Interreg FWVL VEG-i-TEC
Funding
Interreg FWVl, with support of the European Regional Development Fund
Project budget: € 1.410.431,66
Summary
The Interreg FWVl VEG-i-TEC project, part of the GoToS3 portfolio, wants to create a living lab for applied research, training and demonstrations in order to innovate and optimize production processes for, and with, the vegetable and potato processing industry. This project, which started on the 1st of April, 2018 (4 years duration) is coordinated by Ghent University and has three partners: HOWEST (Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen, Vl), INRAE (l’institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement) and Adrianor (Technological Research Center for Agricultural industry, FR).
Description of the project
VEG-i-TEC wants to facilitate the implementation of technological innovations for the industry, which are often (too) large or complex to handle themselves.
Establishing a living lab for the food industry will stimulate the realization and implementation of innovation by providing demo-installations for applied research, training and demonstrations. Next to the construction of different (modular) process lines, the focus will be on water and energy management, by-products, food safety and (organoleptic) quality, hygienic design and the economic, ecologic and/or social impact. The concept of VEG-i-TEC will reduce the existing gap with the expertise of diverse research institution and enables a faster market penetration.
Objectives
These are the objectives of VEG-i-TEC:
- The establishment of a technologic roadmap for the industry based on the current situation, available literature and innovative developments during this project.
- The construction of modular lines for (deep-frozen) cut and washed crops, and packed vegetables and potatoes.
- The evaluation of innovative technologies to optimize water and energy use, waste production, food safety and (organoleptic) quality and the hygienic design.
- The implementation and use of online monitoring and data captation technology for an in-depth analysis.
- To provide a multi-criteria assessment of the added value of the proposed transformation and/or implementations.
Role of Ghent University
UGent is in charge of the project which is part of the overall VEG-i-TEC concept, establishing a university research and expertise center on the processing of vegetables and potatoes. In this Interreg FWVl project, UGent focusses on (1) the construction of the modular process lines to facilitate the implementation, evaluation and demonstration of innovative technologies, (2) the development of the technological roadmap, together with its different partners, and, (3) the implementation of a multi-criteria assessment before any decision making.
Partners
Duration
From April 2018 to March 2022
Links
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