In the lead-up to the SMART FOOD FACTORY event, we spoke with several food companies and technology entrepreneurs participating in the HIGHFIVE project about their experiences and results with digital and green innovation. They share their insights on the importance of project subsidies for innovation and the impact of these innovation investments for SMEs.
The I3 project HIGHFIVE, supported by Europe, specifically focuses on facilitating and stimulating the implementation of digital solutions in the food processing industry. The consortium consists of 33 partners: 15 clusters and similar organizations, and 18 SMEs from 9 EU countries. All cluster and similar partners are members of the S3 partnership Smart Solutions 4 Agrifood (SS4AF), which is also led by Flanders’ FOOD. An overview of all ongoing projects within SS4AF can be found here.
These SMEs partners are implementing a total of 9 innovative digitization projects (4 investment projects, 5 implementation projects). Through 2 open calls (cascade funding), 16 projects involving 27 SMEs are also supported. The total budget amounts to 11.6 million euros. In addition to the financial support for SMEs, the 15 cluster partners also provide individual support through coaching and the consortium organizes various cross-regional events to promote networking and knowledge transfer among companies from different regions. HIGHFIVE strengthens collaboration between these regions and contributes to a stronger European agri-food value chain and to a more digital, sustainable, and resilient agri-food sector in Europe.
Among the SMEs supported by HIGHFIVE are also several Flemish companies. Bakkerij Marien, Yazzoom (nu Orise), Pomuni and Brouwerij de Brabandere are partners in HIGHFIVE, while Captic, Ikologic and PropheSea were able to realize their innovation projects through the open call.
These SME projects always start from the concrete needs of food companies, for which an appropriate solution is then sought in collaboration with a technology partner. The HIGHFIVE projects cover various relevant themes within the food industry, ranging from production planning and optimization using artificial intelligence for dairy products to online quality monitoring through optical sensor technology and energy optimization via advanced algorithms. Additionally, attention is also given to the interaction and collaboration between cobots and operators within the bakery sector. A more detailed description of these projects is available here.
At the end of this project, we will analyze the importance of subsidies for SMEs in the food sector when starting innovation. We will also evaluate, together with some companies, the impact of the project on their business with the aim of providing a broader perspective on "Return on Innovation" compared to the traditional "ROI - Return on Investment."
The leverage potential of project subsidies
The challenges faced by food companies are broad. It not only concerns efficiency and cost savings but also the implementation and integration of new technology into existing production processes, the impact on the workplace, the right choice of technology partner and collaboration, as well as quality and customer satisfaction. Food SMEs often have a strong culture of innovation and are constantly investing in renewal. Thanks to innovation subsidies, SMEs can adopt a more holistic approach. This financial support enables them to take steps that they otherwise would not have taken on their own, and certainly not with the same priority. As Mick Bremans, CFO at Mariën Bakery put it: "The added value of the subsidy is that it somewhat dulls that risk aversion. A leap you wouldn’t normally take, you now do."
Technology entrepreneurs see the advantage of participating in a project like HIGHFIVE as a valuable use case that enables learning experiences. Generating subsidies for the technology partners allows for further experiments or research. Participating in projects like HIGHFIVE enables them to accelerate their existing roadmap and test and develop new applications for their existing platforms. With this, they hope to gain better access to new markets, such as the food industry. For example, introducing an AI-based prediction model in a production environment is complex. Technology entrepreneurs emphasize that the subsidies give them the freedom to experiment and broaden their knowledge, something that is difficult to justify (read 'invoice') in a purely commercial context. Investing in a pilot case with uncertain outcomes is too great a risk for a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME). For these digital innovation projects, subsidies are indeed the dealmaker, because the food company knows that if the innovation does not yield results, the financial loss is limited!
From Return on Investment (ROI) to Return on Innovation
Innovation projects undeniably have a broader impact within companies, both for production and technology partners. This is not only about directly measurable revenue growth or cost savings, but also about learning processes, broader insights, and in some cases even additional investments in technology.
Already in 2007, Microsoft conducted a study on the potential ROI of their service package for their customers. The share of direct cost savings was only 108%. However, the study measured not only cost savings but also potential improvements in productivity and efficiency. After adjusting for risk assessments, the total ROI was found to be 563%. All other components were qualitative benefits: more efficient communication (fewer work hours), time savings in project management, shorter sales cycles due to faster quotes, and customer retention. In a classical/narrow ROI definition, these qualitative benefits would not be included.
That is why we are talking about Return on Innovation today. This is a broader concept than Return On Investment and takes qualitative elements into account such as customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, faster access to information, intellectual capital, and environmentally friendly and sustainable investments.
Also within the HIGHFIVE project, we looked beyond just the Return on Investment. Tim Van Meer, technical director at Pomuni, puts it this way: 'We continually invest in innovation and do not only apply financial or efficiency criteria, but also look at the broader impact: are there safety, sustainability, or regulatory considerations?' Robotization, for instance, can contribute to higher employee satisfaction because it takes over routine tasks and makes executive jobs more attractive.
Digital innovation, a catalyst for collaboration within the food company and with technology partners
The experiences of the food companies with the innovation projects of the HIGHFIVE project are evaluated as overwhelmingly positive. Although the expectations in the initial phase are not always very concrete and the process does not always go as planned, there is satisfaction afterwards regarding both the past process and the collaboration between the food companies and the technology partner.
The recent journey within a food company is often a catalyst that triggers a digital movement, contributing to a better long-term vision and implementation of digital technology. Mick Bremans (Mariën Bakkerij) summarized the impact of his automation project as follows: "Robotic automation has actually caused a bit of a domino effect: more tasks on one installation, increased capacity, faster output, and less manual labour. This makes the innovation project perfectly aligned with our growth strategy."
The sustainable trust of management in digital innovation projects is an essential prerequisite for a successful project course. Especially with innovative investments in the production environment, continued commitment from management is of crucial importance. Tim Van Meer (Pomuni) summarizes it as follows: “Our mindset was: let’s go for it, if it works, it can be a game changer. Of course, there have been moments when we doubted. Within the company, both the owner and I dedicated ourselves 100% to the project, even though we had no idea if and how much financial ROI would follow.”
The collaboration between production and technology partners is also largely determined by the usually existing trust relationship. Technology entrepreneurs often have already implemented their solutions in other sectors. For them, the adaptation and implementation of their existing solutions to the specific needs in the food industry is the biggest challenge. To implement their application in the food industry, they must rely on the knowledge and expertise of the food company. The success of these digital innovation projects rests on the trust and collaboration between the food company and the technology partner.
Sometimes a third supplier turns out to play a crucial role in the progress of the project. The most frequently mentioned bottlenecks were hardware issues in data capture and the integration of various data sources. David Verstraeten (Orise) describes it as follows: “If our production partner had been unable to find the right sensor for the production line, we wouldn’t have even been able to start our data capture.”
Impact of the HIGHFIVE innovation projects
It is still a bit too early to fully map the broader impact of all HIGHFIVE innovation projects. Most projects have recently been completed, while others are in the final phase. More data is needed for the validation of the solutions. By processing more data over a longer period, statements about revenue increases, savings, and efficiency gains can be made more reliably. Therefore, only in 2026 will more substantiated statements be possible regarding predictive models and potential savings. The already published impact figures on the HIGHFIVE website do provide an initial indication and are certainly promising. The savings in energy and water consumption are significant, as well as the impact on reducing food waste. Also, the measurable impact of AI-supported planning and forecasting models is promising. These results will soon be explained in detail at the HIGHFIVE conference.
Conference “Smart Food Factory”
Has your interest been piqued to learn more about the outcomes of all digital innovation projects carried out within the HIGHFIVE project? More info can be found here. Come listen at the conference day at imec in Leuven on September 30 and October 1, 2025 in Brussels. Questions? Contact ines.colle@flandersfood.com . You can register here.
This article is generated in the framework of the HIGHFIVE project. This project has received funding under the European Union’s Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument (I3) under grant agreement 101083989. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA of the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor EISMEA and the European Commission can be held responsible for them.
