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BaltFood - The BSR Food Cluster: Innovation and Competitiveness in Action
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PROJEKT: The food industry has developed into a highly competitive and strong industrial sector within the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Emerging trends like more demanding consumers, changing functionality of food, a concentration process in the retail sector and shorter product lifecycles, however, require a constant technological evolution. In this regard various deficits within the SME sector were identified: late recognition of food trends; low conversion of scientific findings into marketable food products or below average innovation rates.
With this background “baltfood” was launched. The idea is networking among the business and scientific communities in the food industry. The overall aim of this project is to foster innovations and to take the food industry to the next level.
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Summary description of the project:
BaltFood integrates local, regional and national food cluster organisations in six countries around the Baltic Sea into one food cluster. The cooperation focuses on enhancing the competitiveness of the BSR food industry to become the European source for valuable and affordable food products.
The food industry has developed into one of the strongest business sectors in the BSR characterized by high SME involvement. This competitive position has to be secured in a dynamic, fast changing but relatively mature (regional) marketplace. Concurrently, emerging trends require a constant search for lower costs, innovation and flexible processes. This calls for both process and product innovations to be jointly nurtured and diffused by the scientific and business communities with public institutions shaping the economic development framework.
Consequently BaltFood aims at contributing to a sustainable cluster-specific economic development in the BSR by making regionally-embedded knowledge available on a wider geographical basis. The specific objective is to advance the process of building a sustainable and demand-oriented pan-Baltic food cluster structure in the attempt to increase the transfer and application of technological and market-related know-how among its scientific, industry and public members by the year 2011.
BaltFood is organised according to the triple helix approach with one workpackage each concentrating on the scientific, business and regional development aspect. Within the scientific area, BaltFood concentrates on identifying best practises in the food innovation process and transferring this into action through the BaltFood R&D Network. In the business area results from the BaltFood R&D network will be transferred into demand-led innovation projects.
To successfully run such projects, the BaltFood Academy will be created as a pan-Baltic education body. Finally, the regional development part will create and run the structure for the pan-Baltic food cluster and contribute to a Baltic place branding approach. Results will be documented in best practise guides and first pilot implementations in the aforementioned areas will be carried out.
BaltFood will increase the below-average product and process innovation reception of SME management in the BSR food cluster as a pre-condition for building a sustainable transnational innovation network. The (infra)-structural resources supporting the personnel in product and process innovation within the scientific community and the food industry SMEs to jointly identify potentially relevant trends on transnational markets will be improved.
Achievements of the project so far:
Transfer new ideas to marketable products - baltfood trendwiki, an open platform where new trends, markets and product ideas can be discovered and discussed with colleagues in the Baltic Sea Region has been developed. The baltfood trendwiki offers the following advantages: 1) saving time, 2) information bundled at one place, 3) hear/share views/opinions of other professionals. The baltfood trendwiki will help to deal more efficiently with the flood of information on trends in the food industry.
Transfer of best practices - The baltfood Guideline Manual GM-1 (Part I) “Implementation of Best Practices in BSR Food Support Structures” has been developed. Part I of the guideline is concerned with 1) the analysis, benchmarking and identification of best practices and 2) analysis to show the organizational structures, the technology transfer, the business development, support activities in several areas and to transfer best practices in other areas and regions in the BSR.
Establish life-long learning in the food industry - The first transnational e-learning course for the BSR food industry has been developed and over 60 participants from 6 countries attended the first course. The participants were guided step-by-step through the course, beginning with preliminary assumptions to first product ideas resulting in a concept to launch a “Healthy to Go Product” into the market. This represents the kick-off for a manifold virtual baltfood academy.
Building transnational transfer structures – The organization of a network of research and development facilities in the BSR should assist SMEs in their development efforts and provide infrastructure that extend beyond regional borders. Therefore relevant institutions have been identified and interviewed. To strengthen the network between independent laboratories and SMEs concerning food products and process development a draft “Business Plan for the Establishment of a Baltic Food R&D Network” has been developed.
Why do food clusters develop in certain regions? – At the beginning an analysis of the socio-economic dynamics and potentials of the BSR food cluster including the identification of site selection factors for large-scale investments was performed. The implementation of a cluster analysis focusing on the identification of regional concentrations of interconnected companies and institutions in the food industry took place. This analysis shows the current economic strengths and future developments of the economic base. Based on employment data and company data the food cluster dynamics for each participating region were analyzed.
A guideline manual on best practices in economic development support to secure and enlarge the potential of food industry investments was created to bring new, additional economic activity to the region and to retain existing companies and help them to expand.
Project Duration: 25. 10. 2008 - 24. 01. 2012, 42 months
Approximate total project budget in EUR: 2.421.110,00
ERDF co-financing: 1.861.130,00
List of Partners:
- Lübeck Business Development Corporation (DE) (Lead partner)
- Roskilde University - Oresund Food Network (DK)
- University of Lund (SE)
- Skane Food Innovation Network, Lund (SE)
- University of Turku (FI)
- Lübeck University of Applied Sciences (DE)
- Lubelskie Voivodship, Lublin (PL)
- Lithuanian Cluster of Food Sector, Vilnius (LIT)
- University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (PL)
- University of Rostock (DE)
- Agropolis Ltd., Jokioinen (FI)
- Turku School of Economics (FI)
- City of Hamburg (DE)
Contact:
Katja Rudow
Dipl. Ing. für Stadt- und Regionalplanung
Universität Rostock
Agrar- und Umweltwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Institut für Management Ländlicher Räume
Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 7
18059 Rostock
Fon +49 (0) 381 498 - 3265
Fax +49 (0) 381 498 - 3262
www.uni-rostock.de www.auf.uni-rostock.de
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Umwelt-, Ökologie- und Agrarwissenschaften 
für Projekte
uni-rostock.de
