Category: Events

The Closing Conference of the GASTROTOP project was held on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, in Kapošvar at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science (MATE), which was attended by representatives of all partner organizations on the project, students and representatives of the Joint Technical Secretariat, and representatives of the MATE University administration.

The project started on June 1, 2021, and its implementation lasted 16 months. The total value of the project was EUR 291,243, and the general goal of the project was to improve the availability of educational platforms in the new interdisciplinary domain – food (gastro) tourism, which is based on new trends in demand for different categories of food. The main objectives of the project were the development and implementation of informal educational programs for food (gastro) tourism, while the purpose of the project was to develop comprehensive educational support for food producers and food preparation service providers that will facilitate the demand for new special dietary needs of the market.

At the final conference, Silvija Jerčinović, the project manager, presented the activities related to the entire project, while all partners presented to the audience the activities that they carried out within the project.

In addition to achieving the set goals and outputs, the project contributed to the improvement of students’ competences and their position on the labour market, as well as to the local community in terms of directing them to take advantage of business opportunities and consequently increasing well-being (increase in investment, new jobs, stable sources of income, etc.). In the end, it turned out that such research and application projects are welcome, considering their multiple effects on all involved stakeholders and the local community.

Interreg V-A Hungary-Croatia Co-operation Programme 2014-2020

A cross-border region where rivers connect, not divide

The next stop of the GASTROTOP project was the 2-day study trip in Somogy county, where the project partners and the guests involved in “free” meals could participate in the programs organized by SKIK. The studytour was started with a visit to the Hansdönner Brewery, where the partcipants could gain an insight into gluten-free beer production. The following station was the Fino-food dairy company, where the dairy producton and the milk-free products were presented.

In the second half of the day the programmes and presentations were held in the Bánó Mária Kastélyszálló in Felsőmocsolád. In the afternoon two interesting lectures were held about the production of chemical-free cosmetics and its experiences. After the presentation the owner guided the group around the wonderful castle and told about the history of it, which can be traced back to the beginning of the 19. century. Finally, the last programme of the day was an interesting presentation of the organic wine production.

On the second day of the study trip, the Babérliget Kúria in Polány and Hertelendy Castle in Kutas were visited, where the group had a guided tour in both institutions and the experiences of ‘free’ dining were presented.  In both places, the quiet environment, event organization and quality food has a great emphasis. Nowadays that kind of diet, which is free of certain ingredients is not only demanded by guests suffering from allergies or intolerances, but other people who has no food intolerance chose it more likely than the usual diet. Experience also shows that there is already a growing need for healthy food, which is free of additives and certain ingredients.

A total of 25 people took part in the two-day program, including Croatian and Hungarian participants.

After the food preparation training, the “free-from” dessert preparation training within the GASTROTOP project was completed in May.

The 30-hour program was attended by pastry chefs and other relevant people, a total of 14 people, who prepared different desserts in different “free from” versions. As part of the training, cakes, creams, pancakes, donuts, and other fantastic cakes were prepared.

The goal of the education was to find possibilities and ingredients in catering that can be used to provide a taste experience to those suffering from food intolerance or allergies.

In February 2022 the Somogy Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a 30-hour training, namely Preparation of “Free” food in the framework of the GASTROTOP project, in which 17 person participated. The training was mainly promoted for those who would like to prepare different dishes in a different way due to some kind of health problem.

In the theoretical part, the concepts about various nutritional disorders were discussed and the practice showed how it is possible to prepare meals in a gluten-, dairy- or sugar-free version by substituting certain ingredients.

The participants prepared multi-course menus in a different way than the traditional one, in several versions. Fantastic dishes were created using different ingredients.

The training served as a good opportunity to learn about the health aspects of eating and to improve the standard of gastronomic services.

The College of Economics in Križevci is implementing the GASTROTOP project as a leading partner – a comprehensive educational support for food service providers that facilitates demand in emerging consumer markets with food restrictions, which it is implementing together with Hungarian partners in the Hungary-Croatia 2014-2020 cross-border cooperation. The project partners are the Hungarian Agricultural University, the Kaposvar Campus, the Virovitica Polytechnic, the Somogy Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kaposvar and the Zala County Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Zalaergeszeg. The project started on June 1, 2021. and the estimated duration of the project is 16 months. The total value of the project is 291,243 EUR, of which the value of the project for the College of Economics in Križevci is 60,282 EUR.

The overall goal of the project is to improve the availability of educational platforms in a new interdisciplinary domain – food (gastro) tourism, which is based on new trends in demand for different categories of food. The main goals of the project are the development and implementation of non-formal educational programs for food (gastro) tourism.

The purpose of the project is to develop comprehensive educational support for food producers and food storage service providers that will facilitate the demand for new special nutritional needs of the market.

On that occasion, 09.09.2021. An initial conference organized by the College of Economics in Križevci was held at the Rakić rural tourism in Čabraji. With the participation of project partners and external stakeholders of the project, the opening conference was greeted with a few words by the Dean of the University of Economics in Križevci, Ph.D. Marijana Ivanek Martinčić, and the Mayor of Križevci Mr. Mario Rajn addressed the gathering, emphasizing the role of the University as an important factor for the overall development of the city through a long continuous process of higher education, but also a number of realized and implemented projects. The inaugural conference was also attended by Ms. Andrea Kakas, Program Manager of the Joint Secretariat of the HU-HR Cross-Border Cooperation Program, who presented the Program itself. After that, dr.sc. Silvije Jerčinović, project manager presented the project, its partners, goal and purpose, and target groups and outcomes. In the continuation of the initial conference, the representative of each of the project partners presented his institution and the activities that will be implemented during the overall implementation of the project. The College of Economics was presented by dr.sc. Kristina Svržnjak, and the Hungarian Agricultural University, Kaposvar Campus was presented by Atilla Pintér. Božidar Jaković presented the activities of the Polytechnic of Virovitica, Šomod Chamber of Commerce and Industry from Kaposvar and its activities were presented by Andrea Kovács, and finally, the activities of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Zala County from Zalaergeszeg were presented by its representative Valéria Szombath.

Dr.sc. Silvije Jerčinović, prof.v.š.

Images and text downloaded from:

https://www.vguk.hr/hr/1527/Početna+konferencija+GASTROTOP+projekta