Generally, consumers are aware that eating healthy is important but, for a variety of complex social, physiological and psychological reasons, obesity is still increasing globally. Worldwide prevalence of obesity tripled between 1975 and 2016, and awareness and good intentions do not translate into appropriate behaviours. Individuals need sustained support and advice to adopt healthier eating patterns.

Personalised and Connected Food Services (PERSFO) aims to bring knowledge from personalised nutrition sciences to consumers in the workplace. Thus, the purpose of PERSFO is to deliver transparent recommendations within defined workplace food systems, promoting adoption of healthier eating patterns, to bridge the gap between good intentions and actual behaviours.

PERSFO is organised as seven activities around building a personalised recommender, which includes stakeholder insight analysis, and a validation study within a workplace setting as well as project management and dissemination and communication. The consortium is a multidisciplinary team including expertise in ICT technologies, food service providers and research organisations.

During 2020, PERSFO is focused on the technical development of personalised dietary recommendations via food service providers’ applications. In 2021, these applications will be tested in a proof-of-principle intervention study. Outcomes from these activities will inform future business development models, identifying opportunities for commercialisation and new services.

Personalized and connected food service providers (PERSFO, Project ID 20291) has received funding from EIT Food, the innovation community on Food of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the EU, under Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.