EISMEA has opened the SMP-COSME call dedicated to scaling biotechnologies in the agri-food sector. The 3 million euro budget funds approximately two projects, with grants of about 1.5 million each and a 90% funding rate.
The call targets advanced fermentation for food and feed, a field at the intersection of biotechnology and the food industry. This is the area where alternative proteins, functional ingredients, and replacement solutions for high environmental impact raw materials are developed.
The 90% funding rate is unusually generous for a program managed directly by the European Commission, where the standard is between 50% and 70%. The explanation lies in the pre-competitive nature of the field: advanced fermentation technologies are still far from profitability at an industrial scale.
Biotech clusters and SMEs in the agri-food sector are eligible. The fact that the total budget funds only two projects makes this one of the most selective calls in the COSME package, with a predictably very low success rate.
For Romanian companies in the food industry, the call has limited practical relevance in its current form, as it requires advanced research capacity and, usually, consolidated international partnerships. However, it has value as a direction indicator: precision fermentation and alternative proteins are declared priorities of European food policy.
The call opened on March 25, 2026, and closed on June 2, 2026, at 17:00 CET.
Precision fermentation and alternative proteins are areas where the European Union has fallen behind the United States and Israel, and calls of this type attempt to bridge the gap. The economic stakes are considerable: the global market for ingredients produced through fermentation is estimated to grow acceleratedly over the next decade.
For the food industry in Romania, the immediate relevance is low, but the direction is worth following for another reason. European regulation regarding new foods, known as novel foods, will progressively relax, and processors who understand these technologies early on will have a positioning advantage when fermentation-derived ingredients become a standard component in industrial recipes.
What you need to know
- Budget: 3 million EUR for about 2 projects
- Grant: about 1.5 million EUR per project, 90% funding rate
- Eligible: biotech clusters and agri-food SMEs
- Period: March 25 - June 2, 2026. Call closed
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