European Food Fraud Community of Practice: From Outset to Operation

ongoing

Our aim is to revolutionise the combat against food fraud and enhance transparency in our food supply chains. How? By establishing and mobilising The European Food Fraud Community of Practice (EFF-CoP), a sustainable Research and Innovation eco-system of food fraud researchers and end-users based on solid sociological principles. We have gathered a diverse group of stakeholders in our consortium, scientists, regulators, large and small-sized industry, the organic sector, existing networks with >4200 members, and more to lay the groundwork. They are catalysers to reach out rapidly to a large number of prospective EFF-CoP members. That is only the beginning. We will set out to understand the needs of the various stakeholder groups and the network structure to prioritise content and enhance information flows, and we set up the EFF-Hub as our virtual headquarters, an interactive collaborative space. From there, series of activities will be rolled out – sharing existing research and innovation resources and educational materials, developing new ones – Good Practice Recommendations, factsheets, and case study materials, and we will host engaging virtual and live events to facilitate interactive collaboration. These events involve food fraud festivals, gamification-based training courses, living labs, ‘authentic appetites’ podcast series, the EFF-CoP on Tour program, webinars, virtual cafes, a food fraud incident preparedness workshop, and dedicated events for the future generation. Our goal is to cultivate a vibrant community of over 5000 members at the end of the project, all dedicated to combating food fraud and learning from each other. To ensure our EFF-CoP stands the test of time, we are not only implementing the proven concept of ‘CoP design for evolution’ but also a comprehensive exploitation strategy and business plan. Together we will work towards a future with enhanced authenticity, traceability and transparency within our food supply chains.