Food 4 Future 2022, a showcase for the foodtech industry
Between 17 and 19 May, Food 4 Future-Expo Foodtech took place, an event that has established itself as the benchmark technology forum for the food and beverage industry, which was attended by our sales director, Rafael Suárez.
Under the slogan “The Foodtech Revolution”, the forum featured an extensive and interesting parallel programme of activities, including the Food 4 Future World Summit 2022 congress, the FoodTech Startup Forum and a series of presentations and papers on the theme of sustainability.
On 18 May, our sales director, Rafael Suárez, travelled to Bilbao to attend the second edition of Food 4 Future-Expo Foodtech and witness the latest innovations and technological solutions that are transforming the food and beverage industry.
Food 4 Future has thus consolidated its position as the international benchmark technology forum for the food and beverage industry, leading innovation in the sector in all its segments: meat, beverages, fisheries, dairy, fruit and vegetable, cereals, preserves and oil.
The figures speak for themselves: a total of 7,217 visitors from more than 25 countries, more than 250 exhibitor companies and an impact of more than 14 million euros for the city of Bilbao.
In addition, in order to strengthen relationships and promote a digital and sustainable transformation of the agri-food industry, the Netherlands has been the guest country during this second edition of the event, in recognition of its leadership in food system transformation.
A full networking agenda
Within the framework of the event, Food 4 Future World Summit 2022 took place, the largest European congress on foodtech innovation, which analysed industry priorities such as the new methods applied by the food industry in each of its categories, the establishment of plant-based products and the change in consumption factors, the relationship between health and food, the concern for sustainability and the reduction of food waste, and the transformation lever that technology represents to convert these challenges into business opportunities.
In addition, more than 200 entrepreneurial projects took part in the FoodTech Startup Forum, where startups from Agrotech, Industry 4.0, Automation, Refrigeration and Climate, Food Processing, Food Packaging, and Food Science took part; and in Get in the Ring Bilbao, an initiative to promote emerging talent and learn about the scalability of proposals, which for the first time has been organised in the Basque Country by the Get in the Ring organisation and ICEX.
Under the slogan “The Foodtech Revolution”, the event featured a parallel programme of conferences and round tables in which sustainability was one of the central themes. Highlights included “Making Agriculture Sustainable and Profitable” and “Focusing on Plant-Based Products (II)”, which our commercial director, Rafael Suárez, had the opportunity to attend during his time at the fair.
Our visit to the fair
Food 4 Future-Expo Foodtech has the support, among other entities, of the Food for Life Spain platform and the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Industries (FIAB). Entities of which we are active partners and collaborators, and which we were able to greet personally at their corporate stand.
In addition, Rafael Suárez had the opportunity to discuss with some customers and regular collaborators, new calls for aid for innovation in the agri-food sector. Such is the case of the aid for the agri-food PERTE pending publication, the topics of the Science and Innovation Missions Programme of the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) for the 2022 call or some new lines of financing that ENISA has in its portfolio and which are pending approval by the Council of Ministers.
