Under the Professor Jacques Nicolas' leadership, the team is composed of a university lecturer, four associate lecturers, six engineers, two technicians, three assistants and a secretary. We welcome many trainees of various study levels for short or long term periods. Our equipment contains analytical and rheological devices.

The food industry is the first industry in France: an annual growth rate of 1.5%, a value-added percentage of 3.1% and a balance of foreign exchanges of around 8 billions Euros. However, the number of managers is lower than in the other industries (133 000 against 338 000). This industry's main areas are farming production and industrial transformation.

Both areas depend on each other, even though their functioning modalities are still distinct from one another. The growth prospect relies on three priorities:

• The satisfaction of the consumer's nutritional needs
• The compliance according to national or international regulations and laws
• The food safety and the consumer's health

Moreover, the increasing use of the farming products in non-alimentary industries has allowed to resolve the overproduction problem. These industries are usefully coupled with the more "classical" ones to form what is called the agro-industries.