Toolbox to improve communication between actors in the food innovation process (CONNECT4ACTION)

Last Updated : 22 August 2014

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The Connect4Action project, which received support from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme, aimd to lower the failure rates of new food technologies in Europe, by increasing consumer acceptance of new products, through improved communication among key players in the food innovation process.

In order to improve internal and external communication between stakeholders involved in novel technology and product development, Connect4Action has developed a set of tangible tools. These tools are accompanied by two types of trainings, targeted either at young academics (PhD students) or food industry professionals.

In this podcast, Professor Mario Mazzocchi, the leader of work area five, gives an overview of the Connect4Action toolbox and the accompanied training activities.

About Professor Mario Mazzocchi:

Mario Mazzocchi, PhD, is Associate Professor in Statistics and Economics at the Department of Statistical Sciences of the University of Bologna. He is also Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading, where he has previously served as a lecturer in Applied Economics and Consumer Behaviour. He has been a consultant to FAO on nutrition policies, and is a permanent member of the group of experts appointed by the European Commission on the evaluation of the EU School Fruit Scheme. He is co-editor in chief of the international journal Food Policy. He has led (or is leading) research teams of the University of Bologna in four EC-funded research projects, MONIQA (impact assessment of food safety regulations), EATWELL (public acceptance and support for different types of healthy eating policies, public perceptions of the causes of obesity, evaluation of healthy eating policies), CONNECT4ACTION (strategies for improving communication between consumer scientists and food technologists during the food innovation process), NU-AGE (analysis of the diet-health relationship in the elderly, socio-economic determinants of food choices among the elderly). His publication record includes two books, with Oxford University Press (Fat Economics) and Sage Publications (Statistics for Marketing and Consumer Research), and about 40 articles in international refereed journals on a variety of applied economics topics, including policy evaluation, consumer demand, health economics, tourism economics, marketing research methods, and time series econometrics.