ERA-NET OPTIBERRY

This commission is to award a contract with the UK research partner who have been approved at EU level to deliver research services in respect of the collaborative project OPTIBERRY under the ERA-NET scheme, which is part of Horizon 2020 - the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020).

OPTIBERRY targets mild processing and biorefinery/extraction concepts to food and non-food prototypes and (non)-food ingredients for sustainable use of berry biomass available, in particular the non-premium fruit. Berries were chosen for their economic importance and local and regionally clustered availability. In Europe almost 2 million tons of berries are grown. However, more than 15% of these berries do not enter the fresh market because of retailer-driven quality reasons, corresponding with more than 300 000 tons of non-premium fruit. Part of these non-premium fruit finds a destination in the industry but are sold at "dumping" prices (0.3-0.6 €/kg vs picking cost of 4.5 €/kg).