Bonduelle has set itself the target of being the leading company engaged in helping people to live well by eating vegetable products. For this to be possible, plant-based proteins are essential – because of their nutritional, environmental and economic benefits.

And yet, the fact still remains that plant-based protein consumption is lower in Europe than it is anywhere else in the world. To change this, new approaches are needed, and the issue needs to be tackled on all fronts: agronomics, processing, products, consumers' behaviour, etc. As a civic-minded company that is a leader in its field, the Bonduelle group wants to mobilise and bring together all the energy available in order to bring about change.

As a world leader in quality-of-life services, Sodexo’s aim is to improve the "quality of life" of the 100 million people it serves every day.
In 2018, for the 8th year in a row, Sodexo was among the FORTUNE World’s Most Admired Companies.
Strong of this award, and through this innovation competition, we are hoping to find potential partners offering innovative solutions in order to better answer new nutrition habits of our consumers. Sodexo is seeking to incorporate the solutions developed by the winning start-up companies into its own food service offers. The winners of this competition can look upon Sodexo as a strategic partner that might help them expand their interests on the international markets.

As the fourth largest seed company worldwide, Limagrain is a cooperative group founded and managed by farmers. Limagrain breeds, produces, and distributes field seeds and vegetable seeds, and has built unique integrated cereal chains.
The winners of this competition will have access to Limagrain’s experts and international network, in more than 56 countries.

The Agricultural Cooperative Group Advitam organises its main economic activity around 4 poles :

• UNEAL, Cooperative company, for agricultural business with farmers shareholders
• Advitam Negoce, for agricultural business with professional customers who do not hold shares
• Advitam Distribution, for retail B to C and B to B, in garden centers or local food stores
• Advitam AgroequipementT, for business and services in agricultural machinery.

Advitam Group, it’s today a turnover of 1.2 Bn €, 2400 employees on 445 sites, working for 12000 farmers.

Our Group wishes to develop and to promote an economic, environmental and social agriculture which is successful, multifaceted and value-creating ; an agriculture about which we can communicate in full transparency, by linking traditional know-how and innovation.

Dijon Céréales, at the heart of agricultural innovation

The 3,800 cooperative farmers of Dijon Céréales contribute with their cooperative to develop a sustainable, innovative and competitive agriculture, in connection with the regional territory and the expectations of society.

Our strategy is based on 4 pillars:

• Accompany the operations of our members to the heart of the cooperative project
• Innovate for a productive and environmentally friendly agriculture
• Contribute, from the farmer to the consumer, to quality food chains
• Strengthen agricultural cooperation in Burgundy-Franche-Comté with our alliance Alliance BFC

Alongside the 250 employees of the coop and 650 employees of our group, the action of Dijon Céréales is strongly guided by a dynamic of innovation that is embodied in our involvement in the competitiveness cluster Vitagora, Agronov agroecological cluster or even the agri-environmental platform Artemis.

Terres Univia is an interbranch organisation which represents French oilseed and oil fruit sector (oil seed rape, sunflower, soya, linseed, olive) and French legume seed sector (field pea, faba bean, lupin, lentil, chickpea, alfalfa) interests. It aims to facilitate interactions between professional partners like producers and processors, to undertake activities of collective interest action, and to promote the development and the use of oilseeds and legumes and associate products. It is in charge of following market trends, regulatory and food safety information, and statistical information transfer about the French oilseed and legume sector. It also stimulates and supports research programs with external experts, technical institutes and national research centers.

Crédit Agricole Nord de France is the first banking partner of its territory, part of Crédit Agricole Group a leading French bank supporting 52 million clients worldwide with a particular care for farmers and Agrifood industries.

As such, we support our clients R &D projects, including those of world class companies who strive to answer tomorrow’s challenge of feeding the world, in a context of resources increasing scarcity. Plant-based proteins are part of the solution. This call for applications is strategic, as it answers a major societal stake to which both our territory and our bank may help.

First banking partner of the local economy, with nearly 600,000 clients and more than 260,000 associates, the Crédit Agricole of Champagne-Bourgogne accompanies local actors of its territory in each of their activities. It supports with enthusiasm all projects generating wealth, employment and progress throughout the 4 counties of the Aube, Côte-d’Or, Haute-Marne and Yonne.

Bank of 1 in 3 inhabitants, privileged partner of farmers, winegrowers and professionals, the Crédit Agricole is also an essential actor beside companies, public authorities and real estate professionals. The company had a net profit of 97.4 million euros in 2018.

Innovation focused, the Credit Agricole supports its clients in their needs and uses of digital tools and new technologies. It pursues its transformation towards multi-channel services linked with its network of 144 agencies of proximity.

The Lille Catholic University is concerned about the nutritional and societal issues and challenges with which we are increasingly faced.

The university is keen to get involved, playing a part in developing innovative solutions and raising the profile of plant-based protein as a food source for human consumption.Tackling this major issue is matching our values and naturally resonates with the active teaching we deliver to open-up our students to sociocultural, societal and scientific issues.

Since we take our role of supporting regional companies seriously, we believe it is important to get involved in projects such as this one.

Launching a dynamic initiative of this sort in our region, supporting start-up companies and project leaders, is fascinating work – given all the challenges that it involves. We are therefore delighted to be playing a part in the creation of this ecosystem and believe it should extend as far as possible beyond our borders.

IAR is the French Bioeconomy Cluster. It gathers together more than 400 members, representing the whole value chain, from farm to fork. All of them are committed to using biological resources to develop sustainable technologies, food products – such as proteins – and non-food products. Since 2005, IAR has supported more than 300 innovation projects, representing a total of more than €1.8 billion. IAR is also the coordinator of the Protein France consortium. Building on its regional, national, European and international networks, IAR supports the development of the bioeconomy in France and, more specifically, in the regions of Hauts-de-France and Grand Est regions.

IMPROVE is an R&D center dedicated to the promotion of protein for the future. It helps the development of the proteins sector, working on a wide range of raw material like plants, microorganisms or alternative animal sources for food, feed, cosmetic and bio materials applications. With 22 employees IMPROVE’s team can support customers’ projects doing pilot testing of dry or wet fractionation to produce flours, concentrates, isolates or hydrolysates, doing lab characterization (composition, invitro digestibility, functional properties) or intellectual work like scientific literature review, brainstorming innovation sessions, trainings and audits. Started in 2014 IMPROVE activity has quickly grown in Europe, North America, Middle East and since 2019 in Asia.

Protéines France is the French consortium of enterprises whose ambition is to federate and catalyse the development of innovative proteins. Protéines France aims to speed up the development of the plant-based and alternative protein sector in order to seize the opportunities for growth and job creation offered by the global increase in the demand for proteins and thus to make France a world protein leader. Protéines France brings together : ARBIOM, AVRIL, CAUSSADE SEMENCE, HERTA, IMPROVE, LABIOCRAC, LESAFFRE, LIMAGRAIN, NUTRITION & SANTE, OLMIX, POITTEMILL, SOUFFLET, TEREOS, TERRENA, ROQUETTE, ROYAL CANIN, TRIBALLAT NOYAL, VIVESCIA and ŸNSECT. The association is coordinated by IAR, the French Bioeconomy Cluster.