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NOVIAA: a coaching and training programme for innovation in regional food industry
Published on 03 July 2018
France
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
STRING focuses on food innovation ecosystems and aims especially to identify good practices in food innovation support. The NOVIAA programme proposed by ARIA Alsace offers Alsatian food companies a tool for developing an innovation strategy and innovative projects.
Many companies in the food industry are Very Small Businesses and SMEs often specialised in regional products. To stay in the market they must: innovate to deliver new and differentiated products; create sales methods and original marketing models; reduce manufacturing costs or add value to the entire production; face unbalanced competition due to the size of some market players.
Innovation, however, is complex and multifaceted: it is not simply the acquisition of methods or know-to-be, it is everything. For managers, this means having a vision of their future positioning and ways to implement – in other words, deploying an absolute development and innovation strategy and an adapted process.
The programme NOVIAA is a training programme, consisting of: a collective phase during which the participants will be able to acquire and share best practices for innovation in SMEs & an individual phase allowing the leader, based on a prepared road map, to deploy a new innovation process through a pilot project, while continuing to benefit from a methodological contribution. The pilot will also help internal teams to take ownership of the new mode of operation and to assess performance.
Many companies in the food industry are Very Small Businesses and SMEs often specialised in regional products. To stay in the market they must: innovate to deliver new and differentiated products; create sales methods and original marketing models; reduce manufacturing costs or add value to the entire production; face unbalanced competition due to the size of some market players.
Innovation, however, is complex and multifaceted: it is not simply the acquisition of methods or know-to-be, it is everything. For managers, this means having a vision of their future positioning and ways to implement – in other words, deploying an absolute development and innovation strategy and an adapted process.
The programme NOVIAA is a training programme, consisting of: a collective phase during which the participants will be able to acquire and share best practices for innovation in SMEs & an individual phase allowing the leader, based on a prepared road map, to deploy a new innovation process through a pilot project, while continuing to benefit from a methodological contribution. The pilot will also help internal teams to take ownership of the new mode of operation and to assess performance.
Resources needed
Total cost for an enterprise: 9 667€ - but thanks to co-financing from State and Region, ARIA Alsace sells it 5 800 € to member enterprises, and 6 400€ for non-members + 200€ entry fee.
5 part-time experts contracted by ARIA Alsace.
Dedicated time by ARIA staff to promote the programme.
5 part-time experts contracted by ARIA Alsace.
Dedicated time by ARIA staff to promote the programme.
Evidence of success
The programme is running for 6 years: each year, 10 to 15 companies participate; very good satisfaction 3.65 out 4; development of collaborative projects between the participants. In total: participation 45 companies, 71 projects, 14 new products.
Not only are new products launched but also the following topics are developed:
● Strategic training for new products or merchandising, Formalisation and structuring process, Marketing, Merchandising and HR development.
Not only are new products launched but also the following topics are developed:
● Strategic training for new products or merchandising, Formalisation and structuring process, Marketing, Merchandising and HR development.
Potential for learning or transfer
NOVIAA is very easy to transfer to other regions, as it only requires financial resources to contract the experts and not infrastructure.
The key to success lies in the expert team: they must know the food sector, be specialised in complementary topics (creativity, digitalisation, industry production processes, industry human resources management, …), be able to work together (using common templates for reporting, projects schedules, risk analysis, cost calculation, ...) and accept to be part of a team (although they are independent consultants), and have capacities to moderate workshops and training sessions in a creative and dynamic way.
The Food cluster must also have the capacity to convince its members that innovation is a long-term process. NOVIAA will not bring immediate effects, and the development of innovation in a product, for example, can reveal other needs (production process, company organisation, …).
The key to success lies in the expert team: they must know the food sector, be specialised in complementary topics (creativity, digitalisation, industry production processes, industry human resources management, …), be able to work together (using common templates for reporting, projects schedules, risk analysis, cost calculation, ...) and accept to be part of a team (although they are independent consultants), and have capacities to moderate workshops and training sessions in a creative and dynamic way.
The Food cluster must also have the capacity to convince its members that innovation is a long-term process. NOVIAA will not bring immediate effects, and the development of innovation in a product, for example, can reveal other needs (production process, company organisation, …).
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
Organisation
Regional Association for Food Industries in Alsace (ARIA Alsace)
France
Alsace
Business support organisation
Contact
Policy advisor agrofood