GETS - Getting Everyone Together for Sustainable food systems: empowered consumers, innovative sustainable products and trusted value chains

GETS is the third FutureFoodS co‑funded transnational call to support transformation of post‑harvest food systems across three topics: trusted and transparent sustainable food value chains; consumer agency and enabling food environments; and innovative processing for sustainable, safe and nutritious food products. The call has a total indicative budget of €44 million, opens 3 November 2026, requires a mandatory pre‑proposal by 13 January 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time and a full proposal by 30 June 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time for applicants invited to the second stage, with submissions via the FutureFoodS electronic proposal submission system. Funding is provided through a cascade model by participating national or regional funding organisations, so each partner must satisfy its national eligibility, funding and state‑aid rules, consortia must include at least three partners from at least three eligible countries, and proposals must indicate whether they are Exploratory Research or Accelerating Innovation projects.

High-level summary

What the call funds

Competitive grants for transnational projects under the FutureFoodS partnership targeting one of three topics: trusted and transparent sustainable food value chains; consumer agency and enabling food environments for healthy, safe and sustainable food practices; and innovative processing for sustainable, safe and nutritious food products. Projects must be submitted as either Exploratory Research Projects or Accelerating Innovation Projects.

Apply through the FutureFoodS submission platform. Detailed submission and evaluation rules, templates and supporting documents are provided in the Call Announcement and on the EPSS 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Call Announcement and submission details available via the FutureFoodS portal and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal: futurefoods.ptj.de and ec.europa.eu

Call overview and context

This is a competitive multi-topic call run under the European partnership for a sustainable Future of Food Systems (FutureFoodS). The call identifier is HORIZON-CL6 and the overall project (partnership) Grant Agreement number is 101136361. Total funding allocated to this call is €44,000,000. The call opening date is 03 November 2026 and it operates a multiple cut-off deadline model with cut-off dates at 13 January 2027 17:00 (Brussels time) and 30 June 2027 17:00 (Brussels time). Applications must be submitted through the FutureFoodS Electronic Proposal Submission System (EPSS).

Call topics and project types

Each application must target one of the three listed call topics and must clearly indicate which project type is being proposed (Exploratory Research Project or Accelerating Innovation Project).

Key administrative facts

Eligibility and applicants

Eligibility specifics are defined in the Call Announcement and in national/regional funders' rules. The call targets transnational research projects and requires coordinators to register and submit via the EPSS. Some funding organisations participating in the joint call may not fund every topic; applicants must check the Call Announcement and national/regional restrictions before applying.

Submission practicalities and support

Applications can only be submitted through the FutureFoodS submission platform (EPSS). The platform offers coordinator registration, partner invitation workflows and automatically generated project fact sheets for invited partners. A webinar for interested applicants is referenced (example: webinar on 12 November at 11:00 CET) — details and connection links are provided in the Call Announcement on the EPSS. For technical issues applicants are advised to contact the Call Office referenced on the platform.

Applicants should note that certain topics may not be fundable by some participating funding organisations; this may restrict which partners can be financed and may affect consortium composition.

Mentioned countries and geographic notes

The scraped content does not list specific countries by name. The call is managed under a European partnership (FutureFoodS) and therefore pertains to EU Member States and Horizon Europe associated countries participating in the partnership. Applicants must consult the Call Announcement and the list of participating national/regional funders to confirm country-level eligibility.

Summary and explanation

This FutureFoodS call (GETS) funds transnational projects focused on sustainable food systems under three thematic topics: trusted and transparent sustainable food value chains; consumer agency and enabling food environments for healthy, safe and sustainable food practices; and innovative processing for sustainable, safe and nutritious food products. It offers a total of €44,000,000 to be allocated across the topics and requires a two-stage submission through the FutureFoodS EPSS (mandatory pre-proposal then full proposal). Proposals must specify whether they are Exploratory Research Projects or Accelerating Innovation Projects. The call is implemented through participating national/regional funding organisations; therefore, eligibility to receive funding and any co-funding obligations depend on the specific rules of those participating funding organisations. Detailed requirements, evaluation rules, and country-specific funding eligibility are provided in the Call Announcement and the Annex C and D templates on the submission platform 1.

This summary is based solely on the scraped call information and platform notices; applicants must consult the official Call Announcement and the EPSS for the authoritative rules, templates and up-to-date deadlines.

Footnotes

1. 1Submission platform and call documents: FutureFoodS EPSS - futurefoods.ptj.de. Call Announcement and templates (Annex C - Pre-proposal template; Annex D - Full-proposal template) are available on the EPSS Call Documents area.

Opportunity summary

The call is implemented under the European Partnership for a sustainable Future of Food Systems, funded through Horizon Europe. The associated EU project is FutureFoodS, project number 101136361, under grant agreement 101136361. The total indicative funding available is €44 million.

The opportunity is a cascade funding call managed through the FutureFoodS partnership rather than a standard direct Horizon Europe grant call. Applicants are funded by the participating national or regional funding organisations under their respective national or regional rules. 2

Key opportunity facts

Official opportunity information is available through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal and the FutureFoodS Funding Opportunities page.

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal dates should be treated as controlling for this opportunity. Some national and partnership pre-announcement pages published earlier preliminary dates, including January and June dates that differ slightly from the final portal deadlines. 3

Scope and thematic priorities

Each proposal must address one, and only one as its principal focus, of the three call topics below.

The call has a systems perspective but focuses particularly on the post-harvest part of the food system. Activities concentrated solely on primary production are therefore unlikely to fit the intended scope unless they are demonstrably connected to the relevant post-harvest, processing, value-chain or consumer challenge. 4

Project types

Applicants must clearly identify the selected project type in the proposal.

The project type is self-assigned, but the work plan, maturity of the proposed solution, expected outputs, impact pathway and partner capabilities should be consistent with the chosen category. Austria's FWF funding information indicates that only Exploratory Research projects are eligible for that particular national funding source, illustrating that project-type eligibility can differ between participating countries. 5

Who can apply

Eligible applicant categories identified in the call information include tertiary education institutions, research institutes, non-profit legal entities, enterprises of all sizes, including small, medium-sized and large enterprises, and public bodies. Eligibility remains subject to the rules of the national or regional funding organisation supporting each applicant. 1

The call is designed for transnational consortia. A consortium must include at least three partners from at least three different countries that are eligible for, and request, funding from participating funding organisations. National rules may require additional partners, impose restrictions on specific entity types or limit participation in particular topics or project types.

Researchers and organisations do not generally receive funding directly from the European Commission under a single uniform beneficiary budget. Each participant is assessed and funded by the relevant national or regional funding organisation according to its own regulations, budget and aid conditions. 2

Consortium and partnership requirements

The consortium should demonstrate genuine transnational added value rather than parallel national projects. The proposal should explain why the participating countries, disciplines, sectors and organisations are necessary to achieve the objectives.

The minimum consortium structure is as follows:

Project content and expected approach

Proposals should present a clear contribution to food-system transformation and should combine relevant scientific, technological, societal, economic and policy perspectives where appropriate.

The call information indicates that proposals should include an Impact Plan explaining how the project will contribute to transformation of food systems and how progress towards the intended change will be monitored. Proposals should also explain complementarity with previously funded projects and avoid duplicating existing work. 1

Strong applications are likely to include a clearly evidenced problem definition, a credible transnational methodology, measurable outputs and outcomes, a route to stakeholder uptake, and a practical explanation of how results will influence food value chains, consumers, food environments, processing practices or policy.

Funding amount and funding rates

The call provides an overall indicative budget of €44 million, but the available information does not establish a single fixed grant amount, maximum amount per project or uniform EU funding rate. These parameters are determined through the participating national and regional funding organisations and their call-specific rules.

Applicants should therefore prepare a separate national funding and budget compliance assessment for every consortium partner. The relevant national rules may determine eligible costs, maximum national contribution, funding intensity, co-financing requirements, indirect cost treatment, personnel rules, equipment eligibility, subcontracting restrictions and applicable state-aid provisions.

Available national information illustrates the variation. For Spanish companies, CDTI has indicated aid intensities of 60 percent for small businesses, 50 percent for medium-sized businesses and 40 percent for large businesses, subject to applicable conditions and budget availability. CDTI also indicates that the intensity could reach 70 percent for all entities if its budget permits. These rates apply to the Spanish national funding route and must not be treated as rates for all applicants in the call. 6

No general conclusion should be drawn that every consortium partner can receive the same percentage of eligible costs or that the full €44 million is available to each project. The final amount for a proposal will depend on the number and quality of selected projects, the national allocations and the rules of the participating funders.

Duration and timing

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal does not state an expected project duration in the available opportunity record. The FutureFoodS pre-announcement indicates that projects are expected to start between November 2027 and March 2028, subject to national contracting and grant procedures. 1

The two-stage process is expected to operate as follows:

Submission requirements and practical conditions

Applications can only be submitted through the FutureFoodS submission platform. The coordinator should register the project and invite non-coordinating partners to enter their organisational and participant information. 1

Applicants should review the official Call Announcement and its annexes before preparing the proposal. The submission platform identifies a pre-proposal template and a full-proposal template, and the central call office provides the operative instructions for submission.

Before consortium formation, each potential partner should verify:

1. Whether its country and funding organisation participate in the selected topic and project type

2. Whether its organisation type is eligible under the applicable national or regional rules

3. Whether it can meet national requirements for co-financing, costs, staff, subcontracting and state aid

4. Whether the proposed activities fall within the post-harvest and sustainable food-system scope

5. Whether the requested project type is fundable by its national organisation

6. Whether the consortium satisfies the minimum three-partner and three-country requirement

7. Whether the coordinator can obtain all partner information and approvals before the pre-proposal deadline

Important national variations

National eligibility is a decisive condition. The Austrian FWF information states that only Exploratory Research projects are eligible for its funding route. 5

The German participation information available from a university EU office indicates that German partners are not eligible for funding in this call. This is a national participation issue and should be checked against the final official list and the current rules of each funding organisation before a German organisation is included as a funded partner. 7

Spain's CDTI information confirms that Spanish companies may be supported, with funding intensity depending on company size and budget availability. 6

These examples demonstrate that applicants must not rely solely on the general EU Portal description. Each partner should consult the national annex or funder notice applicable to its country, because not all funders necessarily support all three topics, all entity types or both project categories.

Applicant assessment

This opportunity is most suitable for consortia that combine research capability with practical food-system implementation capacity and can demonstrate a clear route from project activities to measurable transformation.

Particularly relevant consortium profiles include universities and research institutes, food processors, technology developers, consumer and civil-society organisations, public authorities, food-chain actors, data and traceability providers, standardisation or certification bodies, and organisations capable of piloting solutions in real food environments.

A proposal is likely to be less competitive where it is limited to primary production, lacks transnational added value, presents a generic sustainability narrative without measurable outcomes, does not identify a single principal topic, or assumes funding eligibility without confirming the applicable national rules.

Recommended preparation plan

1. Select one of the three topics and define the specific food-system problem to be solved.

2. Decide whether the project is an Exploratory Research Project or an Accelerating Innovation Project.

3. Build a consortium of at least three eligible partners from at least three eligible participating countries.

4. Confirm each partner's national eligibility, topic coverage, project-type eligibility and maximum funding rate.

5. Prepare a joint impact plan with indicators, baseline assumptions, stakeholder pathways and expected system-level change.

6. Demonstrate complementarity with previous FutureFoodS and related projects.

7. Allocate coordination, data management, dissemination, exploitation and risk-management responsibilities across the consortium.

8. Prepare the pre-proposal using the official template and submit it through the FutureFoodS platform before 13 January 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time.

9. If invited, develop the full proposal and complete all required national submissions by the 30 June 2027 deadline.

Overall assessment

GETS is a substantial transnational opportunity for research and innovation that addresses the sustainability of food systems after primary production, including value-chain transparency, consumer agency, food environments and innovative processing. Its €44 million overall budget and broad eligibility profile make it relevant to universities, research organisations, companies, public bodies and non-profit organisations, but successful participation depends heavily on national funding eligibility.

The main strategic requirement is to combine a clearly defined topic-specific challenge with a credible transnational consortium, a measurable transformation pathway and a funding-compliant national budget for every partner. Applicants should treat the EU Portal deadlines as authoritative and confirm all national rules, funding rates, topic restrictions and project-duration provisions in the final Call Announcement before submission.

Sources

The official EU opportunity record confirms the call title, opening date, deadlines, €44 million total funding, FutureFoodS project identity, two-stage process, submission platform and three topics. 8

The FutureFoodS pre-announcement provides the consortium minimum, eligible applicant categories, impact-plan expectation, project types and indicative project start period. 1

National funder notices provide examples of country-specific eligibility and funding conditions, including Austria, Spain and Germany. 567

Footnotes

1. 1FutureFoodS, Pre-announcement Third Call, GETS. FutureFoodS Pre-announcement PDF
2. 2FutureFoodS national funding model information states that researchers are funded by their respective national or regional funding organisation. FutureFoodS Funding Opportunities
3. 3The EU Funding and Tenders Portal lists 13 January 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time and 30 June 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time. Earlier pre-announcement pages contain preliminary dates that may differ from the final portal record. EU Funding and Tenders Portal
4. 4The Spanish CDTI notice describes the call as focused especially on the post-harvest area and states that primary-production activities are not its object. CDTI FutureFoodS Call 3 Information
5. 5The Austrian Science Fund information states that only Exploratory Research projects are eligible for its funding route and confirms the three-country consortium principle. Austrian Science Fund FutureFoodS Information
6. 6The CDTI notice indicates national aid intensities of 60 percent for small businesses, 50 percent for medium-sized businesses and 40 percent for large businesses, with a possible 70 percent intensity subject to budget availability and applicable conditions. CDTI FutureFoodS Call 3 Information
7. 7A university EU office notice identifies no German funding participation for the FutureFoodS third call. This should be verified against the final call documents and the relevant national authority before relying on the restriction. Hohenheim EU Office FutureFoodS Information
8. 8Official EU Funding and Tenders Portal opportunity record for GETS, reference 16841COMPETITIVE. Official Opportunity Record