Stricter environmental requirements, rising costs and the pressure to become more sustainable: companies in the agrifood sector face significant challenges. For SMEs that want to innovate, there is just now space to develop new solutions together, especially if this is done together with companies across the border. With the Interreg program KPF (small projects fund) FoodPlus, concrete support for this will become available.
The fund is there for various companies active in the agrifood sector in the Dutch-German border region. The focus is on four themes: precision agriculture, reducing food waste and loss, circular food systems and energy-efficient food production.
From kitchen table to grant application
Entrepreneurs who want to participate don't have to figure it out on their own. NOM is project leader of FoodPlus and has a regional coordinator for Northern Netherlands who provides personal guidance.
'Many companies active in the agrifood sector in the Northern Netherlands want to innovate, but the step to a concrete project is sometimes big,' says Lyanne Ausema, project manager at NOM. 'With FoodPlus, we help entrepreneurs throughout the agrifood chain take that step, from finding a partner to submitting an application.'
The strength also lies in the cross-border approach, says Ausema. "A German partner looks at the same problem differently. That combination produces solutions you wouldn't have come up with on your own.'
Multiple rounds of innovation until 2029
The program runs until mid-2029 and has a total budget of 9.55 million euros. Multiple rounds of submissions are organized each year, with cut-off dates in 2026 on May 1, September 1 and December 1. This gives entrepreneurs time to develop ideas and establish collaborations.
FIVE PLUSSES OF FOODPLUS:
- Grant up to € 10,000 for a feasibility study
- Grant up to € 50,000 for an innovation project.
- Guidance on application and project design.
- Help in finding German cooperation partners
- Space to test innovations in practice
Participate or know more? Contact Erika Róth at erikaroth@tcnn.nl or visit www.foodplus-interreg.eu.
FoodPlus is funded from the Interreg VI A program Germany-Netherlands, with co-funding from ERDF, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, several Dutch provinces (including Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland) and German federal states, among others.