More about UPINFOOD

Did you know?

EU food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector in terms of turnover, value added and employment. Its contribution to Europe’s economy is crucial: 4.25 million employees throughout the EU and over €1 trillion turnover. It also accounts for more than 285,000 SMEs (99.1% of agri-food sector companies). Current food chain structure is problematic as it has strong socio-economic and environmental impacts. Our system comes from a post-war production-oriented need, when the objective was to provide food security. This was more than successful, leading to overproduction, environmental degradation, exhaustion of natural resources and generating concerns about public health and animals’ welfare. Major trends in the agri-food sector structure go toward larger and fewer companies and a higher mechanisation to take advantages of the economies of scale. However, this trend diverges from the idea of a sustainable society that is characterized by a vibrant food offered in the local market.

About UPINFOOD

The main objective of UPINFOOD project is to promote the transformation of the sector towards a new modernised vision of food that supplies nowadays demand in quality and healthy products while being sustainable, taking the most of new technologies and being a motor of innovation, thanks to education addressed to the key actors of this industry. Thus we intend to:

– Develop a competence framework
– Train professionals from the sector
– Create collaborative tools
– Equip VET trainers

UPINFOOD target groups

T1. Food micro and small business professionals
By this T1, we refer to professionals, entrepreneurs, and administrators / managers in charge of the decision making of micro-small businesses (in their majority family businesses) of the food sector. We also include in this category future – wannabe professionals that have vocation to enter this labour market. Thus, we can find our T1 in the frame of I-VET or C- VET trainings, individual training, assessment services, etc.

T2. VET professionals operating in the food sectors
This include training staff operating in both I-VET and C-VET contexts, formal or non-formal education, and that deliver courses linked to the food sector, independently of the specialisation. It also includes trainers in economic related fields such
as entrepreneurship or business administration.

T3. Stakeholders
– Local business associations, federations, and chambers and that are engaged in VET provision for local business companies.
– VET institutes in charge of delivering training to current and future food professionals
– Development Agencies and all other stakeholders from the economic sector that would offer the training to connected entrepreneurs
– Other Erasmus + projects, particularly those providing training for sustainability, innovation, and food related fields

T4. Local communities, who will benefit from the better awareness and implementation of ESG policies.
In addition, this T4 will include:
– Public authorities in charge of VET / business policies, as they could intervene at policy level to support the project.
– CSO and other networks working at local, national and EU level in the framework of food, sustainability and innovation promotion

T5. Partners: this last category was designed because some project activities will involve only partners, but it is to be noticed that they all already belong to the T2 and T3 target groups

UPINFOOD  goals

• Tailoring VET to labour market needs, in order to foster sustainable strategies within food companies.
• Increasing the flexibility of opportunities with VET: the method proposed intends to promote practical and peer learning.
• In line with the EU Green Deal, UPINFOOD will focus on sustainable approaches, so as to play its role in the fight against climate change.