Bringing the best of European produce to your table

The European Research Executive Agency (REA) manages the Promotion of Agricultural Products’ programme which aims to enhance the competitiveness of the EU’s agricultural sector. Through promotion campaigns, it highlights the unique characteristics of European produce in the internal market and countries outside of the EU. These campaigns seek to open new market opportunities for EU farmers and the wider food industry, and to strengthen existing businesses.

European agricultural responsibility

The promotion of agricultural products’ policy partly feeds into the European Green Deal. Today, our food systems account for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions causing environmental, health and economic concerns. The EU Farm to Fork strategy seeks to redesign our food systems in a fair and environmentally healthy manner. The initiative End the Cage Age aims to establish a more ethical and sustainable farming culture by phasing out the use of animal cages. In addition, the organic action plan works to maintain biodiversity, water quality, ecological balances and soil fertility. The EU’s ambition is to have at least 25% of its agricultural land cultivated through organic farming by 2030. To help farmers market their organic produce and consumers recognise it, the EU has created an organic logo to give a visual identity to organic food produced in the EU.

EU’s own initiatives and co-funded projects: Two ways to promote European food

European agricultural products are promoted in two ways: through co-funded projects (grants) and EU’s own initiatives (procurement).

Grants are promotional projects run by European organisations and co-financed by the EU. They can be organised as simple programmes and multi programmes. A successful project is ECCE Asia. It seeks to create new market shares for European Extra Virgin olive oil in Japan and Taiwan. Another project that gained visibility is ‘Europe signs the Products of its Territories’. The communication campaign aims to increase the recognition and value of European quality labels, such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). These labels guard the names of specific foods and drinks to promote their unique geographical origin, traditional expertise and authenticity of production.

Beside managing grants, the EU directly runs additional promotional activities, such as promotion campaigns, attendance of international events and fairs, Market-Entry Handbooks, high level meetings, seminars and more. They target non-EU countries with high-growth potential to help EU producers enter new markets. A recent successful example is the EU’s participation in the Expo 2020 Dubai, through the campaign ‘More than Food’. A food truck - the ‘EU Caravan’ - was present at three different locations in Dubai offering daily tasting sessions and cooking classes. You can discover some of the delicious EU Caravan recipes online, such as Halibut with sweet biscuit crust and Danablu sauce or grilled Graviera Naxou and Provolone Valpadana cheeses. In addition to the EU Caravan, EU Commissioner of Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, hosted a ‘More than Food’ dinner to spread the word about the EU’s outstanding produce. Within the context of the same campaign, the EU launched the ‘More Than A Trip’ videos to show the diverse production methods, rigorous inspections and unique geographical conditions of European food.

Together, grants and EU’s own initiatives promote European food and beverages worldwide. You can recognise them via the ‘Enjoy! it’s from Europe’ signature.

Let’s promote European produce together!

The European Union supports its farmers and producers to thrive economically and ecologically. Through a wide range of promotional activities, the EU seeks to generate and expand consumer interest in the high quality of European food around the world. Are you interested in promoting your produce and have not yet applied for funding? Then make sure to follow the activities implemented by REA for the Promotion of EU Agricultural Products and watch out for the next call for proposals, which will open in January 2023.

Useful links:

2022 call results