EuroFIR AISBL - Annual Report 2017

EuroFIR Association Internationale sans but lucratif (AISBL) was founded in 2009 by the EuroFIR Network of Excellence (EU FP6) and is now a financially independent Association based in Brussels (BE).

In recent years, we have broadened our membership to include small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as individuals including students from the food and health sector, which has seen the greatest growth in numbers during 2017.

EuroFIR continues to use its location in Brussels to strengthen links with European Institutions (e.g. DG Santé, European Parliament, EFSA and JRC) as well as food and trade associations, such as EUFIC and ILSI-Europe, non-governmental organisations and food

and biotech industries. Indeed, this year, we have joined EUFIC as an SME member and EUFIC has joined EuroFIR as an Ordinary Member, enhancing cooperation developed through common interests in EU-funded projects (e.g. RICHFIELDS).

There were significant challenges in 2017 associated with securing funding, but we have reorganised the office to improve efficiency and reduce costs, and completed three projects. We also increased Membership to 126 including 31 new members and increased membership and commercial income by almost 20 %.

Our website and tools remain important resources for EuroFIR activities, and keeping the contents up-to-date is an on-going and challenging activity. We have published a technical briefing for better standardisation of food data, and hope that more compiler members can work with us to update FoodEXplorer quicker and more efficiently.

We have reported a loss this year, but this was covered by our reserves, demonstrating the importance of building up these resources in years where we generate a surplus.We also have been more successful in securing additional funding during 2017 and our financial position looks more favourable for the next two-three years.

I would like to thank the EuroFIR team for their hard work and support,the current Directors for their advice and time, and the Working/ User Group leaders for their efforts and dedication to EuroFIR and, last but not least, our members for their continued support for food composition research across Europe and beyond.

Finally, we hope that you enjoy reading our 2017 Annual Report.