Consumer Engagement Labs
Where food innovation is co-created with consumers
Embedded Files
The EIT Food Consumer Engagement Labs is one of the largest food co-creation initiatives in Europe. In 2019-2025, the co-creation processes involved 166 consumer panels, 34 scientific organisations and 69 companies from 20 European countries, who worked together to design, develop and introduce to the market 43 innovative food products.
The Consumer Engagement Labs are co-creation processes involving consumers and producers, based on an innovative methodology developed by the University of Warsaw.
Why co-creation
Why co-creation
Consumer Engagement Labs enable collective creation of innovative, yet non-existing combinations of product features and benefits over traditional methods of leveraging consumer engagement like surveys, focus groups, and sensory tests.
Benefits
Benefits
Through co-creation consumers become valuable partners for companies in new product development. Co-creation methods raise awareness of specific needs of consumer segments, establish trust-based dialogue, and promote innovativeness.
Impact
Impact
Consumer Engagement Labs (CEL) is a ready-to-run model that helps businesses and research partners bring consumers into early-stage product concept development and innovation. It provides a practical toolkit, training and expert guidance to run structured co-creation with consumers, technology experts and food researchers, helping companies clarify key design choices before major R&D commitments. Built on a proven co-creation methodology, CEL supports participants in identifying unmet consumer needs, exploring new product directions and refining concepts for later validation and implementation.
43 products designed using the Consumer Engagement Labs methodology.
69 companies having access to the outcomes of co-creation processes employing consumer creativity and exploring their behaviours, choices, and needs.
Consumers engaged in new product development ensuring that the food industry responds to the consumer needs and delivers value, innovation, and convenience.
Focus on consumer segments that are often overlooked by the companies.
Methodology initially designed for older consumers and later adapted to respond to various groups, such as the young generation, consumers with dietary restrictions or following plant-based diets.
Adaptable methodology applied across diverse product categories – sweets, savoury snacks, readymade meals, drinks, and even environmentally friendly packaging for takeaway meals.
The interactive network maps the full CEL product portfolio across 20 European countries and 8 product categories.
Each line connects a country to a category in which its partners co-created products.
Hover over a country to see which categories it contributed to and which products were developed there. Hover over a category to discover the full list of products and their producers.
Countries shown with a pulsing outline participated in CEL but have products still in the development pipeline. Click Replay to watch the network build up category by category.
Co-creation of food products
Co-creation of food products
The creative proposals formulated by consumers participating in the Consumer Engagement Labs underwent rigorous in-house development to assess their production potential and feasibility.
This process culminated in the successful market introduction of 43 products across 20 European countries (2019-2025), showcasing the creative potential of consumers as active participants in the food sector.
Broader impact
Broader impact
CEL outcomes deliver measurable impact across society, the economy, the environment and culture, turning consumer-led innovation into real products that strengthen trust, support healthier diets, reinforce local value chains and promote more sustainable production and consumption.
Methodology
Methodology
The Consumer Engagement Labs methodology combines individual and team efforts, utilising projective and creative techniques, gamification, and design thinking. Co-creation sessions, held face-to-face or online over several weeks, allow participants to discuss preferences, explore markets, and foster creativity. Consumers collaborate with company representatives to propose innovative product ideas, which are then evaluated and integrated into further development. The methodology offers tools for recruitment, session facilitation, and product commercialisation planning guidelines.
Contribution to sustainable development
Contribution to sustainable development
Consumer Engagement Labs outcomes support EIT Food strategic priorities in resilient agriculture, food biotech and protein diversification, and contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – from nutrient-dense products for vulnerable groups (SDG 2) and functional nutrition addressing specific health conditions (SDG 3) to SME innovation support (SDG 8), open innovation methodology (SDG 9) and responsible consumption and production (SDG 12).
Contribution to EIT Food missions
Contribution to EIT Food missions
Co-created products directly advance all three EIT Food missions: healthier lives through functional nutrition for vulnerable groups, a net zero food system through circular use of by-products and shelf-stable formats reducing cold-chain emissions, and a fair and resilient food system by de-risking innovation for SMEs and strengthening local food economies across Europe.
The CEL Casebook 2019–2025 and its Product portfiolio bring together all 43 product cases, the full partner network, methodology details, scientific findings and impact data in a single publication.
Browse the casebook online or download it to explore the complete story of consumer co-creation across Europe.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse