An interactive workshop organised by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, that will enable you to maximise the power of metadata to transform data into narratives.

Every day Food and Drink businesses are bombarded with trend information and industry statistics, this workshop will help you identify what is relevant to you, so you can create a demand led business that uses a narrative that speaks to your target market.

Key takeaways:

· Identify top sources of metadata.

· Mining useful metadata for your business.

· Creating your own data led narrative template.

The workshop will be custom-designed around the food and drink businesses, focusing on their unique products and target markets.

Scotland Beyond Net Zero is a new research collective across Scottish Universities whose goals are to encourage and support University members to work with each other and with external partners to address environmental challenges through research, and to showcase sector-wide leadership and expertise on climate and net zero across Scottish higher education.

One of their focus areas this year is food in relation to climate and net zero. How can food systems be made more sustainable and contribute to Scotland’s climate change goals?

Join their two academic theme leads for food, Prof Rachel Norman and Prof Baukje de Roos at a networking event where you can find out more about Scotland Beyond Net Zero and connect with fellow food researchers to shape and address climate research challenges. This event is aimed at researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, and Heriot-Watt University.

Louise Arnold of Interface will be attending this event.

Women leading innovation in agriculture and aquaculture.

This webinar by Highlands and Islands Enterprise will showcase inspiring stories from female leaders in agriculture and aquaculture. Find out more about what innovation means and what support is available to female led agriculture and aquaculture businesses across the Highlands and Islands.

You will also have the opportunity to connect to a like-minded community and find out about future innovation events.

The 13th Scottish Fermentation Network Event will take place at the University of Edinburgh Central Campus on 7th April 2025.

Following some refreshments on arrival, a brief update on the network will be given and then an exciting mix of industry and academic presentations from current SFN members. This will be followed by an optional distillery tour and tasting event at Holyrood Distillery.

Agenda

1pm – Registration & refreshments

1.30pm – Welcome talk – Luke Johnston – Senior Upstream Bioprocess Scientist, IBioIC

Session 1
1.40pm – Omics and Biotech. Why bother? – Karl Burgess – Personal Chair of Biological Mass Spectrometry, University of Edinburgh

2pm – Cheaper Than Chicken – Martin Currie – Founder, AMYBO

2.20pm – IP-A: A pint full of intellectual property – Yann Robin – Principal Associate, Marks & Clerk

2.40pm – Sponsor presentation – María Constanza Sadino Riquelme – Senior Process Engineer, Modela

2:50pm – Refreshment break

Session 2
3.10pm – Using Scotland’s spent grains to help solve the global cocoa crisis – Andy Clayton – CEO, Fermtech

3.30pm – Production of biobased molecules to enhance drought tolerance in plants – Josephine Giard – Postdoctoral Researcher, Heriot Watt University

3.45pm – Accelerating R&D: reducing cost improving product recovery with AI Bioprocess Simulation Software – Rafael Boni – Bioprocess Engineer, New Wave Biotech

4pm – Wrap up of main event – Luke Johnston – Senior Upstream Bioprocess Scientist, IBioIC

Main event ends

4.30pm – Whisky tour & tasting (Holyrood Distillery). Note – distillery is a 10 minute walk from 50 George Square venue.

6.15pm – Tasting concludes

Note – tasting will last between 1 hour 15 mins to 1 hour 30 mins.

Food and Drink Federation Scotland’s Reformulation for Health Programme, in partnership with Food Standards Scotland, is hosting their “Celebrating Innovation and Reformulation for Health” event on 12 March at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. This event is a must-attend for food and drink manufacturers looking to stay ahead of public health needs, regulations, and consumer trends.

The Minister for Public Health, Jenni Minto MSP and the National Chef of Scotland, Gary Maclean, will provide the keynote speeches – sharing insights on the importance of reformulation for Scotland’s population health.

This event is about celebrating the fantastic work of Scotland’s food system in making products healthier and empowering manufacturers to adapt to future pressures. As nothing stays still for long, this event will help the industry navigate health legislation targets and growing consumer trends for health.

Learn from experts such as Food Standards Scotland, The Knowledge Bank, Kantar, The Food and Drink Federation and a range of food manufacturers and ingredient producers as they share their insights on the latest reformulations and innovations that are shaping the future of healthier food.

Whether you’re a food manufacturer, ingredient producer, researcher, student or stakeholder interested in the topic, this event is perfect for anyone looking to stay ahead of the health curve. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to celebrate the advancements that are improving the health of Scotland’s products and people.

Interface will be exhibiting at this event come along and speak to colleagues Louise Arnold and Nicola Brookes.

Online Workshop supporting food and drink businesses at the start of their journey and considering engaging with retail, wholesale and large customers.

Delegates will benefit from insight into the practicalities of trading with larger customers and some of the tactics to set them up for maximum efficiency, profitability and success. Often, we focus on securing the sale with the customer but what comes next and how can we sustain these relationships for the long term?

Larger operators are often reluctant to trade with small businesses, perceiving them as lacking infrastructure and resource to trade efficiently. This workshop will help navigate and simplify these early interactions, instilling confidence in both customer and supplier.

This session is designed for SME’s who are not currently trading with or who are considering trading with larger customers. Key takeaways will involve.

· How to manage and exceed customer expectation

· Ensure your business is easy to trade with

· Efficiencies in supply chain and dispatch to simplify trading

· An understanding of possible compliance requirements mandated by larger customers

· Practical tips for sustainably scaling up and meeting growing demand.

Revolutionising gluten-safe food production

Background

Prozymi Biolabs Ltd, an Edinburgh based biotechnology start-up was founded with a mission to revolutionise gluten-free food production. With a significant portion of the UK population affected by gluten-related disorders, including coeliac disease, gluten sensitivity and IBS, there is an increased demand for gluten-free products. However, existing gluten-free options often lack the taste, texture, and nutritional value of traditional gluten-containing foods, posing challenges for consumers.

Scientists from Prozymi Biolabs are testing a new enzyme technology that degrades gliadin, the protein that causes food sensitivities.

The Journey

Since its inception in early 2021 Prozymi Biolabs has experienced rapid growth and made a significant impact in the biotech world – more specifically in gluten-safe technology.

Co-founders Ioannis Stasinopoulos and Andreas Andreou were awarded their PhD’s at the University of Edinburgh and came up with the idea of developing a pioneering method of making gluten-safe bread while baking sourdough bread in their spare time. Receiving seed funding through the University of Edinburgh’s Data Driven Entrepreneurship program, which supports high growth start-ups associated with the university, gave Prozymi Biolabs the kick-start required to embark on their journey revolutionising the gluten-free bread experience.

Following an introduction via the student enterprise team at Edinburgh Innovations, Louise Arnold, Business Engagement Executive at Interface, has supported the Prozymi Biolabs team since they started, helping them navigate the academic research and development landscape, making relevant connections into universities, support networks and funding.

Some of these connections and projects include:

• Queen Margaret University and the SRUC Thrive Programme in support of product development, planning, marketing, pitching, nutrition, food legislation and access to general business support information.
• The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) Accelerator Programme, to guide and assist them on best practice, direct innovation support and peer to peer learning. They continued to collaborate with IBioIC, through the scale up of the gliadin-degrading enzymes using IBioIC’s scale up facilities at Heriot Watt University.
• Two projects with University of Aberdeen’s Applied Health Science students: one to identify the causes behind gluten disorders, the parts of gluten responsible, the key symptoms, diagnostic methods, and potential treatments used. And the second on gluten awareness, researching gluten-related topics such as gluten intolerance, celiac disease, and gluten-free diets analysing data collected to identify patterns, trends, and key insights regarding gluten-related issues.
• A collaboration with University of Stirling’s Business School students on developing marketing strategy and market and competitor analysis.
• A partnership with the Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, funded via the Healthier Products Innovation Fund, allowed Prozymi Biolabs to use their mass spectrometry equipment to develop a robust process for sequencing and characterizing gluten-degrading enzymes. This collaboration enabled the identification and expression of candidate enzymes, with a focus on specificity and efficiency in degrading harmful gluten peptides while preserving the integrity of bread’s texture and flavour.

The Benefits

Prozymi Biolabs are creating employment opportunities, generating collaborations with university facilities and provide experiential learning opportunities for students through Interface support. The project outcomes could yield multidimensional benefits in the future as follows:

• Social: Consumers will benefit from high-quality gluten-free products at lower prices, making them affordable for low-income social classes.
• Economic: The low production cost of gluten-free products made with their technology will alleviate NHS financial burden for prescribed goods to coeliacs and help products of those higher in the supply chain, such as local wheat and barley suppliers to reach the gluten-free market.
• Environmental: Reduced reliance on imported naturally gluten-free materials, used for existing gluten-free products, will minimise transport fuels and align with government priorities for carbon footprint reduction.
• Political: Support the government’s strategy for locally sourced wheat and barley grains to increase nation’s self-sufficiency and resilience.

Benefits to Prozymi Biolabs

• Collaboration has fostered an innovative environment, leading to the development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) through identification and characterisation of the gluten degrading enzymes. This has also enhanced overall productivity within the company.
• By pooling resources and expertise across the university networks, has led to increased R&D efficiency, cost savings and faster project completion. The collaborations have improved Prozymi Biolab’s market position enabling the development of cutting-edge solutions, while increasing their market valuation.
• Potential applications in brewing, animal feed, and pharmaceutical industries.
• This innovation has also led to the selection of Prozymi Biolabs for IBioIC’s Biotech Innovators incubator, University of Edinburgh’s Venture Builder Incubator, Barclay’s AgriTech Bridge program and Carbon 13 Venture Launchpad program opening avenues for further academic and research collaborations.
• Awarded Innovation of the Year at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2024.

Benefits to Academics

• The partnership has provided the University of Edinburgh’s Proteomics & Metabolomics Facility with an opportunity to apply analytical chemistry tools in the food sector.
• Collaborating with the organisation has opened additional funding opportunities for the universities, allowing for expanded research capabilities.
• The collaboration has offered students the chance to engage directly with industry, enriching their learning experience and professional development.

Next Steps

Prozymi Biolabs’ innovative approach to gluten-free bread production has the potential of transforming the food industry, offering consumers high-quality gluten-free products with improved taste, texture, and nutritional value. Through collaboration with academic partners and participation in incubator programs, the company is poised to further advance its research and development efforts, paving the way for a new era of gluten-free innovation.

Next steps for Prozymi Biolabs include:

• Continued collaboration with the University of Edinburgh’s Proteomics and Metabolomics facility and Edinburgh Genome Foundry has resulted in an established pipeline for screening and expression of gluten-degrading enzymes which could be further developed to generate new promising candidates in the future for the needs of beer, pharma, or animal feed industries.
• New academic collaborations with Queen Margaret University Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation, to provide equipment and expertise for small-scale proof-of-concept gluten-free bread production; the School of Physics of the University of Edinburgh for potential collaboration for testing the rheological properties of initial gluten-free bread batches.

This Conference will bring together everyone interested in the development of agritourism in Scotland.

It will be a great chance to get together, network and build relationships.

The conference is set to welcome:

• existing agritourism business owners
• farmers and crofters considering agritourism or just keen to find out more
• tourism, hospitality and food and drink businesses keen to benefit from the growth of agritourism in Scotland
• professionals and suppliers to the sector
• industry representatives from across agriculture, tourism destinations, the public sector and academia

Both members of Scottish Agritourism and non-members are welcome. Anyone booking with a non-members ticket who decides to join Scottish Agritourism before or during the Conference will have the difference in their ticket money refunded.

Highlights will include:

• Building Great Teams – Beata Winiarska, Forest Farm Dairy, Anna & Richard, Lindores & Sarah Heward, The Real Food Cafe.
• Innovation – Jillian McEwan, Lunan Bay Farm, Tom Lewis, Monachyle Mhor, Katrina Reynolds, Allanton Inn, & Rob Bebbington, Alderford.
• International session – Marijke Dunselman, Agritourism New Zealand & Pandurang Taware, Agritourism India
• Insight Session, Vicki Miller, Visit Scotland and Amanda Brown, Scotland Food & Drink
• Focus on Scotland’s Agritourism Strategy and upcoming World Agritourism Conference
• Annual Sector Dinner

For more information on the Scottish Agritourism Conference

Webinar on how robotics are revolutionising the food, drink, and agriculture industries!

Join experts from the National Robotarium to find out about robotics and their application in the food and drink and agriculture sectors. HIE’s Innovation team will also provide an update about opportunities currently available to businesses.

The National Robotarium’s mission is to promote the use of robotics across various sectors. The webinar will provide an overview of the robotic solutions currently available in the food and agriculture sectors, clarify where robotics is most effective, and identify which processes are better suited to automation rather than robotics. They will provide a clear method of how they assess your company’s position. This will help you understand the unique value that robotics can offer compared to automation.

The overview of HIE’s innovation support services will be valuable for those interested in developing and testing prototype products or processes.

By the end of the session, you’ll have a better understanding of the robotic solutions readily available, the integration process of new technology, where robotics is more suitable compared to automation, and how the National Robotarium can support your journey into robotics.