Project F.INN: Leading food innovation in Greece

Launch of a Food Business Incubator and Innovation Center in Greece

Project F.INN - Food Business Incubator and Innovation Center is an initiative of the “New Agriculture for a New Generation” program, implemented through an exclusive grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The "New Agriculture for a New Generation" program aims to create career opportunities and entrepreneurship for youth in the agri-food sector in Greece. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, United States is leading this innovative multi-year program, in partnership with the Agricultural University of Athens and the American Farm School.

The purpose of the project is to design the F.INN center in Greece so that it will grow into a resource center of excellence within the agri-food sector. Project F.INN aims to become the go-to hub that brings together the Greek agri-food sector, offering expertise and business and technical solutions for new and established agri-food businesses. 

The primary mission of this hub will be to drive economic growth of the food and agriculture industry by strengthening the capacity of young food entrepreneurs, farmers and small businesses to bring innovative products to market and to take advantage of untapped market opportunities. Project F.INN will act as a catalyst for generating and growing successful companies and further developing innovation and entrepreneurship in the sector.

The implementation of the planning study for project F.INN has been assigned to a consortium of companies led by Seven Sigma with partners KiNNO Consultants, Wide Strategy and MITEF Greece, and with SEVT acting as an advisor to the partnership. 

The project was launched in May 2020 and is expected to be completed by year-end. It will be conducted in two phases - assessment and implementation, during which the partnership consortium plans to:  

A. Evaluate the market needs and explore international best practices  

B. Identify the program & service offering of F.INN 

C. Develop F.INN’s business and operational model  

D. Implement the business plan for the launch of the center

Market evaluation kicked off last month, whereby the consortium is running an online survey reaching out to over 5,000 stakeholders, as well as conducting a series of focus groups and one-to-one interviews to get a better understanding of the market needs.

For more information you can check out our flyer here.