Funding Competition - Improving food supply chain efficiency

14 Oct 2014 11:11 AM

Status: Open
Key features:
Programme: Collaborative research and development
Award: Up to £11m
Opens: 13 Oct 2014
Registration closes: 26 Nov 2014
Closes: 12 Feb 2015
Support phone number: 0300 321 4357

Registration is required to enter this competition. Please note that registration will close 78 days before the competition application deadline.

SUMMARY

Innovate UK, together with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) are to invest up to £11m in business projects to improve the resource efficiency and resilience of the food and drink supply chain.

The aim of this competition is to help companies develop innovative ways to:

reduce the production of waste

use resources such as energy, water and raw materials more efficiently

improve the productivity of food manufacturing and processing operations

improve the resilience of the food supply chain by making better use of resources and reducing environmental stresses on food systems.

Proposals must be collaborative and business-led. We expect to fund mainly industrial research projects in which a business partner will generally attract up to 50% public funding for their project costs (60% for SMEs).

We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £250k to £1m, although we may consider projects outside this range.

This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 13 October 2014.

The deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 3 December 2014.

A webinar briefing for potential applicants will be held on 15 October 2014.

Register for networking and consortia-building events:

9 October, Edinburgh
10 October, Manchester

Click here for full competition details and updates.