Cap Protéines Challenge 2, a second edition of the ideation contest to innovate around plant proteins

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As part of the Cap Protéines program and after the great success of the first event in 2021, a second edition of the ideation contest called Cap Protéines Challenge 2 was launched on Thursday, September 15, 2022. Contrary to last year, the target audience is widening and no longer exclusively concerns students, but also entrepreneurs, agricultural advisors, farmers, manufacturers, distributors...

Innovation on the menu

Terres Inovia and Terres Univia, in partnership with the CTCPA, the Iterg, the Fondation Avril and Manger du Sens have launched the second edition of the ideation contest around innovation in plant proteins. It emanates from the project "Responding to the food transition through local, sustainable and diversified products" of the Cap Protéines program launched in 2021 and for a period of two years under the impetus of the Plan France Relance. The Cap Protéines Challenge 2, also supported by Acta and Actia, was officially launched by a live webinar yesterday, Thursday, September 15, 2022 from 16:30 to 18:00.

In this context, a first ideation contest named Cap Protéines Challenge was organized in 2021. It was aimed at students from all disciplines interested in innovation around plant proteins. The participants were able to propose their ideas and innovative concepts in order to respond to the food transition, to improve the quality and quantity of the national production of protein-rich crops and to democratize their use in human food. Les Frimeuses -more info by clicking here- had won over the jury with their vegetable spreads. They left with a check for €3000 and received "entrepreneurship" support from experts at the Euralimentaire start-up incubator to implement their idea.

A broader industry approach

This year, the second edition of the ideation contest keeps the same objective and extends this time its panel of participants. Students are invited, as in 2021, and also entrepreneurs, agricultural advisors, farmers, manufacturers, distributors ... Because the Cap Protéines Challenge 2, like its previous version, targets all links in the value chain, from farm to fork, around innovation and four themes that concern farmers, processors, consumers, and a sector approach.

The Cap Protéines Challenge 2 was officially launched by a live webinar yesterday, Thursday, September 15, 2022 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. The interventions of Frédéric Fine, director of valorization at Terres Inovia, Maria Malkoun, in charge of entrepreneurship, Marie Dubot, in charge of innovation at Terres Univia, Stéphane George, in charge of open innovation and emergence of strategic projects at CTCPA, Benjamin Buaud, senior project manager in health nutrition at ITERG, Anaïs Lossignol, project manager at the Fondation Avril and Freddy Thiburce, associate director of Manger du sens, explained the context, the stakes and the expectations of the challenge around plant proteins as well as the rules of the contest. This event was recorded to be accessible in replay on the Manger du Sens platform.

"The Cap Protéines Challenge is a real catalyst for ideas around plant proteins. The mentoring offered by the industry's technical centers aims to accelerate projects at both the technical and business levels, and to enable participants to take the first essential steps towards creating a company.explains Frédéric Fine, Director of Valorization at Terres Inovia.

"This challenge is a great opportunity for candidates to propose new ideas around this important topic of plant proteins. We expect you to surprise us! The CTCPA is responsible for the emergence and monitoring of collaborative programs," explains Stéphane George.

Deadline schedule for participants

Participants must submit their projects on the Eat Sense platform before November 30. They will be invited to present their work on December 15, 2022, before the organizing jury, which will select 4 to 6 projects. Once the results are announced, the shortlisted teams will move on to the second phase of the challenge and will be mentored by an expert from one of the partner technical centers. The competition will end with the presentation of the projects on May 10, 2023 at the Sup'Biotech school in Paris.

On the same day, during a prize-giving ceremony, checks ranging from €1,000 to €3,000 will be awarded to the winners. The latter will be accompanied by a technical center of the sector to concretize the projects.

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About Cap Protéines

Cap Protéines is the research, development, innovation and transfer program of the Protein Plan launched by the public authorities as part of the France Recovery Plan. Led by Terres Inovia and the Institut de l'élevage, it mobilizes more than 200 technical partners, 100,000 oilseed producers and more than 100,000 ruminant breeders in 2021 and 2022 and has a budget of €55.5 million. This program is financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food as part of the France Relance plan and Terres Univia. www.cap-proteines.fr

THE PARTNERS

About Terres Inovia

Terres Inovia is the technical institute for professionals in the vegetable oil and protein and hemp sectors. Its mission is to improve the competitiveness of oilseeds, protein crops and industrial hemp, by adapting production and product development to the economic context and societal demands. Terres Inovia is part of the Acta network - Agricultural technical institutes. www.terresinovia.fr

About Terres Univia

Terres Univia is the interprofession of vegetable oils and proteins. It brings together the main professional associations and federations for the production, marketing, processing and use of oilseeds and protein-rich plants. Its missions are: knowledge of production and markets, promotion of the sector and its products, management of quality systems, support for R&D actions, organization of professional practices and dissemination of its knowledge to professionals. www.terresunivia.fr

About the CTCPA

The CTCPA, agri-food technical center, supports companies in the sector (from start-ups to large groups) in the fields of product quality and food safety, product and process development, industrial and environmental performance and packaging. The CTCPA intervenes in the form of tailor-made accompaniments in audits-consulting-studies, laboratory analyses, tests and pre-series in its technological halls and also via training courses. www.ctcpa.org

About Iterg

Iterg is the CTI of the vegetable oil and protein producing industries. It participates in the development of the industries of fats and related products: fats, vegetable oils and co-products of oils, vegetable proteins and minor compounds, derived from these products. Iterg is part of the Actia network and is labelled ITAI - Institut technique Agro-Industriel. www.iterg.com

About the April Foundation

The Avril Foundation is part of a desire to act and get involved in rural areas in France and Africa, by pursuing missions of general interest. In France, the Fondation Avril supports the transition of agriculture towards models that create sustainable economic, social and environmental value and also intervenes in the territories to promote healthy and sustainable food for all. In Africa, it wishes to contribute to the country's autonomy in terms of proteins, which involves active support for the structuring of sectors and support for agroecological initiatives that promote cultivated biodiversity and soil preservation. www.fondationavril.org

About Eat Sense

The first collaborative platform for food transition, at the cutting edge of web technologies and collective intelligence, to help food brands and their organizations deploy transformation, innovation and communication strategies with positive impact. We facilitate "conversational" interactions with consumers and stakeholders in the form of collaborative debates or online creative challenges (e.g. Startup Competition, Student Challenge, Innovation Ecosystem Animation...). www.mangerdusens.fr

SUPPORT

About Acta

Acta - les instituts techniques agricoles leads and represents the network of 18 agricultural technical institutes (ITA), professional tools for applied research and technology transfer to promote their unique know-how in France and internationally. Its purpose is to connect people and knowledge to accelerate the emergence of innovation and improve the competitiveness of agricultural, forestry and agro-industrial sectors in conventional, organic and sustainable agriculture. www.acta.asso.fr

About Actia

Actia is a national coordination structure that federates the activities of the technical institutes of the agri-food industry, as well as the partner centers, interface and technical, whose 1,200 researchers, engineers and technicians accompany companies, particularly SMEs, on a daily basis. With more than 80 sites in France, Actia centers intervene in all sectors of the food industry, as well as on non-food valuations of agricultural products (biotechnology, fine chemistry, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals). Actia dynamizes and catalyzes this unique network of development, transfer, information and training by bringing into play in synergy the know-how and the complementarities of each one. www.actia-asso.eu