EIT Food partners with Mars for an Open Innovation Challenge to transform fiber for petcare

EIT Food, the innovation community supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union; in partnership with Mars Petcare, have announced the launch of an Open Innovation Challenge to identify innovative solutions to transform fiber into protein and sugar, with the aim of developing more sustainable pet food ingredients.

Through engaging EIT Food’s far-reaching network, which includes food industry, startups, research institutes and universities, this initiative aims to transform byproducts from agricultural processing (e.g. straw from crop harvesting, waste from peeling and chopping vegetables) into nutritious ingredients for pet food by improving its digestibility for pets – offering a unique and significant opportunity for agrifood stakeholders.

“Agricultural byproducts often comprise of high-quality proteins but come with high levels of insoluble fibers that limit usage in pet food due to being difficult for pets to digest," commented Benoit Buntinx, Director of Business Creation at EIT Food. "Transforming the insoluble fiber fractions into materials that can be effectively digested in the gut of a dog or cat would allow the usage of what would otherwise be a waste material as a valuable and more sustainable option for pet food.”

“This Open Innovation Challenge with EIT Food represents a significant step forward in our mission to drive more sustainable food solutions for pets," added Michael Horan, Global S&T Platform Leader Material Science at Mars Petcare. "We believe that we have a lot to offer when it comes to open innovation approaches and are excited to tap into this using the ecosystem and know-how of EIT Food.”

The Open Innovation Challenge provides an exciting opportunity for organizations harnessing cutting-edge technologies to work with the global leader in pet care, with potential to scale innovations rapidly. The top 10 solutions will be invited to a virtual demo day and up to two of the finalists will be supported by Mars Petcare to develop a joint PoC (Proof of Concept).

Applications are open for startups, academia, research institutes, or established organisations. The deadline for applications is 22 September (23:59 CEST), using the link here.