THREE PROJECTS AWARDED ON THE THEME « SEA TO FARM »
Saint-Malo, April 2, 2026 – Groupe Roullier, a global expert in plant and animal nutrition, is announcing the winners of the 3rd edition of its Innovation Awards Roullier, an international competition designed to foster the emergence of innovative solutions serving sustainable and high-performance agriculture.
Launched in 2018, this program brings together scientists, academics, and entrepreneurs from around the world to collaborate on applied research and agronomic innovation.
Under the theme “Sea to Farm: Marine resources as sustainable and virtuous alternatives for agriculture,” the 2025–2026 edition highlights the potential of marine bioresources in addressing major agricultural challenges, at a time when food sovereignty and environmental transition have become global priorities.
Three awards recognizing innovation at every stage of development
Following a rigorous scientific and technical evaluation process by a panel of six international experts, three projects were selected for awards:
Exploration Award:
Winner: SEA4FEED, José Prates, Univ Lisbon _ Portugal
Project description: The project aims to optimize the growth conditions of pigment-rich microalgae in order to confirm their antioxidant and immunomodulatory potential, with benefits for growth, health, and the quality of products obtained from poultry trials.
The project has secured a research collaboration agreement with the Groupe Roullier worth up to €300,000, with the aim of accelerating its transition from the laboratory to the field, to accelerate its transition from laboratory stage to field application.
Scale Up Award:
Winner: MARFERT, Junio Costa, Verde Acqua _ Brazil
Project description: The project aims to scale up a validated prototype that converts fish residues into liquid fertilizers and micro‑encapsulated powders, optimize formulation stability, and move toward an industrial pilot.
The winning team will receive €50,000 in funding and tailored technical and industrial support to help scale up and industrialize the solution.
Young Talent Award :
Winner: BIOMAT-MAERL, Matilde Baruffaldi, UNIPD _ Italy
Project description: The project proposes a solution to cultivate maerl in tanks and open‑sea systems, supporting the restoration of maerl beds while integrating agricultural innovation with marine conservation.
The winner will receive a €10,000 grant along with a dedicated mentoring program to support their career development.
For Thomas Georgelin, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Roullier:
« The Innovation Awards Roullier embody our core belief: innovation emerges from the meeting of bold ideas and shared expertise. This year’s awardwinners demonstrate the diversity, creativity, and relevance of solutions derived from marine resources to address major agricultural challenges. We are proud to support them in turning their projects into concrete, fieldready solutions.»
Over 50 applications from 17 participating countries
Avec plus de 50 candidatures issues de 17 pays, l’appel à projets a suscité un intérêt remarquable, couvrant With more than 50 applications from 17 countries, the call for projects generated remarkable interest, covering all levels of technological maturity (TRL 1 to 8).
The submitted projects highlighted:
- an unprecedented diversity of marine bioresources,
- ambitious innovations in biostimulation, soil regeneration, plant nutrition, and animal feed,
- a strong focus on circular models that fully integrate sustainability challenges.
These results confirm the relevance of the approach initiated by Groupe Roullier in 1959: placing scientific exploration at the service of more resilient, loweremission and higherperforming agriculture.
Innovation Awards Roullier: the Group’s scientific incubator
Several proofs of concept emerging from the Innovation Awards Roullier have strengthened the Group’s R&D efforts. These include projects carried out with CNRS and the University of Rennes 1, which received the Plant Nutrition Innovation Award in 2020. Based on their approach modulating natural interactions between plants and the microorganisms present in their roots and surrounding soil, Groupe Roullier has developed a new solution that will soon expand its nitrogen nutrition portfolio.
Groupe Roullier also supported the work carried out by Laura Zanin, Agricultural Chemistry Researcher at the University of Udine (Italy), and a 2018 winner. Her research showed that optimizing the form and quantity of applied nitrogen significantly improves plant absorption efficiency, contributing directly to new innovations within Groupe Roullier.
About Groupe Roullier:
The Roullier Group is an independent, family-owned French industrial group that has specialised in plant and animal nutrition since 1959. With 109 production sites worldwide, the Group achieved a consolidated turnover of €2.8 billion in 2024, thanks to its 10,300 employees.