The CFIA Rennes trade show, a key event for food industry professionals, was a great opportunity to showcase the Biotech4Food project. Although biotechnologies were not at the heart of this edition, we were able to take advantage of the event to develop new collaborations, in particular thanks to our presence on the “Usine Agro du Futur” platform and at the Europe area, a new feature in 2025.
From 4 to 6 March 2025, Valorial and some partners attended the CFIA Rennes to represent the European Biotech4Food project. This trade show, which brings together players in the agri-food industry every year, provided an ideal setting for exchanges with innovative companies and European partners.
Biotech4Food was showcased on the “Usine Agro du Futur” platform, coordinated by Bretagne Développement Innovation (BDI), Valorial and ABEA. This 450 m² space, structured around three areas – an Innovation Hub, a Showroom and a FoodTech Village – brought together around 35 players, including ten or so members of Valorial and companies supporting innovation in Western France. This year’s theme was ‘the low environmental impact factory’, a subject that resonates with the advances made possible by biotechnologies applied to food.
One of the new features of this year’s event was the Europe area. This enabled us to welcome the delegation from the HighFive project, another European project stemming from the Smart Solutions 4 Agri-Food (SS4AF) partnership. Some excellent synergies emerged from these exchanges, strengthening the links between the Ingredients for a Circular Economy (I4CE) and SS4AF partners and opening up prospects for collaboration to accelerate innovation in the agri-food sector through biotechnologies.
Representing European Projects at fairs like this one is also a great opportunity to talk with companies (small or large) about the way they find new collaborators abroad, and showcase the benefits of participating in European Projects. Through the different conversations, companies really understood the potential that European Projects represent, not only by supporting companies financially, but also by creating a network and connecting companies together
Although the CFIA is not focused on biotechnology, this show has been a powerful lever for giving Biotech4Food visibility, connecting the key players in the sector and making our project part of a dynamic of collaborative innovation on a European scale.
