Twenty-eight Master’s students spent ten days in Barcelona exploring real challenges in the food system and developing innovative ideas with the potential to transform it.
After an initial online phase, the programme continued in person in Barcelona with fourteen work sessions spread across two weeks, during which students were guided by mentors, coaches, and experts at the intersection of food science, technology, and entrepreneurship. Over the ten days, the teams applied StartUB!’s Innovation Toolkit step by step, the methodology that guided them from identifying a real problem to designing a solution, structuring a business model and preparing their final pitch.
This journey was combined with hands-on practice in the field. Students visited Mercabarna, one of Europe’s largest food distribution hubs, to see firsthand the scale and complexity behind a product’s journey from producer to consumer. The programme also made room for the teams’ wellbeing, with a mindfulness session, and for deeper reflection: a full day dedicated to working on diversity, equity, and inclusion in multicultural teams, and to stress-testing their projects through an ethical and sustainability lens, in sessions led by Dr. Shima Barakat, CEO of Cambridge BAST.
Seven teams, seven perspectives on the food system
Throughout the programme, the seven teams worked on proposals addressing a wide range of challenges in the food system:
- Bean There! – Healthy, convenient meal options designed for busy professionals.
- Bizonoma – Healthy food adapted for elderly residential homes.
- ConnACT – A platform to connect and bring transparency to the fish supply chain.
- NourishMe – A proposal to tackle undernutrition in Sudan.
- MiMisasha – Omega-3 supplements made from underused parts of fish.
- VeCake – Vegetable-based baked goods designed for children.
- Amo Mi Vida – Healthy snacks made from chickpeas.
Final Pitch Day
The experience culminated in Final Pitch Day, when teams presented their projects to a panel of professors and experts. Beyond the proposals developed, the programme put a spotlight on skills such as collaboration, creativity, resilience, and the ability to turn complex challenges into opportunities for innovation.
“The Innovation Toolkit, combined with the guidance of our mentors, took students step by step through the process, making sure no key element of the entrepreneurial journey was missed.”
— Claudio Cruz Cázares, Director of StartUB!
“To make an impact on the food system, we need people with an entrepreneurial spirit, people who can fall in love with the problem and create innovative ideas to solve it.”
— Maarten van der Kamp, Director of Education, EIT Food
“This programme gave us the opportunity to improve our entrepreneurial skills. It guided us through a path of challenges, helping us rethink our ideas and make sense of the problem, until we ended up with an idea with real potential to reach the market.”
— Zohaib Jaymil, student of the FEAST Programme
FEAST (Fuelling Entrepreneurial Action, Self-growth & Transformation) is EIT Food’s Residential Programme, part of the EIT Food Education Master’s in Food Systems (MFS), and this edition was hosted by StartUB!, the entrepreneurship unit of the Universitat de Barcelona.