Invest in France Agency nordic-countries Office

The main strategic orientations of Valorial are to:

• design new ingredients for foods adapted to national and international markets: functional, nutritional, health, culinary ingredients.

• design and develop service foods practical to use, using new technologies and new packaging (functional, eco-compatible etc.)

• fulfil the expectations of the various categories of consumer for foods with appropriate health and nutritional qualities: high-quality, trackable and traceable raw materials, prevention of obesity and related diseases.

• developing “customer relations” with consumers and distributors so they benefit from expertise, and anticipate their expectations for new products or new packaging.

Advantages

- The Brittany, Loire Valley and Lower Normandy regions have significant strengths:
•    Leading French and European agricultural and food processing area
•    Leading European export area for food

- Top industrial and technological potential:

Companies and Talent
- 700 companies with 20+ employees and 130,000 skilled workers  
Research   
- 1,000 researchers
- A dense network of centers for research and technology transfer
Training   
- A broad range of training

- Valorial is one of the 3 top agri-food clusters in France, by number and by project budgets

- Partnerships with other French competitive clusters:
•    European Innovation Fruits et Légumes (PEIFL) cluster
•    Agrimip Innovation

Members

210 members in 2008

Companies 140, of which 120 are small and medium-sized enterprises
•    French groups: Lactalis, Bongrain, Fromageries Bel, Fleury Michon, LDC, Doux, Société Vitréenne d’Abattage, Seb, Coopagri Bretagne, Terrena, Kermené.
•    International groups: 10 European groups are members of the cluster

Research and Training Centers
Over 40, including Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs des Techniques des Industries Agricoles et Alimentaires (ENITIAA Nantes), Agence française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (AFSSA), Laboratoire Yslab, Agrocampus Ouest.
 
Nearly 15 other organizations are also partners of the cluster, including Crédit Agricole de Bretagne, General Councils of Côtes-d’Armor, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan, Regional Councils of Brittany, Pays-de-la-Loire and Basse-Normandie, Direction Régionale de l’Agriculture et de la Forêt de Bretagne, Direction Régionale de l’Industrie de Bretagne.

Current R&D Partnerships (refer to appendix)

- 104 projects have been certified between 2005 and mid-2008 for a total budget of 85 million euros
- Example of public support:
•    Over 5 million euros granted by the National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche or ANR) between 2005 and 2007
•    Over 2 million euros awarded by the Single Interministerial Fund Fonds Unique Interministériel (FUI) between 2005 and 2007

International Partnerships

Current
Participation in the Health Ingredients Europe show, Frankfurt, Germany
Participation in the Vitafood show, Geneva, Switzerland
Aviculture conference in Brazil
Contacts made with Belgium, England, Greece, Hungary, Russia and Quebec with a view to possible international partnerships

Future
Initiatives planned with priority countries: United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Algeria, Morocco, Thailand
Initiatives planned with pilot countries: China, Russia, Japan, United States

Appendix: Examples of Certified R&D Projects

• More information on Valorial