Representatives of the twelve entities participating in the ZEST project, which has a total budget of €7.5 million, gathered in Lübeck (Hamburg) on 6–7 May for the consortium’s fifth General Assembly, coinciding with the second anniversary of the launch of the initiative.

The meeting provided an opportunity to review the progress achieved so far, strengthen both internal and external collaboration, and define the next steps and upcoming deliverables.

Manuel Silva, Communication Technician at CTA, presented the Communication and Dissemination work package, highlighting the media coverage achieved to date, collaboration activities with other projects, stakeholder engagement, and participation in relevant bioeconomy events.

In addition, the consortium discussed several studies carried out on the alternative protein market from both industry and consumer perspectives, the results of which are expected to be published in the coming months. The first day concluded with discussions on regulatory aspects related to novel food processes and the challenges associated with their market uptake.

The second day included presentations on WP6 – Safety and Sustainability Assessment and WP3 – Digital Modelling, Process Monitoring and Control, showcasing the latest technical developments achieved by the consortium.

The meeting concluded with an Exploitation Workshop in which participants were divided into five working groups, distributed across three meeting rooms at Tate & Lyle’s facilities and two virtual breakout rooms for remote attendees. Each group worked on a case study by addressing three key questions and summarising the outcomes in several slides, which were later discussed during a final plenary session.