Food Circle Lab: a hub to scale up circular food startups in Flanders

The Food Circle Lab is a local hub and accelerator program, created by Flanders Circular and EIT Food, where selected startups are linked to local stakeholders. Collaborations that come forth of this matchmaking aim to experiment with launching or boosting products and services that support the transition of our food industry towards a circular ecosystem.

The Food Circle Lab aims to be both a physical and virtual testing ground for innovative products or services that are part of or contribute to the transition to a sustainable and circular food system. The Lab is mostly focused on the validation and implementation phase of the innovation funnel.

In the first phase, EIT Food screens its network to shortlist startups and scaleups with innovative products and services that have the potential to be successful in Flanders.

The impact that startups do or aim to make must adhere to one of the following criteria:

- The reduction of food waste
- A better use of residual flows, by, for example, upcycling them into new food products
- The reduction of food packaging

When selected for the Lab, these startups get the opportunity to implement or launch their service or products with local partners in the second phase. The goal is to boost their product or service. As a consequence, this supports helps them (further) scale their startup and have a successful company in Flanders that makes conscious use of resources.

While the project is running, the selected start-ups will take part in various activities that increase brand awareness and open doors for economic opportunities to further grow and develop their startups and disseminate their products.

Startups