The delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry led by Deputy Ministers Ebubekir Gizligider, İbrahim Yumaklı and Veysel Tiryaki visited TÜBİTAK Gebze campus. During the visit hosted by Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology, Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, President of TÜBİTAK, and Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, President of TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM), TÜBİTAK's projects on agriculture and food supply security were explained and possible joint work topics, national needs in ensuring sustainable food supply security and strategic R&D issues were discussed.
At the meeting, where the necessity of conducting R&D studies together in line with national needs was emphasized, it was decided to establish joint working groups for a more detailed evaluation of issues such as the establishment of decision support systems, early warning systems, risk maps, evaluation of food waste, smart agricultural practices with a farm to fork approach in ensuring food supply security.
It was noted that a return visit will be planned to develop new project proposals and elaborate existing projects within the scope of agriculture and food supply security.
Tasting of locally and nationally produced and processed products
The delegation then visited nine fully equipped food processing lines at the Turkey Food Innovation Center. The delegation toured the minimally processed foods, fermented fruit products, ready meals, dairy products, starter culture, herbal extraction and tea, hazelnut products, seafood, pomegranate and fruit processing lines and were offered products for tasting.
There was great interest especially in hazelnut products, one of Turkey's most important export items. Locally and nationally produced and processed products such as chocolate-covered dried fruits, grape juice, long-lasting yogurt, vinegar, turnips and smoked salmon were tasted. Information was also provided on the yogurt starter culture, herbal extracts and soluble tea products developed. Food companies working on these lines told the delegation about their work at the center and expressed their satisfaction for being able to benefit from the opportunities offered by the Food Innovation Center.
Turkey Food Innovation Platform (TÜGİP), a communication network and clustering platform covering all stakeholders in the food and beverage sector
TÜGİP is a platform established within the scope of the INNOFOOD project that offers holistic solutions with a "co-development and co-success" approach from a single source for companies to realize their products and ideas, reduce innovation and R&D costs, and benefit from the power of cooperation.
As Turkey's largest and most comprehensive technology and service provider in the food and beverage sector, TÜGİP's main goal is to increase the innovation-based competitiveness of the Turkish food sector, especially SMEs and startups, regionally and internationally.
TÜGİP consists of stakeholders such as SMEs, entrepreneurs, large-scale companies, universities, retailers and research institutes.
INNOFOOD Project, implemented within the framework of the Competitive Sectors Program implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, stands out as Turkey's new R&D and innovation focus for the food and beverage sector with a budget of 27 million Euros, 85 percent co-financed by the European Union and 15 percent by the Republic of Turkey.
Within the scope of the INNOFOOD Project, Turkey's largest food R&D and innovation project, the TÜBİTAK MAM Life Sciences Vice Presidency brings qualified knowledge, experience and human resources in the field of food science and technology to the service of the sector, paving the way for our R&D and innovation ecosystem in the food sector to realize greater goals for a sustainable future.
