IIS FoodBooster: A Walloon nutrition and health ecosystem that has delivered on its promises

Launched as part of Wallonia’s Smart Specialization Strategy (S3), the IIS FoodBooster gave a positive assessment of its progress during its seventh and final Steering Committee meeting, held on June 10, 2026, in Liège. Led by the University of Liège, the CER Group, and Wagralim, the IIS has pursued an ambitious goal: to make Wallonia a leading hub for prebiotics, probiotics, and bioactive peptides.

The ecosystem now brings together 76 partners, including 27 companies, covering the entire value chain for health ingredients, from raw materials to market launch. In terms of collaborative projects, the results are substantial: 40 projects completed or underway, including 14 European projects funded through a variety of instruments such as the ERDF, Horizon Europe, CBE-JU, and COST, and 8 additional projects submitted or in the planning stages, 5 of which have a European scope.

Governance has been strengthened through active involvement in several key organizations: the WIFST (Wallonia Institute of Food Science and Technology), the PHENIX technology platforms, the European IBISBA network, and the COST NextProFood Action on bioactive peptides, which has been approved and involves 43 countries. These partnerships have helped strengthen both the sector’s regional coherence and its international reach.

In terms of visibility, the IIS has co-organized or participated in a series of notable events: the FoodBooster 2026 international conference, the Liège Créative and Luxembourg Créative sessions, an R&I mission to Germany, an International Spring School with IIS Protewin and FoodWal, and a series of thematic webinars that brought together academic and industry experts to discuss issues in functional nutrition.

At a time when Wallonia is undertaking a profound reform of its clustering structures—with the transition from IISs to “innovation ecosystems” coordinated by innovation clusters— the main challenge will be to maintain the momentum that has been built, deepen the involvement of industry stakeholders, and capitalize on the European networks and funding that have been developed, particularly through Wagralim.