Call for expression of interest to participate in “EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs

Subject of the call

The present call is launched by EIT Food jointly with University of Warsaw to select companies that will deliver market testing services for products that were successfully developed with the participation of consumers (each company-subcontractor selected in the present call will deliver market testing services for one product specified in section 2.4 of this call document).

Interested and eligible organisations are invited to submit their applications by 27 September 2023, 11 am CEST, using the attached “EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs” Application Form”. Please send the electronic version of application, based on the attached template, to: magdalena.zatorska@uw.edu.pl.

Eligibility

Eligible companies need to meet the following criteria:

1. A legal person (informal organizations/unregistered startup teams are not eligible) registered in a member state of the European Union;
2. A retailer (company specializing in retail sale; NACE code G47), focused on fast-moving consumer goods or food service company (NACE I56);
3. Willing to carry out market tests of a selected new product, which is the outcome of the Labs co-creation process;
4. Able to sign a subcontracting agreement with the EIT Food Co-Location Centre and act as a subcontractor in a project funded based on Horizon Europe/EIT modalities (EIT Food partners and Rising Food Stars members are not eligible);
5. Possessing knowledge, skills, and resources needed to carry out the subcontracted tasks.

What are EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs

EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs is the largest food co-creation initiative in Europe. In 2019-2022, the co-creation processes involved 82 consumer panels and 43 companies from 16 European countries, who worked together to design, develop and introduce to the market 22 innovative food products.

Consumer Engagement Labs are co-creation processes involving consumers and producers, based on innovative methodology developed by University of Warsaw. Each Labs process engages a relatively coherent group of consumers, who jointly go through a multi-stage interactive process of ideation to develop proposals for new products that better address their specific needs. Unlike typical sensory panels and consumer surveys, the Labs do not involve testing of sample products but creation of innovative, yet non-existing combinations of product features and benefits. This is enabled by an interactive Labs format, creativity-stimulating techniques and opportunities to redesign food products without the need to master specialist vocabulary or possess detailed knowledge concerning ingredients or manufacturing processes.

Additional information about EIT Food RIS Consumer Engagement Labs is available on the project website at: https://www.eitfood.eu/projects/ris-consumer-engagement-labs