Food Waste Hackathon in Foggia: innovation and ideas against food waste
15/05/2026
The Food Waste Hackathon took place on 13-14 May at the University of Foggia, bringing together students, professionals, startups, and stakeholders from the agri-food sector in a collaborative effort to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of the industry: reducing food waste while optimizing resource management and maintaining high service quality.
On the first day, after institutional greetings and contributions from experts across the hospitality, catering, and waste management sectors, participants attended a training session led by mentor Valentina Cianci on business creation methodologies. The teams then began developing their project ideas.
The second day focused on the development and refinement of solutions within the framework of the European project ECOFOODCYCLE, part of the Interreg VI-A Italy–Croatia 2021–2027, aimed at innovating the agri-food supply chain in the Adriatic basin. The teams presented their proposals to a technical jury composed of university professors, cooperative representatives, and industry stakeholders.
The jury awarded:
- 🥇 ShelfLife, first place winner, receiving an acceleration pathway and access to the Cross Border Hackathon in Foggia
- 🥈 Expire, second place winner, also awarded an acceleration program
The event concluded with acknowledgements to all partners and organizers, highlighting the importance of collaboration between academia, industry, and innovation ecosystems in addressing food waste challenges.
