News from july 2022
The following is a summary of the main news that July has left us in our blog. A month in which we have shared with you the inauguration of the new Pizza Hut dough production plant in Querátaro (Mexico), which has been directed and executed by our engineering team.
In addition, Interreg Euro-MED has announced the opening of its second call for proposals, which will run until October 2022. We encourage you to rely on our experts in the management of international R&D&I projects for the submission of your applications to this type of calls.
Pizza Hut’s new dough production plant in Querátaro
Food Delivery Brands, operator of the Pizza Hut pizzeria chain, has inaugurated its new frozen dough production plant in Querétaro (Mexico) with an investment of 7.5 million dollars.
Our colleagues in the Engineering area have been in charge of the execution of the project and the project management, as well as the management of suppliers, to build this new 7,000 square metre plant which will produce 14 million kilos of dough, equivalent to 31 million pizzas, and which is also prepared to double this production capacity in the event of future growth scenarios.
In addition to the magnitude of the project, there is “the challenge of managing the equipment and the execution deadlines with a distance of more than 9,000 kilometres and a time difference of 7 hours“, according to our deputy director of Engineering and project manager, Luis Huete.
The new space built to European standards and oriented towards the US market, includes a dough production area, a storage area for frozen, refrigerated and dry products, packaging, packing and labelling machines, as well as a platform for raw materials and finished product output. All of this is equipped with the most innovative technologies such as IQF (Individual Quick Freezing), a procedure that guarantees that the product, once defrosted, retains the texture, nutritional value and flavour of the fresh product, as well as not requiring chemicals for its preservation and ensuring maximum hygienic quality. Added to this is the fact that the plant “has a refrigeration system that uses CO2 as a natural, environmentally friendly refrigerant“, as Luis Huete tells us.
Second Interreg Euro-MED call for proposals open
From 27 June to 27 October 2022 at 13:00 (Brussels time), the second call for proposals under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme will remain open. This initiative supports cooperation projects related to climate change and the environment in the Mediterranean area.
The programme, which has a budget of 294 million for the period 2021-2027, brings together partners from 69 regions in 14 countries on the northern shore of the Mediterranean with a common goal: a climate-neutral and resilient society.
Interreg Euro-MED thus provides funding for projects in line with the priorities and specific objectives set by the European Commission. Specifically, four missions have been identified that frame the objectives of the projects supported by the Programme: “Sustainable and Innovative Economy”, “Natural Heritage”, “Livable Green Spaces” and “Sustainable Tourism”.
Of the numerous funding priorities and specific objectives proposed by the European Commission for the period 2021-2027, Interreg Euro-MED has selected the following three as priorities: “A Smarter Mediterranean”, “A Greener Mediterranean” and “Mediterranean Governance”. Thus, the currently open call is addressed to thematic projects focusing on the first two priorities of the Programme and their specific objectives.
In addition, this second call focuses on three types of projects:
- Study Projects: carry out analyses to better address a thematic issue and open the door to the development of new instruments, policies, strategies and action plans.
- Test Projects: test common instruments, policies, strategies and action plans already developed to validate concrete solutions to be transferred.
- Transfer Projects: optimise and share the validated common tools, policies, strategies and action plans for adoption by stakeholders.
Initiatives presented as Study Projects must have a maximum budget of €600,000 and a total execution period of 27 months. In the case of Test Projects, these will be initiatives with budgets of no more than €3M and an execution period of 33 months. Finally, the initiatives framed as Transfer Projects will have a budget limitation of €1M and 27 months for their execution. In all cases, the start date of the proposed activities must be 1 May 2023.
The Programme’s contribution to the approved projects will be in the form of a grant from European funds (80%). The remaining 20% will have to be covered by each partner with its own funds or other national grants.
From the Innovation Consultancy area, our International Project Finance team has more than 10 years of experience in the management of international R&D&I grants in cooperation very similar to Interreg Euro-MED Programme. Such is the case of the Interreg Sudoe Programme, which supports regional development in Southwest Europe, financing transnational projects through the ERDF Fund and whose next call is expected during the last quarter of this year 2022.
