22 March 2023
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Fresh Produce Consortium highlights successes of funded projects within UK.
CHALLENGES faced by the UK’s agriFood sector were highlighted at the recent Fresh Produce Consortium where expert speakers, technology demonstrations, case study projects and funding opportunity talks were featured.
The £90m Transforming Food Production (TFP) challenge hosted a hub where it engaged with representatives from across the food sector about how to become involved in agrifood-tech innovations.
Innovate UK, a UK agency which provides money and support to growers and other organisations, took a leading role at the consortium's Future & Careers event. Other TFP-funded companies showcasing their projects included Muddy Machines, a sustainable automation-based start-up that has successfully deployed electric robots in-field, and Spotta, a sensory technology provider that has developed a monitoring system to track and reduce the inefficiency of insect pests.
Deputy Director for the TFP challenge at Innovate UK, Dr Tom Jenkins, said: “Our aim was to inspire new connections, ideas and, hopefully, funding applications, not only through our speaking sessions, but also through audiences interacting with our project partners and demonstrators.
“Our role has always been more than just distributing funding, but also to help facilitate new opportunities, collaborations, knowledge sharing and the uptake of innovative concepts. Events such as FPC are an important part of our work to help the sector tackle its sustainability, productivity and net zero challenge together, and a great way to help innovators come together for the wider good.”
