Ingredients for a
Circular economy

The Smart Specialization Partnership powering circular
bio-based ingredients for sustainable food systems

About I4CE

I4CE is an European agri-food partnership of clusters, RTOs and regional authorities who are specialised in the agri-food sector. With a keen focus on techno-functional ingredients, sourced either from bio-based raw materials or through the valorization of side streams, we’re dedicated to advancing innovation in agri-food. Moreover, our partnership aims to assist
agri-food companies in exploring alternative applications for their
co-products, benefiting both the food processing industry and non-food sectors.

 

I4CE at a glance :

  • 7 countries, 24 NUTS2 regions
  • 14 partners, including 10 clusters, 2 RTOs and 2 regional authorities
  • 2 granted EU projects

I4CE, who and where are the partners behind this network ?

Biomass, side-streams, ingredients, an emerging universe with an amazing innovation & sustainability potential !

I4CE is about circular food ingredients, but tell me more about the what, the why and the for whom ?

I4CE is an engine to initiate, co-create & implement European-funded innovation projects. Join this movement!

Partners

I4CE is anchored on Agri-Food Innovation Clusters, which constitute the core of the partnership

Other relevant stakeholders and Research & Innovation intermediaries are enriching the partnership with their expertise, infrastructure and representativity (Research & Technology organizations – RTOs, Regional Authorities, Regional Innovation Agencies, etc).

The I4CE partnership currently represents 6 Member States  and 21 NUTS2 European regions.

Value chains

From biomass to high-value nutritional & functional bio-compounds & ingredients: valorising side-streams is a sustainable and tech-based challenge, generatic economic values

I4CE focused on the generation of nutritional and functional ingredients, sourced from bio-based products & crops produced out of agriculture, livestock, forestry, weeds & herbs, fruits & legumes, aquatic biotopes, and microbiological ecosystems.

Agricultural & food organic waste constitutes another significant portion of biodegradable material for transformation into bio-based products.

New innovative & circular value-chains emerge from the transformation of bio-based products & crops, side-streams, aquatic biomass and microbial strains into bio-active-compounds & ingredients (nutritional & functional), and finally finished b2c and b2b food & non-food products.

Projects

The I4CE Partnership is active on the EU scene with flagship EU-funded projects dedicated to promising approach to circular ingredients 

Bresilient
Project set an ambitious package of support actions to empower food processing SMEs to become more resilient by means of an optimum use of biomass, and with appropriate digital solutions.

Biotech4Food
How biotechnology will revolutionize agri-food systems as it powered life sciences & health sectors! This is the bet of this new EU-funded project, coordinated by Wagralim, together with the I4CE community and other relevant stakeholders, including a cohort of @ 15 SMEs.