Call for expression of interest to participate in EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs 2022

The Labs are creative sessions, in which consumers work alongside scientists and company representatives to develop new product concepts. In 2022, the Labs will focus on innovative, more sustainable designs of packaging for takeaway food, contributing to the ambitions of the New European Bauhaus, linking sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion with consumer centricity, which is at the core of EIT Food strategy.

The creative processes will involve local scientific organisations, food service providers and packaging companies, helping identify potential improvements in meal packaging to promote sustainability and circularity in the sector.

Applications are invited from countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

Eligible organisations

Each consortium should consist of 3 organisations operating in the same country, including:  

• scientific organisation (higher education institution such as university or research institute) 
• food service provider (company offering takeaway meals, catering or food delivery services; NACE code I56) 
• packaging company (company manufacturing packaging used by food service providers; NACE code C17, C22 and/or C25)

Only one consortium can be selected in each of the target countries covered by this call and the winning consortia will be selected based on the assessment of the submitted applications. 

Eligible ogranisations are: 

• Legal persons (please note that informal/semi-formal organisations that do not have the status of legal persons are not eligible); 
• Operating in a country targeted by the call; 
• Able to sign a subcontracting agreement with the EIT Food Co-Location Centre and act as a subcontractor in a project funded based on Horizon Europe/EIT modalities; 
• Possessing knowledge, skills and resources rendering them able to carry out the subcontracted tasks. 

Selection process

Interested and eligible organisations are invited to submit their applications by 22 March 2022, 3 pm CEST, using the attached EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs Application Form (documents can be downloaded below). Please send the electronic version of the application, based on the attached template, to: olubinski@wz.uw.edu.pl

Benefits for selected organisations: 

• Ability to benefit from the association with EIT Food and the EIT community (as subcontractors in EIT Food activities), and the brands of EIT Food and the EIT; 
• Rights to participate in thematic project meetings, organized by EIT Food and its partners (no membership fees will be required from subcontractors; EIT Food will not cover travel costs to attend internal meetings, but organisations designated as subcontractors can use their assigned budgets to cover these costs); 
• Rights to promote the association with EIT Food project, commercialise the product(s) developed as outcomes of the Labs process and introduce them to the market; 
• Opportunities for networking with EIT Food partners, including opportunities for joint project ideation and involvement in other EIT Food projects; 
• Subcontracting agreement with EIT Food Co-Location Centre with funding as defined in this call document, contingent upon the delivery of contractual tasks. Payments will be linked to compliance with the contractual tasks and deliverables; 
• Knowledge and organisational support of EIT Food, its CLCs and partners in implementation of the activities planned for each subcontractor of the project. 
• Becoming a subcontractor in EIT Food project shall be considered an opportunity to become associated with the community of EIT Food, establish relations with EIT Food partners and become better embedded in their activities, as well as to benefit from results of consumer co-creation processes to develop and commercialise innovative products. Subcontractors will also benefit from the increased visibility in their local innovation ecosystems, strengthening their position on the regional and national levels. 

Deadline for applications: 22.03.2022, 3pm CET. 

Below you can download the Call for EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs 2022, the application form and the agreement template.