Food, and agrifood technologies

From one end of a value chain to the other, we support agroindustrial players, to guarantee the success of their R&D projects. From making optimum use of plant resources to adapting processing technologies to local constraints, our knowledge and expertise can benefit performance and technological, social and environmental innovation.

Sourcing, food safety and environmental footprints

Mastering raw material diversity and variability

Processed product quality and properties primarily depend on the raw material used. In turn, the quality of that resource is governed by the choice of varieties and production environment, combined with the degree of mastery of harvesting and postharvest techniques. Cirad’Innov can help you to build detailed knowledge of the properties of raw materials and to master processing and stabilization operations in order to ensure that your end products meet consumer requirements.

Guaranteeing food safety

We provide expertise and analysis resources to identify and minimize product safety risks, along the entire length of the postharvest chain. This includes managing chemical and biological contaminants. Find out about our analysis expertise in our catalogue.

Assessing your environmental footprint

Promoting varieties that require less water, or more eco-friendly processes, helps bolster your corporate social and environmental responsibility. Our LCA specialists can help you to pinpoint areas of improvement within value chains.

Producing locally has long-term benefits

More and more consumers the world over now want to buy local. There are many types of reasons for this: socioeconomic (the substantial impact on job and household income creation), health-and nutrition-related (more natural, healthier products), environmental (reduced transport and packaging) and cultural (“identity-affirming” products). How can we make the transition to these markets of the future? Within a strategy of promoting local resources, we see territories as a source of opportunities for collective action. To support changes in production and marketing models, we help stakeholders in the territories and value chains concerned to design new systems that serve to connect agricultural production, processing firms and consumers. We work together to develop innovative institutional mechanisms for promoting alternative models and regulating exchanges between players, such as geographical indications, organic farming and fair trade.

Optimizing by-products and diversifying incomes

Tropical and Mediterranean resources offer many prospects for diversifying markets and securing investments. The compounds they contain, some of which have tried and tested functional properties, are of interest to both agricultural players, who use them to fertilize crops, and cosmetics and nutraceuticals manufacturers. Moreover, processing waste can be used for local energy production, within a virtuous circular economy strategy.

Adapting to specific contexts

In some tropical and Mediterranean regions, socioeconomic players face different constraints: energy access and costs, access to water, equipment manufacturing and maintenance, etc. We can help with eco-design of robust, economical processes that safeguard raw material and end product quality. We work to optimize and adapt existing technologies and collaborate with our partners in designing new food processing technologies.

New business development models

Designing new development models means transferring skills and building win-win strategies all the way along a value chain, hand-in-hand with local socioeconomic players and communities. From supporting agricultural production to recycling processing waste, our expertise in certification systems, labels and participatory approaches is available to you.