How can startups revolutionize home cooking?
Nomad Foods seeks startups for new frozen food innovations
Advertisement
Nomad Foods, Europe’s leading frozen food company and owner of brands including Birds Eye, Ledo, iglo, Findus and Frikom, has today announced the launch of its second Future Foods Lab challenge - the Culinary Creativity Challenge.
The latest challenge builds on the company’s venture clienting initiative – Future Foods Lab – in partnership with global innovation network, Innoget, unveiled in June 2025, and calls for practical innovations that help people cook tasty, exciting meals at home with less effort.
In particular, this challenge aims to find:
- Innovative frozen meal ideas that explore world flavours and come in bite-size formats or can form a part of meal kits
- Meal components such as sauces, bases, and toppings that allow consumers to customise their meals at home
- Useful kitchen solutions such as packaging or other tools that make cooking faster or easier
Carly Arnold, Chief RDQ Officer at Nomad Foods, said: “Food is one of the most personal forms of self‑expression. For the Culinary Creativity Challenge, we’re looking for partners who put the consumer at the centre of every bite. This challenge is about empowering individuals to get creative in the kitchen and could include innovation in new frozen meals, global flavours, small formats, sauces and bases that allow easy customisation, or smart ideas that cut cooking time and make the experience more enjoyable. I’m really excited to see what ideas are submitted through our Future Foods Lab.”
Nomad Foods’ Future Foods Lab identifies startups with proven delivery, owned IP, and the ability to scale rapidly across Europe. Applicants should already have a working product or prototype, not just a concept. The initiative provides a pathway for early‑stage partners to test, validate, and commercialise their ideas within Nomad Foods’ extensive footprint.
Open to startups looking to scale their functional products or services, the Future Foods Lab offers:
- A paying customer relationship with Nomad Foods
- Access to a European test-and-learn environment with real-world validation
- Deep industry immersion in frozen food manufacturing and global supply chains
- Mentorship from experts across R&D, marketing, procurement, and more
- Opportunities for co-branding, commercial scaling, and long-term partnerships
The Culinary Creativity Challenge follows the successful conclusion of Nomad Foods’ debut Future Foods Lab challenge, focused on solutions in functional nutrition. The winners of the first challenge are set to be announced at the end of April 2026.
The Nomad Foods Future Foods Lab Culinary Creativity Challenge is now open for applications with a deadline for submissions by 24 May, 2026.
Other news from the department business & finance
Most read news
More news from our other portals
Something is happening in the food & beverage industry ...
This is what true pioneering spirit looks like: Plenty of innovative start-ups are bringing fresh ideas, lifeblood and entrepreneurial spirit to change tomorrow's world for the better. Immerse yourself in the world of these young companies and take the opportunity to get in touch with the founders.