Two days of demonstrations, hands-on testing and stakeholder feedback are helping refine SecureFood solutions ahead of the next round of piloting in early 2027.
On the 13th and 14th October, the SecureFood consortium gathered at MC Sonae in Lisbon, Portugal, for its 4th Pilot Activities Meeting. Hosted by MC and organised and coordinated by EMPRACTIS, the meeting brought together project partners, end users, and members of the Extended Stakeholder Group (ESG) for two days of demonstrations, testing, and knowledge exchange.
The meeting marked another important step in SecureFood’s iterative validation process, building on the experience and feedback gathered during the previous three pilot rounds.
Activities focused on testing and evaluating the integrated SecureFood solutions across four food supply chain case studies: Grain, Fruits and Vegetables, Fish and Aquaculture, and Milk and Dairy. Through six pilot scenarios, participants explored how the project’s solutions could address challenges and meet the operational needs of each case study, contributing to more resilient and sustainable food systems.
Bringing SecureFood tools closer to end users
Throughout the meeting, technical partners presented the project’s tools and demonstrated their functionalities, giving participants the opportunity to explore the solutions and assess their potential applications.
A dedicated Extended Stakeholder Group (ESG) session brought together stakeholders from beyond the pilot end-user groups, both in person and online. The session provided an opportunity to discuss the tools’ relevance, usability, functionality and potential practical value, gathering external perspectives on their applicability in real-world settings. These discussions played an important role in understanding how the solutions could respond to broader stakeholder needs and identifying areas where further refinement may be beneficial.
Hands-on testing and valuable feedback
The second day focused on piloting the project tools across the four case studies. Dedicated Rotation Hubs provided interactive sessions where end users worked directly with technical partners, received guidance on the tools, explored their functionalities, and shared immediate feedback on their usability and potential improvements.
This hands-on approach allowed participants to go beyond demonstrations and engage directly with the solutions in practice. Their feedback will contribute to the ongoing evaluation and validation process, helping the consortium identify strengths, address potential challenges, and further refine the tools.
Together, the pilot testing, external stakeholder evaluation and hands-on training provided valuable insights into the functionality and potential applicability of SecureFood’s integrated solutions.
Looking ahead
As SecureFood moves towards the final stages of the project, the insights gathered in Lisbon will help strengthen the solutions and inform the next round of piloting, planned for early 2027.
The meeting highlighted the importance of collaboration between technical partners, end users and external stakeholders in developing solutions that respond to the practical needs of the food supply chain. Continued engagement and feedback will remain essential to validating the tools and assessing their potential impact.
The SecureFood consortium would like to thank MC Sonae for hosting the meeting, EMPRACTIS for organising and coordinating the pilot activities, and all project partners, end users, and Extended Stakeholder Group members who contributed their time, expertise and feedback, both in person and online.
Their contributions are helping move SecureFood’s solutions closer to practical application across the food supply chain.
The SecureFood project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101136583. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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