The team focuses on fermentation as a method for transforming food, rediscovering ancient techniques in the process. Their goal is to reduce food waste and create tastier, healthier dishes that can even promote health, propelling gastronomy forward into the future. The research world is building bridges between yesterday, today and tomorrow in collaboration with the Laimburg Research Centre and with the support of our Start-up Incubator, where the Garum Project has opened its first production centre. Here, local raw ingredients are collected and transformed into various types of garum using food by-products, such as vegetables that are too small or large to be sold, retired laying hens, and whey.

The Romans made garum by fermenting fish and brine, and it was a staple of Roman cuisine for adding flavour. This ancient sauce is now enjoying a huge comeback and can be used as a nutritious and healthy alternative to salt or traditional stock cubes, or to add a distinctive flavour to dishes. The NOI Start-up Incubator provided support in the form of contacts, market knowledge, advice on protecting rights and help with structuring a business plan. Thanks to these valuable resources, NOI has become home to the first production centre, with many more set to follow.

“The production centre at NOI Techpark is the starting point, and we intend to open sites across Europe based on this model, honouring regional characteristics. Each region where we open a site will produce its own garum, using the region's traditional produce. The resulting products will be as distinctive as the regions they come from,” states Baroni. The resulting products will be intended for the food and catering industry, as well as the retail sector. In this way, fermentation becomes the key to generating innovation with a butterfly effect: a simple idea with extraordinary potential and impact. 

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