®dence that the intrinsic innovative potential of the European Food Industry will, in fact, be realised; it is also a widely accepted view that the European Food Industry is slower in implementing innovative solutions than its major world competitors. To increase the chances that Europe (both its citizens and its industry) will reap the bene®ts of the anticipated innovation opportunities requires new research to identify the barriers inhibiting food industry innovation and develop new approaches to surmount these barriers. It seems likely that a new breed of appropriately scienti®cally trained and entrepreneurial graduates will be key to more ecient technology transfer and hence a more innovative European Food Industry. The establishment of this Concerted Action was intended to create a broad forum for discussion that would include institutions involved in dierent ®elds of
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +351-2-607-6400; fax: +351-2-6099164. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.G. Medina).
Food Science and Technology and some of the major European food companies. Building on previous EU± supported initiatives (e.g. European Masters Degree in Food Studies), the Food Forum project has established a partnership involving 23 partners from 12 dierent EU countries, and, as 1999 ends, is now completing the ®rst year of its 3-year programme. 2. Origin of the Food Forum Concerted Action In recent years, the European Commission has invested strongly in providing opportunities for training students, researchers and teaching sta, making use of international mobility and co-operation as a means to foster a more international European dimension in Food Science and Technology. Extensive university networks have been developed to exploit possibilities for upgrading university curricula through programmes such as ERASMUS, COMETT, TEMPUS, and more recently SOCRATES and LEONARDO. A number of research projects funded by the FLAIR, AAIR and FAIR programmes have also provided opportunities for training researchers. Speci®cally, in 1994, a study on the assessment of training needs at the European level in the areas of food science, food technology, food engineering and management was funded by the European Commission in the framework of the AAIR programme. Arising directly from this study in 1995±1997, the AAIR programme attributed partial support to the organisation of a pilot initiative, to research into ways whereby the concept of combining teaching and research at an international level would materialise and generate
0963-9969/00/$ - see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0963-9969(00)00039-9
296
R.B. Leslie et al. / Food Research International 33 (2000) 295±297
industrial and national involvement. The European Masters Degree in Food Studies was thus organised, with additional support from several industrial companies (CPC-France, Danone, Kraft Jacobs Suchard, Lactogal, Nestle, Northern Foods, Unilever, Weetabix), national ministries/governmental agencies (France, Finland, Portugal and the UK) and the insurance company ImpeÂrio. Twenty-one students graduated successfully from the First Edition in March 1997, and the students of the Second Edition are currently (December 1999) progressing in their 6-month industrial internships in various companies throughout Europe. Ongoing dialogue, catalysed by the existence of the various industry±academia networks described, strongly supported the need for a new Concerted Action to carry out research which would identify critical issues inhibiting technology transfer and innovation in the food industry, and the need to design and implement appropriate training and research programmes, most likely organised by international academia±industry±government strategic partnerships. Overall, the basic purpose of the Food Forum Concerted Action is to: (i) identify the major issues, according to the perceived needs of the European Food Industry, where innovation oers a greater potential in the short and medium term, and accordingly, (ii) design novel initiatives to prepare adequately trained human resources, able to materialise this potential.
knowledge/skills gap between advanced research in academia and industry. 4. Activities and current status of Food Forum The Food Forum project is focusing its activities towards the delivery of four major tasks (described in more detail below). Each task is divided into subtasks, some of which will be progressed by speci®c subgroups, whose members will be drawn from the Forum. 4.1. Task I: identi®cation of perceived research priorities with greater potential impact on European industrial competitiveness
3. Objectives
Particular emphasis is being given to the de®nition of research priorities in three major areas: (i) consumer nutrition and well-being; (ii) advanced and optimised technologies and processes; (iii) generic food science. The necessary input information is currently being generated through surveys of academia and industry players, via questionnaires, interviews and review of published material. The major deliverable of this task is the de®nition of research priorities that are based on a critical analysis of European-wide suggestions (including SMEs), with the possibility for regional division, subsector division and SMEs speci®cities. This will generate the perceived priorities having the greatest potential opportunity for immediate collaborative actions.
The global objective of this project is to create a platform involving a wide representation of European academia and industry for the:
4.2. Task II: identi®cation of training elements required to obtain suitable professional pro®les of young researchers working in the food industry
. ongoing identi®cation of research priorities of the European Food Industry in key areas (such as production technologies, marketing, generic product innovation opportunities, interaction with the environment and consumer aspects related to nutrition, health, acceptability and preferences); . ongoing identi®cation of human resource requirements to allow the development of a new generation of young graduates capable of contributing to the required technology transfer in a dynamic innovation environment; . design of novel training programmes, combining training and research in an international setting, that would allow the European Food Industry to obtain a suitable provision of the human resources needed to maintain global competitiveness. Achievement of these objectives will facilitate technology transfer and innovation by helping to bridge the
This global task has three subtasks: i. Establishment of areas for new programmes (e.g. food science and engineering, consumer studies) and of main topics in each. ii. De®nition of training approaches (i.e. requirements for team work, industrial practice, selflearning tools, etc.) iii. Outline of the structure and content of the new programmes. The major innovative element of this task is to de®ne training programmes according to the professional requirements for young graduates who will be contributing to the implementation of innovation opportunities in a globally competitive food industry. Particular emphasis is given to the identi®cation of the additional skills and competencies, beyond those provided by their scienti®c training, that young graduates will need to
R.B. Leslie et al. / Food Research International 33 (2000) 295±297
increase their value and employability in the context of the European Food Industry. 4.3. Task III: design of new programmes (combining training and research in an industrial international environment) A series of subtasks and subgroups will monitor any ongoing initiatives of a comparable nature, to provide appropriate benchmarks. Particularly important will be the de®nition of the necessary academic and industrial training elements, including possible novel ways of involving academia in the industrial modules, and industry in the academic modules. A speci®c subtask will focus on issues related to the global, international dimension in innovation and training needs, seeking to establish areas of similarity and dierence in Europe, EU-candidate countries and non-EU industrialised countries. From this critical analysis it will be possible to design the required new programmes, related to the overall objective of this Concerted Action, but respecting current academia and industrial realities. 4.4. Task IV: design of implementation measures The ®nal task is concerned with implementation of the new training programmes in a way which enjoys the support and commitment of academia, industry and national governments. This requires clear statements of costs and bene®ts, and de®nition of possible calendar for implementation. Critical to the achievement of this task will be the identi®cation of possible sources, and perhaps innovative forms, of funding. The data generated in tasks 1±3 of the Concerted Action, re¯ecting a real consensus of the needs and opportunities as perceived by European academia and industry, should greatly strengthen the case for new initiatives and associated funding. 5. Anticipated outcomes The principal outcomes of the Food Forum project can be seen at two levels, one level being very tangible, the other ±± probably at least of equal importance±± being less tangible. The tangible deliverables at the end of the project will be reports in the public domain which: . identify the perceived research needs underpinning future innovation opportunities for a more
297
dynamic and globally competitive European Food Industry; . establishment of the scienti®c, technical and personal skills that should be enhanced, to assure the European Food Industry has available the necessary human resources; . outline the necessary content and mode(s) of delivery of the training programmes combining taught modules in academia with research and project-based work in an industrial, international environment; . a critical appraisal of potential implementation routes, and their associated ®nancial implications and ®nancial aspects. Although many speci®c aspects will result from the discussions within the Food Forum, the basic outline of the new programmes to be designed are envisaged to have in all cases some common elements, which are: . a series of academic modules that are run in different locations; . a mandatory industrial internship; . management committees involving academia and industry; . training components involving team-working skills, communication skills and information technology training; . partial ®nancial support from industry. The less tangible outcomes will be the reinforcement and enlargement of the relations between industry and academia. The bene®ts to the European Food Industry of a more dynamic innovation activity are clear. The Food Industry worldwide is at the edge of major breakthroughs that will build a whole new relationship between the industry and the consumer. Working knowledge of advanced scienti®c issues such as nutrition, food toxicology, legislation, functional foods, functional ingredients, novel preservation technologies and consumer science must be combined with adequate managerial skills to provide novel foods with cost-eciency. All these aspects are increasingly being developed worldwide at international level. The combination of academia and industry in an international environment, which is being catalysed with the Food Forum Concerted Action will contribute signi®cantly to avoid an increasing gap between scienti®c-technological innovation opportunities and the human resources companies will need to assimilate and capitalise on these opportunities.
www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres
Discussion
Food Forum: a research forum for an innovative and globally competitive European Food Industry R.B. Leslie, J.C. Oliveira, A.G. Medina * Sociedade Portuguesa de InovacËaÄo, Edf. Les Palaces, R. JuÂlio Dinis, 242±Sala 208,4050 Porto, Portugal
Abstract This contribution describes the rationale, origin, speci®c objectives, current activities and anticipated outcomes of the EU Concerted Action Ð ``Food Forum: a research forum for an innovative and globally competitive European Food Industry'' # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Rationale Compared to several other industries, the European Food Industry is technically unsophisticated, despite the widely accepted view that in many key areas of food science, Europe enjoys a world-leading position. Furthermore, rapid advances in, for example, nutrition, food bioscience, novel processes, etc., provide great promise of product innovation, which will contribute to the well-being of the European citizen, and the global competitiveness of the European Food Industry. However, extrapolation of recent history does not give con®dence that the intrinsic innovative potential of the European Food Industry will, in fact, be realised; it is also a widely accepted view that the European Food Industry is slower in implementing innovative solutions than its major world competitors. To increase the chances that Europe (both its citizens and its industry) will reap the bene®ts of the anticipated innovation opportunities requires new research to identify the barriers inhibiting food industry innovation and develop new approaches to surmount these barriers. It seems likely that a new breed of appropriately scienti®cally trained and entrepreneurial graduates will be key to more ecient technology transfer and hence a more innovative European Food Industry. The establishment of this Concerted Action was intended to create a broad forum for discussion that would include institutions involved in dierent ®elds of
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +351-2-607-6400; fax: +351-2-6099164. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.G. Medina).
Food Science and Technology and some of the major European food companies. Building on previous EU± supported initiatives (e.g. European Masters Degree in Food Studies), the Food Forum project has established a partnership involving 23 partners from 12 dierent EU countries, and, as 1999 ends, is now completing the ®rst year of its 3-year programme. 2. Origin of the Food Forum Concerted Action In recent years, the European Commission has invested strongly in providing opportunities for training students, researchers and teaching sta, making use of international mobility and co-operation as a means to foster a more international European dimension in Food Science and Technology. Extensive university networks have been developed to exploit possibilities for upgrading university curricula through programmes such as ERASMUS, COMETT, TEMPUS, and more recently SOCRATES and LEONARDO. A number of research projects funded by the FLAIR, AAIR and FAIR programmes have also provided opportunities for training researchers. Speci®cally, in 1994, a study on the assessment of training needs at the European level in the areas of food science, food technology, food engineering and management was funded by the European Commission in the framework of the AAIR programme. Arising directly from this study in 1995±1997, the AAIR programme attributed partial support to the organisation of a pilot initiative, to research into ways whereby the concept of combining teaching and research at an international level would materialise and generate
0963-9969/00/$ - see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0963-9969(00)00039-9
296
R.B. Leslie et al. / Food Research International 33 (2000) 295±297
industrial and national involvement. The European Masters Degree in Food Studies was thus organised, with additional support from several industrial companies (CPC-France, Danone, Kraft Jacobs Suchard, Lactogal, Nestle, Northern Foods, Unilever, Weetabix), national ministries/governmental agencies (France, Finland, Portugal and the UK) and the insurance company ImpeÂrio. Twenty-one students graduated successfully from the First Edition in March 1997, and the students of the Second Edition are currently (December 1999) progressing in their 6-month industrial internships in various companies throughout Europe. Ongoing dialogue, catalysed by the existence of the various industry±academia networks described, strongly supported the need for a new Concerted Action to carry out research which would identify critical issues inhibiting technology transfer and innovation in the food industry, and the need to design and implement appropriate training and research programmes, most likely organised by international academia±industry±government strategic partnerships. Overall, the basic purpose of the Food Forum Concerted Action is to: (i) identify the major issues, according to the perceived needs of the European Food Industry, where innovation oers a greater potential in the short and medium term, and accordingly, (ii) design novel initiatives to prepare adequately trained human resources, able to materialise this potential.
knowledge/skills gap between advanced research in academia and industry. 4. Activities and current status of Food Forum The Food Forum project is focusing its activities towards the delivery of four major tasks (described in more detail below). Each task is divided into subtasks, some of which will be progressed by speci®c subgroups, whose members will be drawn from the Forum. 4.1. Task I: identi®cation of perceived research priorities with greater potential impact on European industrial competitiveness
3. Objectives
Particular emphasis is being given to the de®nition of research priorities in three major areas: (i) consumer nutrition and well-being; (ii) advanced and optimised technologies and processes; (iii) generic food science. The necessary input information is currently being generated through surveys of academia and industry players, via questionnaires, interviews and review of published material. The major deliverable of this task is the de®nition of research priorities that are based on a critical analysis of European-wide suggestions (including SMEs), with the possibility for regional division, subsector division and SMEs speci®cities. This will generate the perceived priorities having the greatest potential opportunity for immediate collaborative actions.
The global objective of this project is to create a platform involving a wide representation of European academia and industry for the:
4.2. Task II: identi®cation of training elements required to obtain suitable professional pro®les of young researchers working in the food industry
. ongoing identi®cation of research priorities of the European Food Industry in key areas (such as production technologies, marketing, generic product innovation opportunities, interaction with the environment and consumer aspects related to nutrition, health, acceptability and preferences); . ongoing identi®cation of human resource requirements to allow the development of a new generation of young graduates capable of contributing to the required technology transfer in a dynamic innovation environment; . design of novel training programmes, combining training and research in an international setting, that would allow the European Food Industry to obtain a suitable provision of the human resources needed to maintain global competitiveness. Achievement of these objectives will facilitate technology transfer and innovation by helping to bridge the
This global task has three subtasks: i. Establishment of areas for new programmes (e.g. food science and engineering, consumer studies) and of main topics in each. ii. De®nition of training approaches (i.e. requirements for team work, industrial practice, selflearning tools, etc.) iii. Outline of the structure and content of the new programmes. The major innovative element of this task is to de®ne training programmes according to the professional requirements for young graduates who will be contributing to the implementation of innovation opportunities in a globally competitive food industry. Particular emphasis is given to the identi®cation of the additional skills and competencies, beyond those provided by their scienti®c training, that young graduates will need to
R.B. Leslie et al. / Food Research International 33 (2000) 295±297
increase their value and employability in the context of the European Food Industry. 4.3. Task III: design of new programmes (combining training and research in an industrial international environment) A series of subtasks and subgroups will monitor any ongoing initiatives of a comparable nature, to provide appropriate benchmarks. Particularly important will be the de®nition of the necessary academic and industrial training elements, including possible novel ways of involving academia in the industrial modules, and industry in the academic modules. A speci®c subtask will focus on issues related to the global, international dimension in innovation and training needs, seeking to establish areas of similarity and dierence in Europe, EU-candidate countries and non-EU industrialised countries. From this critical analysis it will be possible to design the required new programmes, related to the overall objective of this Concerted Action, but respecting current academia and industrial realities. 4.4. Task IV: design of implementation measures The ®nal task is concerned with implementation of the new training programmes in a way which enjoys the support and commitment of academia, industry and national governments. This requires clear statements of costs and bene®ts, and de®nition of possible calendar for implementation. Critical to the achievement of this task will be the identi®cation of possible sources, and perhaps innovative forms, of funding. The data generated in tasks 1±3 of the Concerted Action, re¯ecting a real consensus of the needs and opportunities as perceived by European academia and industry, should greatly strengthen the case for new initiatives and associated funding. 5. Anticipated outcomes The principal outcomes of the Food Forum project can be seen at two levels, one level being very tangible, the other ±± probably at least of equal importance±± being less tangible. The tangible deliverables at the end of the project will be reports in the public domain which: . identify the perceived research needs underpinning future innovation opportunities for a more
297
dynamic and globally competitive European Food Industry; . establishment of the scienti®c, technical and personal skills that should be enhanced, to assure the European Food Industry has available the necessary human resources; . outline the necessary content and mode(s) of delivery of the training programmes combining taught modules in academia with research and project-based work in an industrial, international environment; . a critical appraisal of potential implementation routes, and their associated ®nancial implications and ®nancial aspects. Although many speci®c aspects will result from the discussions within the Food Forum, the basic outline of the new programmes to be designed are envisaged to have in all cases some common elements, which are: . a series of academic modules that are run in different locations; . a mandatory industrial internship; . management committees involving academia and industry; . training components involving team-working skills, communication skills and information technology training; . partial ®nancial support from industry. The less tangible outcomes will be the reinforcement and enlargement of the relations between industry and academia. The bene®ts to the European Food Industry of a more dynamic innovation activity are clear. The Food Industry worldwide is at the edge of major breakthroughs that will build a whole new relationship between the industry and the consumer. Working knowledge of advanced scienti®c issues such as nutrition, food toxicology, legislation, functional foods, functional ingredients, novel preservation technologies and consumer science must be combined with adequate managerial skills to provide novel foods with cost-eciency. All these aspects are increasingly being developed worldwide at international level. The combination of academia and industry in an international environment, which is being catalysed with the Food Forum Concerted Action will contribute signi®cantly to avoid an increasing gap between scienti®c-technological innovation opportunities and the human resources companies will need to assimilate and capitalise on these opportunities.