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EXCEL4MED

Let's level up extraction

The Project

The EU-funded EXCEL4MED project aims to strengthen innovation ecosystems in the Mediterranean agricultural sector. It focuses on producing nutritious food products and making the most of food industry by-products. The project brings together partners from Greece, Malta and France to enhance the region’s food value chains, with the ultimate goal of promoting sustainable growth in the Mediterranean agricultural industry.

An Excellence Hub for Mediterranean Fruit

EXCEL4MED is building an Excellence Hub where Mediterranean fruit growers, processors, consumers and policymakers can find the tools to respond to change and make the most of it. The project focuses on four areas: business, collaboration, sourcing and knowledge management. It tests new ways to put fruit waste to good use, create added-value fruit products and apply green technologies, with citizens, industry, academia and public authorities all involved (the Quadruple Helix approach). Pomegranate and citrus, two high-value and perishable crops, serve as the demonstration cases.

Specific Objectives

Seven objectives guide EXCEL4MED, from building local innovation ecosystems to creating new business opportunities, training future food scientists and sharing results openly. The focus stays on small-scale producers and processors in Malta and Greece, and on narrowing Europe’s R&I gap.

Work Packages

Six work packages cover the whole journey: project management, strategy with consumers and stakeholders, new food products and green extraction, market and investment planning, pilot trials, and outreach and training. Together they take an idea from the lab to the market and to the public.