In total, around 30 of Valorial's member companies have benefited from European funding, totalling almost €600,000 over the last 2 years.

For 6 years now, Valorial has made Europe a strategic lever for the deployment of innovation in the agricultural and agri-food sectors in Western France. This approach has been supported by both the public authorities backing Valorial (the French government, the 3 regional councils of Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Normandy, and the metropolitan areas of Rennes and Nantes) and its 400 members, and has gradually taken shape to become an essential component of the services provided by the competitiveness cluster: inclusion in research and innovation projects, finding solutions for European funding of these projects, networking with the best European expertise, benchmarking innovative best practice, access to European working groups on emerging issues, etc. In the space of just a few years, Valorial has become a veritable "European Food Innovation Hub", with active relations with nearly 80 European clusters, and is currently involved in 8 European projects for the benefit of its members. It has been awarded the European "Cluster Management Excellence" Gold label, and last December received the "Best European Collaborative Initiative" award from the French Association of Competitive Clusters.
 

Valorial's European commitment: a strategic trajectory for concrete results

In line with its last 2 roadmaps, since 2018 Valorial has been developing the European pillar of its strategic project called "Des racines (territoriales) et des étoiles (européennes)". With its strong regional roots in the 3 regions of Western France, its community of 400 members and its 10,000 committed "innovators", Valorial has now become a genuine "European Food Innovation Hub", a key cluster in Europe, to meet the challenges of an ever more innovative and virtuous food future. Its ambition has been reaffirmed: to accelerate the adaptation of players in Western France's food industries to change through innovation, in particular by targeting European project opportunities for its members, and by stepping up its involvement in the European Union's research and innovation programmes in order to mobilise European funding.

Valorial is now fully recognised and identified at European level, and its legitimacy continues to grow. After obtaining the European "Cluster Management Excellence" label at Gold level, recognised by the European Commission at the end of 2022, last December Valorial won the "Best European Collaborative Initiative" award from the Association Française des Pôles de Compétitivité (AFPC), alongside Agri Sud-Ouest Innovation, for the European Aurora project.
 

Valorial takes part in European projects for the benefit of its community

The resources invested in applying for new European calls for projects in recent years have borne fruit: Valorial is currently involved in no fewer than 8 European projects in the deployment phase, in order to continue to develop its own influence on the one hand, but also and above all for the benefit of its members, who can thus access the services offered as part of these projects. Each of these projects feeds into the various services offered by the cluster, making it possible to set up complementary services, increase the scope of other services, or organise events, for example. To maintain this advantage, Valorial has to submit new European projects every year, which was the case in 2023 with 6 submissions.

European projects in which Valorial is involved (by the end of 2023)

The experience we have acquired in setting up European projects and our position in the networks means that we can target calls for proposals and consortiums in the process of being set up, by targeting actions and/or being at the genesis of projects and consortiums. This opens up the possibility of adapting and directing projects so as to open up participation, alongside Valorial, to other local players, or directing activities to benefit players in our regional ecosystems.

One example of this proactive approach is the systematic search for players from our regional ecosystems to include alongside us in the project set-up phase. This was the case in the following European projects:

• 3 start-up support structures: Normandie Incubation, the Quimper Cornouaille Technopole and Startup Palace, in Food-scalEUp
• 1 innovative SME in bioplastics: Natureplast, in Biorural
• 1 professional association in the packaging sector: Ligepack, in Value4Pack
• FRCUMA, the agricultural technical institute Arvalis and AgroParisTech, in Agrifood4Future
• 2 Technology Resource Centres: LEMPA and PRAXENS, in Hub4Food

The projects in which Valorial is a partner also make it possible to set up targeted networking opportunities, for example as part of the Aurora and Biorural projects in 2023.

European funding opportunities to boost innovation in the food industry

Valorial constantly monitors European funding opportunities arising from calls for projects. These take the form of vouchers enabling members to benefit from services via ongoing European projects. Valorial also positions itself as a partner in this type of project and disseminates this monitoring work during information and deciphering workshops, or by approaching its members directly.

Here are a few examples of funding obtained by members via the following European projects:

Aurora: Theme: quality, safety and traceability of food systems. European COSME ClusterXchange call for proposals. Valorial is leader alongside Agri Sud-Ouest Innovation. This project offers SMEs, academics and support organisations funding of up to €900 to facilitate exchanges during missions to Europe through the ClusterXchange mobility scheme (trade show visits, networking with potential partners).
> 3 members benefited from vouchers: Vanilla Fair, Polaris, Arbiom.
 

B-Resilient: Theme: biomass recovery. Horizon Europe Eurocluster call for proposals.
Valorial is a partner alongside the S3P Ingrédient partners. This project offers SMEs the opportunity to position themselves in response to calls for proposals, with funding ranging from €7,500 to €27,000 per SME, to work on innovation projects, business continuity plans and internationalisation projects.
> 4 Valorial member companies received €27,000 each to develop their innovation projects during the 1st call for applications in 2023: Saumextra, Upcyclink, AgWI, Terremo'logic, etc.
> 10 Valorial member companies received funding during the 2nd call for applications in 2024: Algolesko, Ivamer, Archie, Elementa, AgWI, Zalg, Le Guérandais, Agriviva, Les Petites Louches, Procidys, for a total amount redistributed of almost €250,000.

F2F Health Matters: Theme: healthy food products, biosourced techno-functional solutions and biosolutions. AAP COSME Cluster Go International.
Valorial is a partner in this project, which aims to facilitate the internationalisation of members in 5 target countries: Japan, Vietnam, Canada, Korea and the United Arab Emirates. In particular, SMEs are offered the opportunity to apply for calls for expressions of interest to take part in missions to the target countries, where they will receive financial support of €2,000 towards travel costs in addition to on-site organisation, or to apply for a €3,000 voucher to hire a consultant in the same countries for an online or on-site mission.
> 9 Valorial member companies have benefited from vouchers: Archie, Polaris, Marie Morin, Cake Lucky, Biodevas Laboratoires, Agogo, Vanilla Fair, Algolesko, Procidys.

Some European projects also offer direct financial support for companies that join the project as partners, for example:

Biotech4Food: Theme: biotechnologies for the food sector. AAP I3.
> 2 member companies will benefit from funding in 2024, including BCF Life Sciences, with a grant of €157,000 (70% of the project cost).

In total, around 30 Valorial member companies have benefited from European funding, totalling almost €600,000 over the last 2 years.

Valorial strengthens its influence in European networks and beyond

Valorial is broadening its knowledge of European networks and players in order to develop its influence and facilitate access to European projects, on its own behalf and for the benefit of its members. In this way, the cluster has strengthened its position by becoming a partner in certain Strategic Intelligent Specialisation Platforms (S3P), and by maintaining links with key players in European networks. Valorial maintains a watch on networks such as ERIAFF, Circular Bio Based Europe (formerly BBI), EIT FOOD, BIODIVERSA+ or networking events set up by the European Commission, EEN or other European players.

In 2023, Valorial represented the 3 regions of Brittany, Normandy and Pays de la Loire in 2 S3Ps, the first "Ingredient for Circular Economy" (I4CE) which has been in existence since 2019 and a second "Pack for Food" which is in the process of being validated by the European Commission. This positioning enables Valorial to act as a link between regional players and these platforms, and to identify opportunities for networking and the submission of future projects.

Through a multiplier effect, Valorial is also extending its network beyond European borders via the actions of the European projects in which it is involved, in particular during a mission to Japan in 2023, via the European F2F Health Matters project.

Valorial's European galaxy: a network of 80 partners

Valorial's network of 80 European partners, broken down by project and by country

A dedicated team to deploy Valorial's range of "Europe" services

To support this development and deploy its range of "Europe" services, Valorial has gradually structured and strengthened its "Europe and International" team. It now comprises 8 people directly involved in the management of European projects, and by extension, the entire Valorial team is committed to working alongside them. It is headed by a manager and made up of European project managers who, on a day-to-day basis, implement the European projects in which Valorial is involved, provide a link with the European partner clusters and take on board Valorial members, who can benefit from the services on offer: monitoring European calls for projects, resources, networking and partner searches in Europe, funding for innovation projects or missions abroad, etc. With one watchword: making Europe easier for them.