The FoodManufuture project will perform a Conceptual Design Study in order to provide the basis for decision making for a European Food Manufacturing Research Infrastructure. The Research Infrastructure will aim at boosting competitiveness and innovativeness of the food manufacturing sector through cutting-edge research, dedicated and involving knowledge transfer, and motivating education. The project will involve stakeholders from industries, academia, and public and private decision makers from the food sector and the production technologies sector in order to meet the needs of SMEs and large companies of both sectors in a cross-disciplinary approach, to provide a clear European dimension, and to create ownership of the content of the final Conceptual Design Report. The consortium is based on, but not restricted to, wide-spread networks of public and private stakeholders from the ETPs Food for Life and MANUFUTURE. Joining forces of the food sector and the manufacturing solutions sector, sharing, aligning, combining and defining challenges and solutions will be much more efficient than done separately, as has been the situation until now. In a bottom-up process the stakeholders will create cutting-edge visions for the sector regarding manufacturing technologies, food chain management, sustainability, business models, technology transfer and education. The visions will be analysed. Available solutions and gaps will be identified. Based on the identified solutions and gaps, models will be elaborated and validated. The final Conceptual Design Report will present the most promising models for the new research infrastructure, the technical and economic figures and propose optional funding solutions. The dissemination programme including the involvement of stakeholders at national and European level from the two sectors will promote that the final Conceptual Design Report will be awaited and that stakeholders will be motivated to implement it.