Young entrepreneurs have been invited to come up with submissions in the innovation challenge “Food Frontiers 2.0” on ensuring supply and consumption of nutritious and safe foods for people, especially the lower-income group who are at the bottom of the pyramid.
Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network, which is co-convened by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Switzerland-based international organization, and World Food Programme (WFP) jointly took the initiative, said a press release issued on Monday.
Food Frontiers is an innovation challenge for rising youth entrepreneurs to bring disruptive changes in food systems.
Food Frontiers is also an innovative challenge to find creative business concepts, inexpensive and scalable technical solutions, and campaign ideas that will help provide food and nutrition for underprivileged people at the base of the food pyramid, reads the press release.
The challenge's aim is to identify new and innovative ways to reach lower-income consumers with nutritious food products; build the capacity of young entrepreneurs on a sustainable food systems approach and business skills for managing social enterprise.
The objective is to support innovative business models and technology-based solutions that could be implemented to increase access to nutritious foods.
In addition, it aimed at co-designing business models that are geared towards improving the nutrition outcome of the food system, particularly for the most vulnerable; building a pipeline of potential investments for disruptive innovative ideas for the food system of Bangladesh, reads the press release.
A short-list will be made after scrutinizing the submissions as the first round of selection through a panel of judges from diverse entrepreneurship and academia.
Representatives from the selected businesses or ideas will attend a three-day residential boot camp session in the capital as part of investment readiness training and business expansion.
The process of submitting applications for the competition has already started and the last date of its submission is January 15, 2023.
However, the submission deadline may be extended apparently due to massive responses from the applicants.
CourtesySeven winners (two each from three categories) including one reserved prize for the International Nutrition Olympiad (INO) will get cash and pre-seed funding for implementing business plan, expansion of the business, and infrastructure development, reads the press release.
The number one category is Inclusive Business Models for Reaching Lower Income Consumers.
Submissions from early-stage social enterprises or start-ups will establish inclusive business models for reaching lower-income consumers with nutritious foods at a reasonable cost under this thematic area.
The number two thematic area is Disruptive Technological Innovation.
Proposals are invited from enterprises with technological advancements to increase traceability, decrease food waste, devise methods for regenerative agriculture, and so on as part of this thematic area.
The number three thematic area is Innovative Marketing Campaigns.
Individuals and businesses will be required to make nutritious foods more inspiring and to stimulate demand for nutritious food items produced by sustainable production systems. Existing campaigns/ideas must target the lower-income demographic.
National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Agricultural University are the strategic partners of this event.
Those interested have been requested to place their submissions online through the web link-- https://foodfrontiers.live/
For updated information, the interested have been requested to visit the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/foodfrontier2.0