Building the skills needed for the future of agrifood manufacturing

Europe’s agrifood manufacturing sector is at a turning point. As digital technologies reshape production systems and sustainability becomes a business imperative, companies across the food value chain are under increasing pressure to adapt. Yet one challenge continues to stand in the way of transformation: skills.

To help address this challenge, EIT Food is proud to be a partner in TAURUS (Talent Accelerator for the Agrifood Manufacturing Industry), a new Erasmus+ funded initiative that aims to become the first European Talent Accelerator dedicated to the agrifood manufacturing sector. The project brings together partners from Belgium, Spain and France: EIT Food, Cluster Digital de Catalunya, Ecole des Ponts Business School, and Acceleralia , with a shared goal of supporting both businesses and workers in the transition towards Industry 4.0 and 5.0.

The European agrifood industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Europe, employing approximately 4.7 million people across more than 309,000 companies, of which 99.2% are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). (1) Yet many of these businesses continue to operate with legacy systems that are not compatible with emerging digital technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, IoT and smart manufacturing.

At the same time, the sector faces a significant workforce challenge. Across Europe, the wider agrifood ecosystem employs more than 16 million people (2), but many workers lack the digital competencies required to operate advanced technologies. SMEs often struggle to provide structured upskilling opportunities, while managers may lack the strategic capabilities needed to lead digital transformation.

The result is a widening gap between the skills available in the workforce and those needed to support the sector’s digital and green transition.

Addressing this gap requires more than training alone. It requires better understanding of the skills employers need today and those that will be needed tomorrow. This is where skills intelligence plays a critical role, helping organisations identify emerging competencies, anticipate workforce needs and align learning opportunities with industry demand.

TAURUS has been designed to bridge this gap through an innovative, AI-powered digital platform: www.agrifoodtalent.eu. The platform connects workforce capabilities with industry needs, helping companies identify skills gaps while providing tailored learning pathways for current and future employees.

The project is built around two complementary pillars:

Assessment & Guidance Lab

This pillar supports SMEs on their journey towards Industry 4.0 and 5.0 through diagnostics, digital maturity assessments, strategic roadmaps and expert guidance. It helps businesses better understand their readiness for transformation and identify the steps required to move forward.

Re-skilling & Up-skilling Lab

This pillar focuses on people. Through personalised skills assessments, targeted training programmes and micro-credentials, TAURUS helps workers develop the competencies needed for emerging roles in digital and sustainable agrifood manufacturing.

Together, these two pillars create a comprehensive ecosystem that supports both organisational transformation and workforce development.

One of TAURUS’ first activities has been to analyse the main barriers preventing agrifood SMEs from accelerating their digital transition.

The project’s research highlights three interconnected challenges:

Digital and technical barriers, including outdated infrastructure, limited connectivity in rural areas, fragmented digital systems and cybersecurity concerns. These challenges slow the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and limit operational efficiency.

Workforce and skills barriers, including digital skills gaps, an ageing workforce, limited access to training opportunities and leadership capability gaps. These issues create difficulties in implementing new technologies and attracting specialised talent.

Systemic and investment barriers, including limited investment capacity, uncertainty about returns on digitalisation projects, fragmented innovation ecosystems and complex regulatory requirements. These factors disproportionately affect SMEs and contribute to uneven progress across regions.

By identifying these challenges, TAURUS is helping to create more targeted and effective support mechanisms for companies and workers alike.

TAURUS strongly complements EIT Food’s mission to build a future-fit food system powered by innovation, entrepreneurship and skills. As the agrifood sector continues its digital transformation, access to relevant learning opportunities will be essential for maintaining Europe’s competitiveness and resilience.

Importantly, TAURUS builds on EIT Food’s wider commitment to strengthening Europe’s agrifood talent pipeline through the EIT Food Skills Academies focused on biotechnology and resilient agriculture. The Academies bring together a portfolio of learning initiatives designed to equip learners, professionals, entrepreneurs and innovators with the skills needed to address some of the food system’s most pressing challenges. From sustainable agriculture and food innovation to entrepreneurship, leadership and digital transformation, the Academies provide accessible and industry-relevant learning opportunities that support lifelong learning across the agrifood sector.

Across these initiatives, EIT Food is increasingly leveraging skills intelligence to better understand emerging workforce needs and translate them into targeted education and training programmes. By identifying skills gaps, anticipating future competency requirements and connecting learners with tailored learning pathways, EIT Food is helping to ensure that Europe’s agrifood workforce can adapt to rapidly changing technological, environmental and market demands.

TAURUS adds a critical manufacturing dimension to this portfolio. By focusing specifically on the skills required for Industry 4.0 and 5.0 adoption in agrifood manufacturing, the project strengthens EIT Food’s broader ecosystem of education and workforce development initiatives, creating new opportunities for workers, businesses and regions to thrive in the transition to a more sustainable and digitally enabled food system.

Over the next two years, TAURUS will continue developing its AI-powered Talent Accelerator, engaging with SMEs, workers, educators and innovation stakeholders across Europe. By connecting skills development with business transformation, the project aims to create a more adaptable workforce and a stronger, more competitive agrifood manufacturing sector.

The project is also closely aligned with the objectives of the EU Pact for Skills, which promotes lifelong learning, reskilling and public-private collaboration to support Europe’s green and digital transitions. Through AI-driven skills intelligence, personalised learning pathways and support for SMEs, TAURUS contributes directly to these ambitions.

As digitalisation and sustainability reshape the future of food production, initiatives like TAURUS demonstrate that investing in people is just as important as investing in technology. 

Together with the learning opportunities delivered through the EIT Food Academies, TAURUS forms part of a broader effort to equip Europe’s agrifood workforce with the skills, knowledge and capabilities needed to lead the sector’s transformation.

Learn more about the project and explore the platform at www.agrifoodtalent.eu.

References:

1. FoodDrinkEurope (2024). Data & Trends of the European Food and Drink Industry 2024.
2. European Commission (2024). The EU Agri-food Ecosystem Facts and Figures.