Digital Change Agents for Food + Beverage SMEs

DIGIFABS is an Erasmus+ funded project under the Alliances for Innovation programme (Grant Agreement number 101140130, call: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PI-ALL-INNO). It aims to foster digital, resilience, and innovation skills to support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food and beverage (F&B) processing sector.

The project promotes the concept of Responsible Dynamic Digital Change Agents (RDDCA)—individuals equipped to lead change in digitally transforming environments. By focusing on practical, cross-disciplinary training, DIGIFABS empowers students, educators and SME staff to drive sustainable and responsible innovation in the F&B industry. The consortium includes 14 partners from 7 European countries, representing higher education institutions (HEIs), vocational education and training providers (VETs), businesses, and network organizations. These partners come from regions with diverse levels of digitalization and strong ties to the F&B sector. Key project activities include: A multidisciplinary action-learning Summer School and Challenge involving students and researchers from Engineering/IT, Agriculture/Nutrition, and Business disciplines. Bootcamps for educators and SMEs, piloted with 15+ F&B companies across Europe, to promote the RDDCA concept and support local innovation initiatives.

The consortium developed educational material on the following topics (AVAILABLE IN 2026): 

1. Challenges of the F&B sector,
2. Emerging Technologies,
3. Best Practices of F&B SMEs,
4. RDDCA Concept,
5. Green Trends,
6. Resilience for RDDCAs,
7. Nutrition

Funded by the European Union. 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 Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. Grant Agreement number 101140130, call: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PI-ALL-INNO