Imagine you run a bakery, a fish processing plant, or a fruit packing house — and every week you're throwing away perfectly good product because your planning is off or your supply chain doesn't talk to each other. LOWINFOOD brought together 28 organizations across 12 countries to test real-world fixes for exactly that problem, focusing on fruits and vegetables, bakery products, and fish. They took solutions that already worked in the lab and proved them out in actual businesses, aiming to get them ready for the market. The project wrapped up after four years with 40 deliverables, including hands-on training for bakeries on how to plan production so less food ends up in the bin.
Food manufacturers and retailers across Europe lose significant revenue to food waste — from bakeries overproducing and discarding unsold loaves, to produce packers watching fruit spoil before it reaches shelves, to fish processors dealing with unpredictable catch volumes. These losses hit the bottom line directly and create growing regulatory pressure as the EU tightens food waste reporting requirements.
LOWINFOOD produced 40 deliverables including validated food waste reduction solutions for three value chains: fruits and vegetables, bakery products, and fish. A concrete example is a training concept for optimizing production planning in the bakery sector to reduce overproduction waste. Solutions were demonstrated at TRL 7/8 in real operational environments across 12 countries.
If you are a bakery dealing with overproduction and daily waste of unsold products — this project developed a training concept for optimizing production planning specifically for the bakery sector. With 28 partners validating solutions across 12 countries, the methods have been tested in real operations and could help you match production to actual demand.
If you are a produce distributor losing margin to spoilage and short shelf life — LOWINFOOD demonstrated innovations across the fruits and vegetables value chain, from harvest to retail. The consortium included 12 industry partners and 9 SMEs who co-designed these solutions, meaning they were built with real business constraints in mind.
If you are a fish processor struggling with waste from unpredictable catch volumes and strict freshness windows — this project validated loss-reduction innovations specifically for the fish value chain. Solutions were pushed from lab-tested prototypes toward TRL 7/8 readiness, meaning they are close to commercial deployment.
The project data does not include specific implementation costs. However, since LOWINFOOD focused on demonstrating solutions at TRL 7/8 — close to market-ready — the technologies have moved past expensive R&D stages. Contact the consortium through SciTransfer for pricing details on specific solutions.
Yes, that was the explicit goal. The objective states solutions were validated and demonstrated to TRL 7/8, which means testing in operational environments at or near full scale. The consortium included 12 industry partners across 12 countries, providing diverse real-world validation.
IP arrangements are governed by the consortium agreement among the 28 partners. With 9 SMEs and 12 industry partners involved, licensing pathways likely exist for commercial adoption. SciTransfer can help navigate which partner holds rights to specific solutions.
LOWINFOOD covered three production value chains — fruits and vegetables, bakery products, and fish — plus at-home and out-of-home consumption. The EuroSciVoc classification specifically highlights fruit growing and vegetable growing.
The project aimed to move solutions from TRL 5/6 (lab-validated prototypes) to TRL 7/8 (demonstrated in operational environment). As the project closed in February 2025 after over 4 years of work and produced 40 deliverables, the solutions should be at or near pilot-proven readiness.
Yes. One documented deliverable is a training concept on optimizing production planning to reduce food waste in the bakery sector. Based on available project data, similar training materials may exist for the other value chains among the 40 total deliverables.
LOWINFOOD was funded under the EU's RUR-07-2020 topic, which directly addresses EU food waste reduction targets. The project's evidence-based approach to measuring waste reduction aligns with upcoming EU reporting requirements on food loss and waste.
LOWINFOOD's consortium of 28 partners across 12 countries is unusually strong for business adoption. With a 43% industry ratio (12 industry partners) and 9 SMEs, this wasn't an ivory-tower research exercise — nearly half the consortium are companies that need these solutions to work in practice. The mix includes universities (7), research institutes (4), and other organizations (5) like foundations and associations, giving it both scientific rigor and market awareness. The geographic spread across Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Sweden, and the UK means solutions have been stress-tested across different regulatory environments, food cultures, and supply chain structures. The coordinator, University of Tuscia in Italy, brings academic credibility while the heavy industry presence ensures commercial viability.
The project was coordinated by Universita degli Studi della Tuscia in Italy. SciTransfer can facilitate an introduction to the relevant consortium partner for your specific value chain.
Want to see which LOWINFOOD solution fits your bakery, produce, or fish operation? SciTransfer can match you with the right consortium partner and arrange a technical briefing — contact us for a free one-page solution brief.
