Luke boosts international innovation transfer

Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) accelerates commercialization of innovations and interactions with foreign SME’s. Luke’s focus is on new solutions for the sustainable development of the Finnish bioeconomy and the promotion of new biobased businesses. One of its latest developments concerns a unique food concept. Luke is ready to transfer the food concept to industry and is now negotiating it with a company from Greece, 4G (Greek Gaia’s Global Gate).

Luke and 4G are now collaborating through a mini project for further development of the innovative food concept and information transfer related to it. The product is healthy, tasty, gluten-, dairy-, and soya-free answering many consumer needs and current trends in Greece and Europe. The project itself focuses on knowledge transfer, online training, recipe upscaling and evaluating test products.

The mini project is funded by Bridges Interreg Europe project and the Regional Council of Helsinki – Uusimaa.

The Regional Council of Helsinki – Uusimaa and ANKO S.A., Regional Development Agency of Western Macedonia, Greece as partners of the Bridges Interreg project have activated transregional operations and identified innovation demand and supply in Western Macedonia and Finland. Their active help brought also Luke and 4G together.

“Collaborating with a big research organization will provide us specific research know-how, as well as a comprehensive approach on a new healthy innovative product” comments 4G-Greek Gaia's Global Gate’s General Director, Mr. Ioannis Kouimtzidis.

Future plans are to advance research-to-business actions to commercialize the developed food product or product family using a licensing model. 4G will decide whether the product will be launched at a later stage by 4G in Greece and other relevant markets.