TURKIYE SUT ET GIDA SANAYICILERI VEURETICILERI BIRLIGI DERNEGI

Their core work

SETBIR is Turkey's national industry association representing dairy, meat, and food producers. They provide policy advocacy, technical coordination, and market intelligence to member manufacturers across the country. Within EU research projects, they contribute industry access, help validate research against real food-sector conditions, and disseminate findings to Turkish processors. Their value is bridging European research consortia with one of the largest food industries outside the EU.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2016-2018) addressed broad industrial energy efficiency policy through EU-MERCI, alongside seafood sustainability in SEAFOODTOMORROW. By 2019, focus narrowed onto cold chain energy efficiency in food and beverage supply chains via ICCEE — applying general energy expertise specifically to their members' operations. The trajectory points toward sector-specific sustainability rather than broad participation.

They are moving toward specialized food-sector sustainability and cold chain topics, making them a natural partner for projects targeting refrigeration, dairy/meat processing energy use, or food supply chain decarbonization.

How they like to work

They consistently join as a third party rather than as a lead or full partner, indicating a role focused on industry outreach and stakeholder access rather than research execution. They have worked with 75 different organizations across 22 countries in just three projects, suggesting they plug into large, diverse consortia rather than tight repeat networks. Expect them to deliver industry contacts, validation workshops, and dissemination rather than scientific deliverables.

Despite only three projects, they have connected with 75 partners across 22 countries, reflecting participation in large pan-European consortia. Their network extends well beyond Turkey into Western and Southern Europe's food and energy research ecosystems.

What sets them apart

SETBIR offers something most research organizations cannot: direct access to Turkey's dairy, meat, and food processing industry as a unified channel. For consortia needing real-world testing sites, industry validation, or dissemination into a large non-EU food market, they are one of the few Turkish sectoral associations active in Horizon 2020. Their repeat involvement in energy-efficiency-for-food projects signals credibility with European coordinators.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ICCEE
  Most directly aligned with their core membership — cold chain energy efficiency is a daily operational issue for dairy and meat producers.
• SEAFOODTOMORROW
  Broadens their profile beyond land-based food into marine and seafood sustainability, an unusual cross-sector engagement for a dairy/meat association.
• EU-MERCI
  Their entry point into EU research — focused on real-case energy efficiency implementation under the Energy Efficiency Directive.