A sustainable Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) requires collaboration among all actors, which nowadays is facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICT). However, not all SFSC stakeholders network with others in this way, and it is not clear what will draw them to ICT interaction. A simple, user-friendly website, the SMARTCHAIN Innovation Platform, evolving since March 2019, may facilitate interaction and cooperation among SFSC stakeholders. This article presents the Platform's development and evaluates its efficacy and impact by analysing data from Google Analytics (GA) and other sources. Primary Platform features promote communication and information sharing: these are the 1) Innovation Hubs in 9 European countries, 2) Inventories including 150 SFSC innovations and 50 SFSC initiatives, 3) Resources databases of Publications and Weblinks, and 4) Training section. GA showed that visitors to the Platform increased slowly in the 16 months since its start, and the number of page views increased with the amount of time on the Platform. The most visited page of the Platform was the information-providing Innovation Inventory. Most Platform users were in partner countries of the SMARTCHAIN project, but not all Innovation Hubs had high numbers of users. Most users arrived at the Platform by direct link, but LinkedIn was the most important originating social network. Taken together, these data suggest growth potential for an easy-to-use website that provides useful and up-to-date information but little inclination for SFSC stakeholders to use an online Platform for communication.

The food & drink (F&D) sector in Europe ranks low in innovation and the European F&D industry has been losing importance in the global market. The food professionals, i.e., food scientists and technologists (FSTs), may not be meeting the varied demands of the sector. Here, we identify education, experience and skills of current FSTs and compare  geographic regions and employment areas. Between 2009 and 2012, 287 questionnaires representing over 4000 FSTs were collected from employers in 16 countries. Analyses showed that more than 80% of FSTs have a university degree; but only in Industry in the Central European region are most degrees in food science/technology. More than half of FSTs, and almost 60% in the South, have less than 10 years’ experience. The most common FST job title is Quality Manager, but with several variations based on region and employment area. Among skills, the most common is Communicating; found in over 90% of FSTs in all regions and employment areas. Food Safety is the most common of the food sector-specific skills, present in more than 75% of FSTs, yet there are differences in food sector skills based on employment area. Overall, these data suggest similarities among currently employed food professionals throughout Europe; they are young and highly educated, but also differences, especially in their food sector-specific skills. An understanding of the current FST should contribute to the improvement of FST training and thus benefit the European food sector.