It is about creating a platform to integrate the excess seasonal fish catching of the primary producer, km.0, directly for the social and commercial restaurateur. There is a project to develop a virtual market, a supply and demand forecasting platform based on variables and AI technology and Big Data.

The Lonja de Futuros Operative Group concludes with challenges, opportunities, and future projects: sardine pate, blue crab extract, shrimp powder, anchovy hummus and fish stock from Roses.

It is a project promoted by the Foodservice Cluster of Catalonia and RADI, Grup Arrusé, Cofradía de la Escala, IRTA and SERHS Food participate. Funded by EAFRD and DARP.

A solid group of companies coordinated by the Food service Cluster

On October 30, the Lonja de Futuros operating group, made up of companies from different fields of activity, complementary to each other, ended. RADI (food research and development of ingredients, especially powders), Grupo Arrusé (chain of Mediterranean cuisine restaurants), Cofradía de la Escala (pioneer throughout the State in intranet auctions), IRTA (Research Institute of the Government of Catalonia, attached to the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food), and SERHS Food (comprehensive food service for communities).

The main idea is to increase the participation and orientation towards the market of entities normally closed and circumscribed to the physical market of La Lonja, thus reaching an entire value chain such as that of Social and Commercial Catering thanks to the coordination and leadership of the foodservice Cluster of Catalonia. In addition, the project can continue to be developed in other areas: Promotion of technologies to optimize purchase and sale prices by seasonally adjusting the offer.

There are fundamental aspects of the project such as the integration of different markets to bring together and consolidate a global offer in a single marketplace, generate marketing opportunities for new products and services, as well as the promotion of the circular economy in the food sector.

The creation of this operating group, together with the diagnoses carried out and the proposed project ideas generated, should allow the integration of the fish supply in the collective and commercial catering directly from the primary producer, through a portfolio of ideas and projects applicable to the sector .

SERHS Food has an important dietetics department that follows the precepts of the Mediterranean diet when preparing menus, as well as the recommendations of the Catalan Public Health Agency, among other entities. The objective is to have balanced, healthy, sustainable menus designed for each type of user, offering the maximum guarantee of food safety.

The final result of the creation of the operating group has allowed:

• Improve knowledge of the sector by identifying good practices.
• Promote the identification of innovative projects and advanced solutions applicable to the Food Services sector using innovative technologies that allow promoting innovation projects in information management (Food Date and I.A.).
• Promote the creation of the local by-products that avoid food waste and enhance sustainability.
• The improvement of environmental management and performance.
• Reduction of waste, carbon footprints and reduction of food waste creating new by-products for the food industry.

Main challenges and opportunities identified:

• Adapt the objectives of the Task Force to the Covid crisis. Opportunities to further improve the hygiene and food safety of products.
• Difficulties to connect producer with transformer. Opportunity to propose a virtual fish market project through a program for the collection and analysis of data from Catalan fish markets in real time.
• Lack of communication between boxes and technological backwardness. Promote an operating group that works to integrate Catalan markets into a community that maintains constant communication and adapts to technological developments that allow a better quality of service and product and benefits both the producer and the consumer.
• Difficulties to include the primary sector in the foodservice value chain. Improve communication with this sector and plan to hold conferences dedicated to them to attract them and demonstrate how the reality of the foodservice value chain can be promoted if we incorporate them and we all benefit.

Summary list of identified projects:

The creation of a virtual platform for forecasting the supply with data averages. A market platform that matches supply with demand based on the variables that are defined can buy fish at current prices or at future prices.

A pilot test with blue crab extract was planned. As of November 9, IRTA will have a Pulse Combustion Dryer (device to dry any type of pasta) in its facilities, in which, due to the blue crab theme, it could go very well. It is a device that requires a minimum of 30 kilograms to produce the powder. The amount of powder varies depending on the amount of water in the product.

An operating group will be defined that works to integrate the Catalan markets into a community that maintains constant communication and adapts to technological innovations that allow better quality of service and product and benefits both the producer and the consumer.

A project will be promoted to create a blue crab meat extraction machinery replicating models such as those from Canada and Norway to make Catalonia a benchmark in this process. And, at the same time, that it can be used to reduce the carbon footprint (CO2).