To lead a project as a solution provider your organisation must be a UK registered:

• micro, small or medium sized enterprise(SME)
• academic institution
• research and technology organisation (RTO)
• community interest company (CIC) or charity

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

Your project must:

• have a grant funding request of up to £25,000
• last for three months
• Not start before 1st June 2026
• Must end by 31st March 2027

Any funded organisation needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK.

There are a number of interlinked problems. The core of this is control of steam delivery.

1. Lack of precise steam control between two different ovens: steam cannot currently be measured or regulated individually for each oven, meaning the ovens may receive too little or two much steam during cooking. This is where there is a need for additional control valves between the ovens.
2. Excessive steam loss and energy: steam is lost to the atmosphere because the system lacks valves, flow control and metering. This requires the steam generator to run unnecessarily at maximum output.
3. Cooking inconsistency across the two ovens: due to uneven or unpredictable steam delivery, products may cook differently in each oven, leading to issues with weight, shape, size and texture, and increased waste.
4. Impact on production capacity: without improved steam management, Prima cannot reliably scale to an additional 1 million components/week, reducing cooking time and thus lead to higher productivity.
5. Carbon and energy efficiency challenges: inefficient steam use increases kerosene and consumption for steam generation and LPG and electrical power use in the ovens, conflicting with Prima’s Net Zero ambitions.

The solution must enable Prima Foods to:

1. Control the amount of steam delivered to each oven:
   – precise, independent regulation of steam release to each oven;
   – ability to adjust steam timing and duration per cooking cycle and product type.
2. Measure and monitor steam usage:
   – installation of metering to quantify steam delivered to each oven;
   – enable data driven optimisation and consistency;
   – ideally measure the moisture level in the oven at any given time.
3. Minimise steam loss to atmosphere:
   – improve steam venting control, valve control or system design to retain usable steam;
   – reduce unnecessary venting and generator over run.
4. Improve cooking consistency and reduce waste:
   – ensure both ovens achieve identical and repeatable heat and humidity (and that this can be measured);
   – data collection of temperature, humidity and flow rates would be a significant benefit if possible;
   – conditions dependent on required cooking cycle;
   – reduce cook loss, food waste and off-spec products.
5. Reduce energy consumption:
   – lower kerosene use in the steam generator (target 15%+ reduction from 120 litres/day to 100 litres/day);
   – lower electricity/LPG consumption in ovens.
6. Support increased production capacity:
   – enable reliable scale-up to an additional 1 million components per week.

Successful applicants will be given an opportunity to pitch to Prima Foods. The winning applicant, as selected by the company, will then be eligible to apply for a project that has grant funding request of up to £25,000 to kickstart the development of the proposed solution through a 3-month project. Selected solutions will be trialled by Prima Foods with potential for further adopting if trials are successful.

The solution has potential to be deployed across one site. However, a solution would have potential for deployment across other industry users.

The benefits package for a successful applicant may also include:

• support from Innovate UK Business Connect;
• support in the development of a prototype or pilot;
• technical support;
• invitation to attend or present at Innovate UK Business Connect events;
• a potential business collaboration;
• investor introductions (if investment is required);
• support if an Innovate or similar competitions are relevant.

• Challenge launch: 28 April 2026
• Deadline for applications: 9 June 2026
• Selection and notification of finalists: 10 – 13 July 2026
• Pitch day(s): 21 and 22 July 2026
• Confirm selected solution provider: 29 July 2026
• Submission to Innovation Funding Service (IFS): 5 August 2026
• Project length: projects much be completed in 3 months within the funding period.
• Start date: projects can start from 1 June 2026