Nomad Foods’ Future Foods Lab calls on startups to redefine home cooking with its second culinary challenge

• The new Culinary Creativity Challenge seeks market-ready solutions that empower consumers to build, customise, save time, and transform a basic meal into a dish that feels like their own.
• Builds on the company’s venture clienting initiative, in partnership with global innovation network, Innoget, where startups stand to benefit from a paying customer relationship with Nomad Foods and access to a test-and-learn environment across Europe.

WOKING, England – 11 March, 2026 – Nomad Foods, Europe’s leading frozen food company and owner of brands including Birds Eye, Ledo, iglo, Findus and Frikom, has today announced the launch of its second Future Foods Lab challenge - the Culinary Creativity Challenge.

The latest challenge builds on the company’s venture clienting initiative – Future Foods Lab – in partnership with global innovation network, Innoget, unveiled in June 2025, and calls for practical innovations that help people cook tasty, exciting meals at home with less effort.

In particular, this challenge aims to find:

• Innovative frozen meal ideas that explore world flavours and come in bite-size formats or can form a part of meal kits
• Meal components such as sauces, bases, and toppings that allow consumers to customise their meals at home
• Useful kitchen solutions such as packaging or other tools that make cooking faster or easier

Carly Arnold, Chief RDQ Officer at Nomad Foods, said: “Food is one of the most personal forms of self‑expression. For the Culinary Creativity Challenge, we’re looking for partners who put the consumer at the centre of every bite. This challenge is about empowering individuals to get creative in the kitchen and could include innovation in new frozen meals, global flavours, small formats, sauces and bases that allow easy customisation, or smart ideas that cut cooking time and make the experience more enjoyable. I’m really excited to see what ideas are submitted through our Future Foods Lab.”

Nomad Foods’ Future Foods Lab identifies startups with proven delivery, owned IP, and the ability to scale rapidly across Europe. Applicants should already have a working product or prototype, not just a concept. The initiative provides a pathway for early‑stage partners to test, validate, and commercialise their ideas within Nomad Foods’ extensive footprint.

Open to startups looking to scale their functional products or services, the Future Foods Lab offers:

• A paying customer relationship with Nomad Foods
• Access to a European test-and-learn environment with real-world validation
• Deep industry immersion in frozen food manufacturing and global supply chains
• Mentorship from experts across R&D, marketing, procurement, and more
• Opportunities for co-branding, commercial scaling, and long-term partnerships

The Culinary Creativity Challenge follows the successful conclusion of Nomad Foods’ debut Future Foods Lab challenge, focused on solutions in functional nutrition. The winners of the first challenge are set to be announced at the end of April 2026.

The Nomad Foods Future Foods Lab Culinary Creativity Challenge is now open for applications with a deadline for submissions by 24 May, 2026. Interested startups can find out more information and apply at https://futurefoodslab.com/.

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Nomad Foods Media Contact
Oliver Thomas
Head of Corporate Affairs
oliver.thomas@nomadfoods.com
+44 7568 108744

About Nomad Foods
Nomad Foods (NYSE: NOMD) is Europe's leading frozen foods company. The company's portfolio of iconic brands, which includes Birds Eye, Findus, iglo, Ledo and Frikom, have been a part of consumers' meals for generations, standing for great tasting food that is convenient, high quality and nutritious. Nomad Foods is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Additional information may be found at www.nomadfoods.com.

About Innoget
Innoget is a premier Boutique for Corporate Innovation de-risking the journey to growth. With 20+ years expertise and a network of 2M+ innovators, we lead the Build-Partner-Invest journey. We leverage Venture Clienting and AI-enhanced scouting to help Fortune 500s validate and scale solutions at startup speed. Find more at www.innoget.co