Fostering regenerative agriculture
Challenge: What solutions could motivate farmers, agribusinesses, and the food industry to adopt more effective regenerative agriculture practices?
The most promising solutions in Europe for addressing issues with human and climatic health, as well as farmers’ financial security, are provided by regenerative agriculture. Public knowledge of the advantages of purchasing regeneratively grown products would rise if the agrifood sector were encouraged to embrace more effective agricultural techniques.
Current agricultural methods are degrading healthy soils and biodiversity, and the agrifood sector is directly responsible for 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Unlike degraded soil, healthy organic topsoil holds CO2 and water and recycles nutrients. So, by working together with nature, we can grow more resilient crops, produce more valuable food, and use less water. We can even slow down climate change; if the world’s soils stored at least 0.4% more CO2 each year, it would offset all human CO2 emissions.
In this challenge, you are expected to provide solutions that will encourage farmers and the agro-industry to move towards regenerative agriculture: to meet climate change mitigation goals, to meet food security needs, to protect farmland, and to create a healthier food system.
Designing sustainable food packaging
Challenge: What solutions could encourage the use of more sustainable but more expensive packaging?
Although the focus on environmentally friendly packaging in Europe is increasing, manufacturers are facing significant challenges in bringing such packaging to the market and finding a balance between environmental and economic sustainability. For many customers the final price has a decisive impact on the choice of the product. Large supermarkets respond to this by choosing products that can offer a better shelf price. As the price of packaging is becoming a more important component of the final price, producers offering less sustainable packaging gain a competitive advantage.
During this challenge, you are expected to find solutions that could change the current situation. What solution could this be? Could it be a marketing strategy encouraging consumers to choose more sustainable (even though more expensive) packaging? Could it be a new packaging model that would allow packaging to be successfully “resurrected for a second life” and adapted for further use? Or maybe you can offer a solution that would reduce the cost of producing sustainable packaging while preserving the quality? You have the freedom to choose the most appropriate way to solve this challenge.
Creating transparent food labels with digital tools
Challenge: What digital solutions can enhance transparency and build trust in food labeling for consumers?
Misleading and vague food labels often confuse consumers, leading to distrust. In fact, 88% of consumers say they are more willing to buy products with clear and transparent information about their sustainability and sourcing. Digital solutions, such as blockchain or QR codes, can provide real-time, verifiable data on the origins, sustainability, and nutritional value of products.
In this challenge, you should develop digital tools that enhance transparency and enable consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.
Adopting IT solutions and technology for agrifood businesses
Challenge: How can IT solutions and technology modernize and automate businesses in the agrifood sector?
Technology and IT solutions cannot be separated from advanced business, and the agrifood sector is not an exemption. Drones, VR glasses, agricultural robots, mobile apps, geographical information systems, virtual assistants and other technology that has been invented or is in the process of it, could be creatively incorporated in the modernization of the business of agrifood.
We expect you to accept the challenge and provide conceptual technological solutions that could help solving various problems in the agrifood sector.
Shortening food supply chain
Challenge: What solutions could help short food supply chains thrive?
The benefits of short food supply chains are undeniable. First of all, they allow end users to get higher product quality. From the environmental point of view, they enable more sustainable production and commercial practices. What is more, they create the conditions to reduce food losses and offer more sustainable packaging. Finally, short food supply chains allow farmers to obtain higher financial returns. By supplying products directly to consumers, food producers can reduce their dependence on intermediaries and develop independent marketing strategies. Also, they provide an opportunity to preserve the value created in such chains in local communities and to contribute to local economic and social development.
However, such practices are rare in reality due to the lack of knowledge, confidence and expertise and the often higher final prices offered for a product.
During this challenge, you are expected to find solutions that will enable farmers – primary food producers – to implement commercially viable short food supply chains in practice. This can be a proposed business model, a marketing strategy, a mobile app or a platform for farmers’ competence development. The choice is yours! The most important thing is to encourage the development of short food supply chains.
Making healthy foods more accessible
Challenge: How can we make healthier food choices more accessible and affordable for low-income communities?
Nearly 690 million people are undernourished globally, and many lower-income families face food insecurity. Healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, are often less accessible due to their higher costs. Studies show that diets rich in whole foods can reduce the risk of chronic diseases by up to 30%.
In this challenge, you are expected to develop solutions that address economic and logistical barriers, ensuring that nutritious food is both affordable and widely available in underserved communities.
Increasing nutrient density in processed foods
Challenge: How can we enhance the nutrient density of processed foods while maintaining affordability and consumer acceptance?
Globally, over 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, often due to poor diets high in processed foods with low nutrient density. In lower-income families, processed foods account for 70% of dietary intake, contributing to obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, innovations are crucial in fortifying or reformulating foods with vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients to significantly improve public health while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
In this challenge, you are expected to explore methods to enhance nutrient content while balancing taste and price.
Encouraging a shift to alternative proteins
Challenge: How can we encourage the public to consume more plant or alternative protein products?
This challenge is particularly complex and has different possible solutions. Participants who choose this challenge should decide which part of the solution to the challenge they will focus on and why this angle of solution to the problem is the most relevant to them:
- Improving public perception of insects as alternative proteins:
Insects as food for humans have received a lot of attention in the last few years. They are now seen as a great alternative that can provide the world’s population with the protein they need in a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way.
Insects as alternative proteins could become a very important part of a sustainable global food system. However, this new source of proteins is challenged by cultural constraints and resistance in the Western world as many Europeans reject insects as a protein alternative.
How, in your opinion, this cultural prejudice – both in Europe and in Lithuania – against alternative insect-derived proteins could be changed?
- Increasing local production of vegetable proteins:
Although plant-based proteins have become one of the most dynamically developing segments of the food production, many of such products are made from soybeans. Unfortunately, most soybeans are imported from outside the EU. This is unsustainable due to logistical costs and the risk of disrupting the food supply chain, so digital or other innovative solutions are needed to encourage farmers to grow plant protein sources (peas, beans etc.) that could be used for local food production. The sector is facing the problem of how to cost-effectively increase the amount of crops that could be the source of plant-based proteins grown in the country?
- Addressing the need to make plant-based proteins resemble meat:
Much of the plant-based protein production is focused on meat lovers; the aim is often to produce foods that are ‘instead of meat’ or ‘equal to meat’. From the first glance such a goal seems simple and innocent. However, there is a quite big problem behind it.
Although plant-based foods are usually a more environmentally friendly option than foods containing meat, such products need to be heavily processed and contain many additives to make them more familiar or meat-like to consumers. It is in the interest of food producers to develop less processed foods. Most importantly, it would benefit both nature and business. Therefore, it is necessary to stop processing plant-based foods and to introduce a new strategy (production, marketing, etc.) in order for plant-based and alternative protein products to be accepted by consumers. What kind of strategy do we need?
- Exploring new sources of alternative and plant-based proteins:
Although a number of plant-based and alternative protein sources have already been discovered, there is certainly some more untapped potential in this area. What could be new sources for protein? Why, in your opinion, they could succeed in the market?
