Funding to support collaborative R&D projects developing novel products and innovations delivering healthy, sustainable, and resilient diets for the UK population.
Projects should address one or more of the following priority areas:
- improving the nutrition of food and drink products to support populations at higher risk of malnutrition, muscle loss or both, for example those using GLP-1 drugs, older population groups and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds
- supporting research and innovation to assess the impact of food processing and final food product composition on health, including but not restricted to assessing and improving the nutritive value retained by different processing methods, as well as evaluating the impact of food additives and emulsifiers on human physiology, to develop innovations and sustainable alternatives to support healthy sustainable diets
- improving environmental outcomes for novel innovations in the food and drink sector for example by considering a circular economy approach seeking to reduce waste and food losses
To address these themes, your project can focus on one or more of the following:
- biofortification to enhance the nutritional profile of food and drink products and improve nutrition of the UK population (including, but not limited to, fibres, folates, iron, vitamins, proteins, omega-3.)
- re-formulation and processing innovations to retain and or/improve the nutritional value of food products and provide suitable and sustainable alternatives to processing ingredients
- increasing the affordability and accessibility of nutritious food and drink products across the UK, reducing food inequalities and empowering a productive workforce contributing to the UK economy
- considering consumer behaviour towards diet and health and drivers of food choices
- increasing resilience of the UK food system by creating conditions for a robust supply chain, enabling the UK population to access healthy sustainable food
This opportunity has a mandatory notification of intent (NOI) stage. It requires a short vision and approach of the proposed work and a list of the anticipated ‘core team’ members.
ELIGIBILITY
Projects must include at least one industry partner contributing 30% of the FEC (cash, in-kind or both). The 30% contribution may be made either by an individual project partner or by a consortium.
Eligible industry partners must:
- be a UK based business registered at Companies House
- have a manufacturing base for the relevant product in the UK or provide the relevant service in the UK
- intend to exploit the results in the UK
Note that funding will not be awarded for fundamental research which is not industrially relevant.
VALUE AND DURATION
Awards are worth up to £800,000 FEC for up to 36 months.
KEY DATES
NOI closing date: 3 March 2026
Full application stage (invite only) opening date: 17 March 2026
Full application deadline: 7 May 2026
Latest project start date: 31 October 2026
Latest project end date: November 2029
Further details, including helpful information on the background to this opportunity, can be found on the opportunity webpage.