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The Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda (DACC) promoted, within the framework of the Annual Technology Transfer Plan (PATT), the Agri-food Innovation Mornings with the aim of learning about research and experimentation activities in the different production sectors on 15 June at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. Representatives of the sector and of the different Catalan agri-food clusters, such as Raimon Bagó, vice-president of the Food Service Cluster of Catalonia and general manager of Serhs Food, were present.
Within the framework of the Interreg Europe QUALIFY Project, a forum was held in which the latest trends in technological innovation with cases of applicability in the agri-food sector were presented and led to debate.
At the Cluster level, Raimon Bagó stressed that “the collective catering sector tends more and more to seek individual satisfaction. Each person has specific needs that must be analysed, measured and worked on”. At the same time, at the current time of the introduction of new products on the market such as vegetable protein or similar products in which the priority is to be healthy and sustainable, “it is necessary to combine the culture and customs of each person with the nutrition they require. Habits change, but it takes time to integrate these changes in a way that is attractive to the majority of the population. The other point to highlight is the improvement in food waste, not only from the point of view of reuse, but mainly in terms of prevention. Finally, he stressed that “in the field of sustainability, unlike retail, food service has the challenge of focusing on the activity, not only on the product. The question is to be able to assess the environmental impact of the food served in its set of ingredients and necessary processes”.
The Food Service Cluster is an ecosystem of 110 companies with an aggregate turnover of approximately €6,917M. Added to the evolution of the certifications achieved, such as the Catalonia Cluster programme, AEI of the Ministry of Industry and Gold Label at European Union level, 21 disruptive innovation projects have been carried out in the last two years with an investment of €3.50M in the areas of digitalisation, sustainability and nutrition and health. Many of them have been valued in the top positions in terms of technology and sectoral impact. A rich ecosystem, with open innovation and the necessary participation of 7 top-level research centres.
The event was attended by the main bodies that carry out research in a specific field, as well as representatives of professional organisations and companies from the sector (AECOC, FCAC, AFRUCAT, INNOVI, INNOVACC, the Catalan Fishermen’s Guild, FECIC and Mercabarna, among others). With the aim of connecting with leading entities in advanced technologies with which to carry out R&D&I projects. And all this with the aim of providing tools, boosting capacities and improving the competitiveness of these SMEs within a local, national and international environment.
