FAIRCHAIN (Innovative technological, organisational and social solutions for FAIRer dairy and fruit and vegetable value CHAINs)

FAIRCHAIN addresses the growing need for a significant transformation of current food systems by developing competitive intermediate food chain alternatives adapted to small and mid-sized actors.

FAIRCHAIN specifically aims to:

1) Foster the emergence of innovative intermediate food value chains that support the scaling-up of small and mid-sized actors facing the unsustainable conventional agri-food system. This requires specific technological, organisational and social innovations as well as regulatory and policy adaptations to widely deliver food in a fair and sustainable way.

2) Inspire and encourage larger actors to down-scale conventional food value chains and better address the growing need of consumers to consume local high quality and safe products. The emergence of intermediate food value chains should put pressure on dominant actors, forcing them to align with best practices in terms of offering opportunities to local suppliers and ensuring an equitable distribution of costs and benefits.

The main goal of FAIRCHAIN is to test, pilot and demonstrate recently developed technological, organisational and social innovations, realising a shift up to TRL7 and enabling small and mid-sized actors to scale-up and expand the production of affordable nutritious food in competitive intermediate food value chains.

FAIRCHAIN will address the Dairy and Fruit & Vegetable sectors, which hold a strategic economic position in Europe. Both are prone to integrate a large variety of innovations, corresponding to increasing consumer demand for nutritious and healthy food, and need to meet the challenge of sustainably delivering perishable commodities to consumers.

FAIRCHAIN will consider the entire value chain with more focus given to post-harvest steps since the power imbalances created in market relationships are mainly attributed to the increasing concentration in the processing and retail sectors in conventional food supply chains.

FAIRCHAIN Kick-Off Press Release

FAIRCHAIN partners

• Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
• Rise Research Institutes of Sweden AB
• FH Joanneum Gesellschaft MBH
• Universiteit Gent
• Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.
• Association de Coordination Technique pour l’Industrie Agroalimentaire
• Pack4food
• Confederazione Generale dell Agricoltura Italiana
• Petrel
• Scaldopack
• Sofies SA
• Synelixis Solutions SA
• Biofruits SA
• Cogiterre
• Laboratoires Standa
• Stymfalia Anonymos Emporiki Viomichaniki Etairia
• Verein Iseki-Food Europaische Gesellschaft fur die Integration der Lebensmittelwissinschaft und -Technolgie in die Lebensmittelversorgungskette
• Fonds de Dotation pour l Engagement Citoyen make.org Foundation
• Sodiaal Internationnal Societe de Diffusion Internationale Agroalimentaire
• Greenyard Prepared Belgium