GERMANY | Anuga has underlined its claim to be the industry's innovation platform once again this year.
With its renewed collaboration with Ecotrophelia Europe, the most important European competition for sustainable food innovation, Anuga is creating a stage for visionary product ideas, young talents and forward-looking entrepreneurship.
In the scope of Anuga 2025, which is being staged in Cologne from the 4th to the 8th of October, the European final of Ecotrophelia will take place in the Congress Centre North on the 7th and 8th of October. The festive award ceremony will be held in the Trend Zone on Boulevard North.
"For us, the partnership with Ecotrophelia Europe is a strategic pacesetter for the entire food industry. Together we are creating a platform where the highest level of sustainable innovation, young entrepreneurship and industrial networking come together," said Jan Philipp Hartmann, Director Anuga.
Anuga is consciously sending a signal with its cooperation with Ecotrophelia Europa: promoting young talent, creating sustainable added value, and shaping the future of the food industry.
“We are delighted to be back at ANUGA for the 2025 competition. Our collaboration with Koelnmesse provides the foundation for our efforts to bring our competitors together and to give them the opportunity to experience how the food industry innovates in a rapidly changing world. We value the support and creativity of the ANUGA team so that we can showcase our emerging talent in action,” said Maarten van der Kamp, President of Ecotrophelia Europe.
Ecotrophelia Europe is considered to be the "Champions League" of food innovation and has been shaping the European innovation discourse in the food industry for over 25 years.
Every participating country organises a national preliminary round where the most innovative concepts for sustainable food products are selected and developed by student teams comprising between two and ten members. The respective winning teams subsequently compete against each other in the European final, which is staged during Anuga. The respective food associations coordinate the national rounds.
The competition is organised by EEIG (European Economic Interest Grouping) Ecotrophelia Europe, an alliance between seven national food associations and the European industry organisations, FoodDrinkEurope and EIT Food.
The competition aims to establish a European-wide innovation ecosystem and transform sustainable product ideas from colleges and universities into marketable concepts in the long term. Participants benefit from direct contact with industry, investors, and project partners.
For the first time, Korea, a non-European country, will participate in the Ecotrophelia Europe competition, a particularly fitting expansion as Korea is also the official partner country of Anuga this year. This inaugural participation marks a significant step in increasing the competition’s international visibility and underscores the global relevance of sustainable food innovation.
The organisers are especially pleased to welcome a Korean student team of four members this year, competing with their innovative product, “To-flex.” The connection between Korea as Anuga’s partner country and as the first non-European participant in the Ecotrophelia Europe competition is a strong symbol of growing global networking and the increasing importance of forward-looking food concepts.
Staging the European final at Anuga is a further milestone in the development of Ecotrophelia Europe and, at the same time, an enrichment for Anuga itself: it brings fresh ideas, new target groups, and valuable impulses to Cologne for the entire food industry.
