Research Objectives:
The agribusiness sector operates and impacts domestic and world economies.
The multi-billion food and fiber industry is a wide sector including international trade, product
management, human resource management, finance and strategies of successful partnership and food chain
development leading to new, innovative products and services appealing to the global consumers in the
new post COVID-19 era.
Agri-food supply chain management brings together FROM FARM TO FORK the most important of these disciplines and aims to provide an understanding of the chain, to support those who manage parts of the chain, and to enhance the development of research and activities in the discipline.
Radical innovations are not often introduced on the agri-food supply chain, and the food market. Incremental innovations are more often introduced in the specific industry. Although few technologies are available or being further investigated and could be of interest. Consumers seem reluctant to accept new products based on new technologies such as gene technology or functional foods. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, and preferences for foods paying attention to safety, health, traceability, and price much more than before.
Research Topics:
The main research topics of the Unit are:
The research interests of FBMI unit expand in the three main research topics stated above as follows:
New, innovative, healthy foods for food companies
The years’ research has led to a new
strategic approach “back to the future” for the development of innovative, traditional
products by well structured, organized food chains, and participating companies. This approach
has indeed been adapted by the Hellenic Technology platform Food for Life” as one of the main strategic
action lines in its recent proposal for the R&D development of the Greek food chain (position paper,
2014).The theoretical “4F MODEL” of this research concept is presented in the attached diagram,
and the tangible results of its application in the paragraph “projects” below.
The steps for the 4F MODEL product development are:
1) Identifying the “old” forgotten food product to be produced as a novel, new food of the future, and
the required agricultural raw material for its production
2) Identifying the suitable food companies, and the farmers if needed, which can be part of the specific
food chain, and coordinating their work and collaboration for the specific production all the way
3) Promoting, and advertising the new end food product, when it is in the market, as one of the
“academic” – “industry” products produced with the support of the department of Food Science and
Nutrition.
Such foods can be produced in any of the EU regions, including Greece.
Consumers’ food choice motives & attitudes
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing crisis is changing dramatically the global economy including
business development and marketing. Such a change effects consumers’ motives, attitudes, and perceptions
for selecting and purchasing goods including foods. The research on this subject matter by the FBMI unit
investigates the consumers’ food choice motives of various categories such as traditional foods, wine,
cheese etc. and the corresponding changes taking place in the new post COVID-19 era. The research is
implemented with the distribution of formal questionnaires, developed for each research case, through
google platform to anonymous consumers, and the selection and statistical processing afterwards.
Business management & innovation within the Food industry
The research on business innovation focuses on the evaluation, and the ways of improvement of each food
SME’s capacity at four different levels namely: Organizational / marketing / processing / production /
Innovation Management Technique (IMT)
Head of the FBMI research Unit is:
Dimitris Skalkos
Associate Professor on Food Business Management of Innovation
Chemistry Department, University of Ioannina, Greece
Dr. Dimitris Skalkos has been assistant and associate professor at The University of The Aegean,
Greece (Department of Food Science & Nutrition), and visiting assistant professor at The University of
Toledo (Department of Chemistry), Ohio, USA. Dr. Skalkos career expands beyond academia, for more than
30 years, since he has worked as: 1) the founder, and first director of the Business Innovation Center
(BIC) of Epirus-Greece, 2) the owner of Synthesis Consulting Ltd, 3) the co-owner of Paskal Herbal
extracts S.A. and has worked as business consultant in more than 20 years with 50 national, and
multi-national companies of various sectors of activity, mainly in the food sector. He has also worked
as project manager or scientific director on more than 20 EU funding programs involved with the
promotion of innovation, the innovative pilot actions, the establishment of academic spin off companies,
the food products development, and the food business management. His research interests currently focus
on the development of all innovative aspects within the food businesses including production,
processing, organization, marketing, consumers’ motive and knowledge transfer.
For more information at his personal website:
Skalkos Dimitris | Τμήμα
Χημείας Πανεπιστημίου Ιωαννίνων (uoi.gr)
Personal CV
Main collaborators of the FBMI research Unit are:
The professors:
UNIVERSITY OF THE AEGEAN:
Charalambos Karantonis
Associate Professor of Food Chemistry
Dr Charalambos Karantonis’ research is focused on the analysis and study of food constituents and
extracts with bioactivities that highlight their nutritional value. He has several years of teaching
experience in Food Chemistry and Food Sensory Evaluation and is the author of numerous scientific
publications on international scientific journals and scientific book chapters. In the last five years,
he participated sas a coordinator or researcher in seven National research programs.
For more information: Τ.Ε.Τ.Δ. -
karantonis (aegean.gr)
Antonis Koutelidakis
Associate Professor of human nutrition
Department of Food Science & Nutrition, University of The Aegean, Greece
Dr Antonios E. Koutelidakis’ research interests are focused on bioactive compounds of functional foods
and their role on health promotion and diseases prevention. He has participated to the European Food
Information Resourse (EuroFIR) consortium and to Greek research programs. He was scientific coordinator
in dept of Nutrition & Dietetics of Technological Institution of Crete, as Lecturer on Human Nutrition
and Food Science (2011-2013). He is scientific coordinator at one research program and deputy scient.
coord. at 2 research programs (relative to novel functional foods bioactivity)
For more information: Τ.Ε.Τ.Δ. -
koutelidakis (aegean.gr)
UNIVERSITY OF MACEDONIA:
Dimitris Kafetzopoulos
Assistant Professor of Business Management
Department of Business Administration
University of Macedonia, Greece
For more information: Καφετζόπουλος Δημήτριος -
Πανεπιστήμιο Μακεδονίας (uom.gr)
The Laboratory:
Under Construction | Ανδρουλάκης
(androulakislab.gr)
List of publications in the last 5 years categorized at the 3 main topics of interest of the FBMI
research unit
1. New, innovative, healthy foods for food companies
List of last 5 years’ EU funded projects (through the Greek government), implemented* with the
collaboration of Greek Food companies on the topic of:
* The University of Aegean is subcontractor – partner of the project since the head of unit was faculty member of that university when the projects were submitted for funding approval by the government
Dimitris Skalkos, Associate professor
(Head) research unit FBMI (Food Business management of Innovation)
Laboratory of Food Chemistry
Section of Industrial Chemistry & Food Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
UNIVERSITY OF IOANNINA
University Campus, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Tel.: +302651008345
e-mail: dskalkos@uoi.gr