Government policy: let’s improve the situation of domestic innovation in the food industry

Dr Beáta Felkai Olga, deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture believes: we need to get ready for changes in the food industry that can break the deadlock on both sides. Hungary’s food industry is a very innovative sector, and the domestic players are basically trend followers. However, the innovation situation and opportunities of the 33 different subsectors are different.

There are two important indicators which measure innovation at country level: the GII published by WIPO and the EU’s European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS). These reveal that Hungary is not doing badly at all.

Being aware of what manufacturers and consumers need is important

In order to be able to specify innovation directions, being familiar with consumer attitudes is key. For instance the first lockdown research by the National Food Chan Safety Office (Nébih) highlighted the durability and packaging of food products, which implies product and process innovation, while the requirements related to shorter supply chain call for innovation in logistics. During the pandemic it became evident that new solutions (e.g. higher processed products), new formats, new ingredients, and foods with a longer shelf-life were needed, and that industry was able to react to these needs swiftly. //