Abstract
In addition to falling production prices, the food sector in the Alpine region is facing increasing competition on the world market. Furthermore, a central challenge in primary production, processing and marketing is to meet the challenges of a sustainable economy with global climate protection goals as well as to satisfy changing consumer expectations with new product innovations. The bioeconomic opportunities along the value chain of selected primary products in the Alpine region do not yet seem to have been sufficiently exploited. The better use of by-products and waste products from primary production and more sustainable production processes in the sense of the circular economy still hold untapped potential. New innovative production, processing and marketing strategies are in demand.
The Interreg Alpine Space Project "AlpBioEco" has set itself the objective of highlighting the potential of the bio-economy for the creation of "green growth" and new employment opportunities in the Alpine region. In concrete terms, "AlpBioEco" has decided to develop good practices and new business models for the Alpine Food and Botanical Extracts Sector. To do so, the project will determine the bio-economic potentials along the value chains of apple, herbs and walnuts.