About
The European circular ingredients partnership
The I4CE vision
I4CE is one of the Agri-Food Thematic Smart Specialization Partnerships (TSSP) endorsed by the DG Regio of the European Commission. By initiating and animating a pan-european dedicated innovation ecosystem, our mission is clear: to fortify promising agri-food value chains meeting consumer needs, fostering the creation and industrialisation of new, value-added, and circular food ingredients and products.
Through meaningful engagement with stakeholders across agri-food chains, we strive to translate innovation into tangible impact. By transforming biomass into high-value food ingredients and non-food components, we aim to drive sustainable prosperity and deliver quality end-products.
This, in essence, encapsulates the mission of I4CE – pioneering innovation for a sustainable quality end-products.
The I4CE challenges
Many market, regulatory & technological disruptions which are taking place within and around the agri-food ecosystems are at the centre of the I4CE Partnership and require more intensive responses in order not only to build better resilience of these industrial systems but also to boost & support emerging value chains which are showing potential for innovation, growth and prosperity.
It concerns the raw material crisis, supply chain and markets disturbances, cost of logistics, energy crisis, valorization of non-conventional crops, recovery of organic by-products and food industry side streams, losses in biodiversity, the competition for biomass availability, new techno-functional ingredients, the protein shift and its plant-based & alternative sourcing, healthy food’s ingredients and diets, the increased impact of biotechnology on food science and technologies, the emergence of non-food applications using bio-based components & material, just to name a few.
The I4CE mission
I4CE supports the development of innovative ingredients for cross-sectoral applications, while fostering circularity”, by:
- valorizing & upcycling agri-food waste & co-product into food & non-food building blocks;
- generating novelties and boosting new innovative ingredients value chains !
- contributing to zero waste food value chains & sustainable food systems !
- supporting SMEs & industry by activating a dedicated innovation ecosystem and accelerating sustainable growth of circular-ingredients SMEs
The I4CE services
“Learn-Connect-Demonstrate-Commercialize (LCDC)”, this is the moto of I4CE and this is translated into several concrete activities serving the I4CE community, clusters, technology organisations, public authorities and enterprises of course, start-ups, scale-ups, SMEs and even large companies:
- Increasing visibility & recognition
- Enhancing the relevance of circularity for food industry
- Supporting innovation in food ingredient’s value chains
- Enabling inter-regional collaborations
- Providing operational pilot schemes to regional authorities
- Stimulating & operating joint EU-projects
- Bringing funding & investments opportunities
- Peer-learning, match-making and study tours
- Sharing good practices, expertise, use- & business-cases
- Business & collaboration opportunities
