ASSOCIATION DE COORDINATION TECHNIQUE POUR L'INDUSTRIE AGROALIMENTAIRE

Their core work

ACTIA is France's technical coordination body for the agri-food industry, acting as a bridge between food research institutes and the companies that need their results. They specialize in organizing innovation networks, building capacity across food supply chains, and helping agri-food SMEs adopt new technologies and practices. Their work spans the full food chain — from sustainable farming systems and legume-based agriculture to food packaging, short supply chains, and consumer-facing healthy food solutions. They bring a distinctive ability to coordinate multi-actor networks that connect researchers, producers, processors, and consumers across European food systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), ACTIA focused on infrastructure-level work: building National Contact Point networks, running training and capacity building programs, and establishing knowledge-sharing platforms for short supply chains and bio-based innovation. From 2018 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward concrete agri-food solutions — fair value distribution in dairy and fruit/vegetable chains, consumer-oriented healthy diets, digital tools for food systems, and scaling up innovations in short food chains. The trajectory shows a clear move from "organizing the network" to "delivering results through the network."

ACTIA is moving toward consumer-facing food system innovation, with growing emphasis on healthy diets, agrobiodiversity, and digital tools for short and mid-tier supply chains — expect them to seek partners in food tech, consumer science, and territorial food governance.

How they like to work

ACTIA is overwhelmingly a participant (9 out of 10 projects), which reflects their role as a network coordinator that plugs into larger consortia rather than leading them. Their one coordination (MYPACK) was also their largest funded project, suggesting they can lead when the topic aligns tightly with their packaging expertise. With 214 unique partners across 32 countries, they operate as a well-connected hub — a strong indicator that they bring established relationships and can help new partners access the broader European agri-food innovation landscape.

ACTIA has collaborated with 214 unique partners across 32 countries, making them one of the most broadly connected agri-food associations in H2020. Their network spans virtually all of Europe and reflects their role as a coordination body that connects diverse actors across the food chain.

What sets them apart

ACTIA occupies a rare position as a national-level industry coordination body with deep European reach — they are not a university, not a company, but the connective tissue of France's agri-food technical ecosystem. Their value to a consortium is twofold: they bring structured access to a network of French food research centers and industry partners, and they have proven ability to manage multi-actor coordination tasks (dissemination, training, capacity building) that many consortia struggle with. For anyone building a food-sector consortium that needs a French anchor with broad industry connections, ACTIA is a natural choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MYPACK
  Their only coordinated project and by far their largest (EUR 933K) — focused on sustainable food packaging market exploitation, showing leadership capacity when the topic fits.
• FAIRCHAIN
  Their second-largest project (EUR 519K), running until 2024, representing their current strategic direction toward fair value chains in dairy and fruit/vegetable sectors.
• DIVINFOOD
  Their most recent project (2022–2027), signaling a forward-looking move into agrobiodiversity, plant-based diets, and digital tools for food chains.