European fruit research project Isafruit says it needs to raise its profile among the European fruit trade.
Dr Ole Callesen project director of the €21.1m programme, which aims to promote European health and wellbeing through improved quality, appeal and consumption of fruit, said that Fruit Logistica provides the ideal opportunity for Isafruit to reach members of the European fruit industry.
“Isafruit is a science project, but its goals reach far wider than the research environment and therefore we need to ensure the knowledge Isafruit generates can be applied in the real world for the benefit of consumers,” said Dr Callesen. “The various members of Europe’s sophisticated fresh produce industry are therefore a crucial part of Isafruit’s success. Now we hope that science can enhance their endeavours, helping to ensure all Europeans have access to a healthy diet that includes plenty of fruit.”
Isafruit is addressing this challenge by focusing on bottlenecks in the fruit supply chain and aims to address areas where issues such as quality, safety, convenience, price and availability have an impact on consumer willingness, or ability to purchase and consume fruit.
The project is built around eight key pillars. Two of these manage project coordination and dissemination of information whilst six focus purely on research each addressing a number of research, technical and development activities. In all cases, research is driven by knowledge of consumer needs and desires, as well as concern for the environment.
Taking the fork-to-farm approach, Isafruit utilises consumer-based research conducted by pillar one as a platform for all other research. Project activity ranges from the development of new and improved fruit cultivars using genetics, improved pre- and post-harvest chain management, to better understanding the role fruit plays in the health of consumers.
“In order to best approach such a demanding research project it was essential to define specific areas for study which could be aggressively pursued by specialist organisations in different countries, yet still contribute to a wider body of knowledge that could be successfully utilised by other Isafruit members and the wider European produce industry for the ultimate benefit of European consumers,” said Dr Callesen. “It was also important that research areas be complementary, so that the sum total of knowledge gained would increase when results from all areas were combined.
“Each of the research areas chosen therefore represents a separate, but crucial area in our understanding of the way in which fruit is grown, transported, offered for sale and consumed, and its benefits for the environment and consumer. Importantly, each area also represents a range of products and activities where members feel new discoveries are obtainable. This balance underlines Isafruit’s goal of leveraging existing understanding to create valuable new knowledge.”
Isafruit draws on expertise from sixty of Europe’s premier fruit and food research organisations, centres for technological development and small-medium enterprises, together with two specialist research providers in the US and New Zealand. The project was unveiled in 2005 and will run for four-and-a-half years.
No comments yet