Food development Southeast 2.0" will create a collaborative platform that supports small and medium-sized food companies in their renewal work, and increases collaboration between the industry and other actors in society. The project aims to maximise the benefit of the food industry from research results, as well as to pilot concrete initiatives in the field of innovation. The efforts are made primarily within our identified areas of strength (meat, legumes and eggs) and with the greatest focus on small and medium-sized companies in processing and restaurant. The project will place great emphasis on collaboration between food companies and academia and to make available existing research results and other knowledge relevant to the region’s companies. Important areas will be sustainability issues, international monitoring and mediation of trends, knowledge sharing about food and health, innovations with diversity dimensions, and processing and development of products from protein-rich raw materials. The project will also invest in international collaboration on legumes. The project will place great emphasis on concrete support efforts to companies where the academy is actively engaged. These include knowledge and inspiration seminars, workshops, creative workshops and test bed involvement for innovation, renewal and product development, as well as individual business offerings such as “Hire a researcher”. The project is expected to lead to a permanent platform, new functioning networks and forms of collaboration, realised product development and an increased level of knowledge.