In January 2024, ALLIANCE started a project cluster with projects WATSON and THEROS to explore synergies and opportunities for collaboration and cross-fertilisation in the development of new solutions to tackle food fraud. Over the following months, the cluster grew to include other projects that are piloting innovative solutions to ensure greater transparency along food supply chains, and restore consumers' trust.
THEROS
THEROS is a Horizon Europe project that brings together a complementary consortium of 17 partners within 6 EU Member States, with the view to implement an integrated toolbox being capable to modernise the process of verifying organic and geographical indications food products and preventing adulterations and non-compliances, through the use of various technological innovations and data sources, while demonstrating enhanced security, transparency and interoperability in the quality labelled food supply chain. THEROS toolbox components will be extensively evaluated in real life settings through four pilot demonstrations in four different countries (Serbia, Greece, Spain and Czech Republic), while covering diverse requirements, involvement of all relevant actors and different organic/geographical indication food products and fraud/adulteration cases.
Website: https://theros-project.eu/
WATSON
WATSON is developing a set of tools and systems that can detect and prevent fraudulent practices across the entire food supply chain. It will increase transparency through improved track-and-trace mechanisms containing accurate, time-relevant and untampered information on the food product throughout its whole journey. The project will also raise consumer awareness about food safety and value, leading to the adoption of healthier lifestyles and the development of sustainable food ecosystems. Moreover, it will demonstrate the solutions in six different use cases across a number of key food supply chains, covering important commodity groups in the European food system (e.g. wine, olive oil, honey, meat, fish, cereal and dairy).
Website: https://watsonproject.eu/
CUES
CUES addresses the urgent need for a more sustainable food system that benefits the environment, society, and the economy. The project aims to foster a Triple Change in the food system concerning culture, food value chain, and policy. To this end, CUES will pilot nine food system interventions and policy dialogues, actively involving consumers, food value chain actors and policymakers. A learning community and toolkits for behavioural change and communication will be developed to motivate 3 million consumers to make sustainable food choices.
Website: https://cuesproject.eu/
FishEUTrust
FishEUTrust will establish five Co-creation Living Labs in the Mediterranean Basin, the North Sea and the Atlantic Sea. These will enable innovation and process validation and demonstrate the project's supply chain solutions. Examples of supply-chain innovation include creating sustainable business models, protecting cultural and culinary heritage, short food supply chains, exploiting underused fish species, and innovative engagement activities to stimulate positive consumer behaviour. The project will also develop tools to maximize trust by guaranteeing the quality, safety, and traceability of seafood products based on smart control systems (sensors), metagenomics, genetic biomarkers, isotopic techniques, and labelling/product passport/blockchain). These tools will be integrated into a single digital FishEUTrust data platform.
Website: https://fisheutrust.org/
SEA2SEE
SEA2SEE is an innovative European project which main goal is to make actors with sustainable seafood practices more visible to consumers thus giving them a competitive advantage. SEA2SEE project comes to fill in existing seafood traceability gaps through the development of an innovative end-to-end blockchain-based platform, along with professional and consumer applications to increase trust and social acceptance of sustainably fished and farmed seafood. The main objective of SEA2SEE is to significantly increase consumer trust and acceptance of sustainably fished or farmed seafood in Europe through the development and demonstration of an innovative end-to-end blockchain traceability model throughout the seafood value chain and the implementation of societal and sectoral strategies for co-creation, communication and awareness raising about the benefits of sustainably fished or farmed nutritious seafood.
Website: https://sea2see.eu/
TealHelix
The TealHelix project aims to improve how consumers make decisions about sustainable food by creating more personalised and inclusive labelling approaches. Using a method called motivational matching, we will develop new types of labels and digital tools to help people understand and choose more sustainable options. This personalised approach will also help overcome resistance to sustainability and meet the different needs of vulnerable consumers. We will combine knowledge from life cycle analysis, social and economic environments, and consumer behaviour to create a new way of aligning individual preferences with sustainability goals. Different types of labels, such as traditional, digital, and smart labels, will be tested in stores and online.
Website: https://www.tealhelix.eu/
TITAN
TITAN is a 4-year project that will provide an extensive platform for the development of a wide range of innovations that aid transparency and address societal and planetary health to make the food system fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly. The innovations will be supported by cross cutting Work Packages dedicated to stakeholder interests, implementation of digital technologies, policy recommendations, business support, management and communication and dissemination. TITAN will develop 15 innovative solutions including DNA-based detection methods, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance transparency in agri-food businesses with a focus on SMEs, improve food choices by providing more transparent information to the consumer, enhance food safety and authenticity of products and provide improved information on the health and sustainability of food products.
Website: https://titanproject.eu/