At this year’s Synergy Days in Rotterdam, OptiFish co-organised two workshops together with Food Data Quest and DigiAgriFood. Bringing together actors from the agri-food and fisheries sectors, the sessions explored two significant questions for the future of Europe’s food systems:
- How do we build trusted data ecosystems across sectors?
- How do we turn complex supply-chain data into meaningful stories for consumers?
Workshop 1 | Trust & Trace: Data Governance for Transparent Food Chains
This session focused on designing a data governance and monitoring framework that can support trust, transparency, and regulatory alignment across the food and fisheries sectors, including future requirements under the Digital Product Passport (DPP). Participants confronted one of the sector’s biggest challenges: how to share data across diverse actors without reinforcing existing power imbalances.
Highlights of the discussion
Participants repeatedly returned to one central truth: trust cannot exist without clarity. The group reflected on the importance of clearly defining who owns what data and who has the right to access it. Without this shared understanding, no governance model, centralised or decentralised, can succeed.
A lively debate unfolded around the limits of monitoring. Several participants noted that trying to track everything across the food system is both unrealistic and counterproductive. The challenge, they argued, is to identify what information genuinely matters for transparency and focus efforts there.
Another strong theme emerged around power dynamics. Many observed that today’s food and fisheries sectors operate within deeply unequal structures, and that any credible data governance framework must redistribute responsibility more fairly among actors of all sizes.
Although technology was acknowledged as a powerful enabler, the room agreed that governance must lead the way. Tools like blockchain may strengthen trust, but the real strategic choice lies in how responsibility is shared, how decisions are made, and how decentralisation can contribute to long-term resilience.
Workshop 2 | From Farm2Fork to Sea2Fork: Empowering Consumers through Data
The second workshop explored how AI, data visualisation, and digital storytelling can help consumers navigate increasingly complex food chains. The session highlighted the growing demand for clear, accessible traceability and the need to design communication tools that work for both producers and consumers.
Highlights of the discussion
The conversation centred on the relationship between information, choice, and trust. Participants reflected on how consumers can only make good decisions when they are actually shown clear, relevant data that helps them understand the story behind their food. Without that, even the most advanced traceability systems risk becoming invisible.
There was a strong call for brands and producers to embrace a more educational role. Several contributors stressed that trust is built not only through products but through the willingness to explain, share, and guide. When companies help consumers navigate complexity, transparency becomes meaningful.
The workshop also emphasised that traceability must be explainable. Complex datasets are not enough; information must be communicated in ways that are intuitive and easy to grasp. Otherwise, the value of traceability gets lost before it reaches the consumer.
Finally, participants explored the idea that power often sits with those who shape the narrative. To build fairer, more inclusive food systems, the storytelling around traceability must ensure that all actors, from small producers to consumers, have the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from the information shared.
Why these workshops matter for OptiFish
Both workshops reinforced OptiFish’s mission: to create smarter, more transparent, and more inclusive data ecosystems for fisheries and the wider food chain.
The discussions highlighted the need for:
- Fair governance structures that protect smaller actors
- Practical tools that help consumers navigate the food system
- Transparent data flows that are both technically robust and socially equitable
As we continue developing solutions for data-driven fisheries management, the insights from Synergy Days 2025 will guide our efforts to build systems that are not only technologically advanced but also trusted, fair, and understandable.
Looking Ahead: Opportunities for future synergies
The workshops also opened the door to deeper collaboration between OptiFish, Food Data Quest, and DigiAgriFood. Participants identified several promising areas where joint action could accelerate progress across the agri-food and fisheries sectors.
On the governance side, the three initiatives expressed interest in aligning their data governance frameworks to ensure consistent approaches to data rights, interoperability, and traceability. This includes co-developing shared guidelines for decentralised data architectures that can feed into Digital Product Passport (DPP) implementation, as well as launching a joint exploration of cost–benefit scenarios for blockchain-enabled traceability across agri-food and fisheries sub-sectors. Coordinating stakeholder engagement efforts was also recognised as essential for addressing power imbalances and building cross-sector trust.
In parallel, there is strong potential to harmonise consumer-facing data models and storytelling tools. By leveraging the broader Data4Food2030 network, the three projects aim to develop shared guidelines on visualisation, messaging, and the responsible use of AI in consumer communication. A joint ambition emerged to co-create pilot demonstrations showing how traceability data can be translated into simple, meaningful narratives across point-of-sale environments, online platforms, and packaging.
Together, these synergies offer a concrete pathway toward more connected, transparent, and consumer-centric food and fisheries systems, setting the stage for further collaboration beyond Synergy Days 2025.
Words and images by the reframe.food team.