---
title: "ERA-NET Innovative Mild Processing Tailored to Ensure Sustainable and High-Quality Organic Fruit Products (MILDSUSFRUIT)"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-e318f1e7-aa91-4ffb-a8ac-d7cd6dd2bdb8"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-e318f1e7-aa91-4ffb-a8ac-d7cd6dd2bdb8"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-e318f1e7-aa91-4ffb-a8ac-d7cd6dd2bdb8.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-e318f1e7-aa91-4ffb-a8ac-d7cd6dd2bdb8.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL"
published: "2022-09-09"
---

# ERA-NET Innovative Mild Processing Tailored to Ensure Sustainable and High-Quality Organic Fruit Products (MILDSUSFRUIT)

Buyer: DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-e318f1e7-aa91-4ffb-a8ac-d7cd6dd2bdb8

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## Summary

The public procurement contract for the project titled "ERA-NET Innovative Mild Processing Tailored to Ensure Sustainable and High-Quality Organic Fruit Products (MILDSUSFRUIT)" has been awarded by Defra to the University of Reading. The contract falls under the services category with a focus on research and development services in the field of organic food processing technologies. The tender, part of the ERA-NET SUSFOOD2 program, had a tender period ending on 27th March 2020. The contract period is set to run from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2024. The project aims to improve the competitiveness of the organic sector in Europe by enhancing product quality, sustainability, and consumer confidence.

This contract presents an opportunity for businesses in the organic food industry, particularly those specialising in research and development services and consultancy. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations are encouraged to participate. The project location includes various regions such as British Oversea Territories, Channel Islands, Europe, Isle of Man, Rest of the World, and the United Kingdom. By participating in this tender, businesses can contribute to the advancement of sustainable organic food processing technologies, catering to consumer demands for healthier, more environmentally friendly products, and ultimately supporting sector growth and job creation.

## Notice

During the last decades there has been a considerable growth of the organic food sector in Europe which has been driven by the benefits provided by such foods in terms of healthier and more environmentally friendly products. One of the most important categories of organic food is fruit and vegetables which are characterized by high quality features in terms of sensory properties and nutritional content compared to conventional products, but these products are also high perishable. To this respect food processing technologies can contribute to extend the shelf-life of organic foods able to reduce food waste, improve sensory properties, and maintain higher nutritional content. However, traditional food processing techniques are used to process organic foods can have negative effects on the qualities of such products that can reduce consumers acceptance as well as have larger environmental impact. However, EU regulations do not specify and indicate which food processing technologies can be used to process organic food. Thus, there is a lack of understanding on which food processing technologies can be used and a lack of knowledge of processing technologies that are able improve the sensory and nutritional qualities of organic food and to reduce the environmental impact of processing technologies. Thus, there is a need of conducting research in developing new organic food processing technologies able to provide more sustainable production able to meet the consumer needs in terms of quality characteristics and reduced environmental impact. This project aims to improve the competitiveness of the organic sector in Europe by increasing the level of quality, sustainability, and consumer confidence of organic processed food products by testing new mild organic food processing technologies. This research can be beneficial to meet consumer expectations and needs in terms of organic food (i.e. better health, higher nutrients, reduce environmental impact), for organic food businesses to expand and diversify businesses opportunities, for policy makers to develop policies able to support the sector and, for the society as a whole to reduce the environmental impact, and create new job opportunities. Additional information: This contract has been awarded by Defra to the UK Partner who successfully competitively tendered for an EU Let ERA-NET project.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/fc0a1042-32e2-4254-99ee-bbd71bd11ddf |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Other - ERA-NET SUSFOOD2 |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 9 Sep 2022 |
| Submission deadline | 27 Mar 2020 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 6 Sep 2022 |
| Contract period | 31 Mar 2022 - 31 Mar 2024 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £97,464 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 3JR |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | UNIVERSITY OF READING |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

## Release History

- 9 Sep 2022 at 10:33 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/fc0a1042-32e2-4254-99ee-bbd71bd11ddf

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/fc0a1042-32e2-4254-99ee-bbd71bd11ddf
  9th September 2022 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/101818d1-3620-4e68-9b0e-15270435579b
  n/a

## Notice URLs

- http://www.defra.bravosolution.co.uk

## Provenance

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