News February and March 2023
The first quarter of 2023 comes to an end with key events for the agri-food sector on an international level and the celebration of World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, which we have joined.
In addition, important projects were concluded for our two business units, Innovation Consulting and Engineering, such as the MaízSostenible innovation project and the expansion of the Monbake plant in Noblejas (Toledo) respectively.
COTEC 2022 Report: analysis of the R&D situation in Spain
For yet another year, the COTEC Foundation has presented its annual report on R&D activity in Spain which, on this occasion, includes data for the year 2021. This is an analysis that reflects a growth of 9.5% in Spanish investment in R&D&I in 2021, reaching the highest year-on-year growth figure since 2008. This figure translates into a total investment of 17,249 million euros (1,481 million more than the previous year), according to the latest figures published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Looking at Europe, the ratio of R&D investment to GDP fell from 2.31% to 2.27%, due to strong GDP growth (7.89%). Both R&D investment and nominal GDP grew more in Spain last year than in Europe, so the gap between the two territories in the R&D over GDP variable narrowed for the second consecutive year to 0.84 percentage points, compared to 0.90 in 2020. However, despite the narrowing of the gap in the last two years, we are still far from the R&D investment levels of our European neighbours.
Although at different rates, the growth in R&D investment in 2021 has been distributed throughout Spain, with the greatest increase in Castile-La Mancha (30 %), Extremadura (18.9 %), the Basque Country (14 %), Aragon (13.9 %), Catalonia (12.7 %) and Cantabria (10.9 %), while the lowest growth was recorded in La Rioja (3 %).
From the perspective of the sector of activity, the report collects data on how R&D investment has evolved in 30 different sectors, showing 13 that have already surpassed pre-financial crisis investment levels and 17 that have not yet done so. Specifically, the “Food and Beverage” sector is in seventh position in the ranking with a growth of 14% compared to 2008.
Celebrating World Engineering Day
A reduction in energy consumption together with the development of other energy saving policies are essential factors not only to increase the sustainability and competitiveness of companies, but also to meet the European standards that are being imposed.
For this reason, as a company that has specialised for over 25 years in the engineering sector, when we develop a project for a new industrial or logistics plant, as well as extensions or improvements to existing plants, we not only pay attention to high safety standards, but also to technological solutions that comply with environmental principles, always meeting the requirements of our clients.
Our Energy Study, a service linked to Engineering, consists of an analysis of the needs of the complex in order to offer the most appropriate technical solutions and draw up an energy efficiency report.
In addition, artica+i offers an Innovative Investment Support service to find the financial channels that best suit the proposed package of measures. This support can take the form of subsidies, credits, tax incentives, third-party investment or power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Agri-food sector events in March 2023
The agri-food industry has been present at key international events and fairs related to the meat, wine, hospitality and animal production sectors.
HOSPITALITY INNOVATION PLANET, Horeca Professional Expo
- Madrid, Spain
- 6-8 March 2023
- https://www.expohip.com/
MEAT ATTRACTION 2023, Meat industry trade fair
- Madrid, Spain
- 6 to 8 March 2023
- https://www.ifema.es/meat-attraction
WORLD OLIVE OIL EXHIBITION, International Trade Fair for Olive Oil Professionals
- Madrid, Spain
- 7 to 8 March 2023
- https://oliveoilexhibition.com/
NUTRACEUTICALS EUROPE – SUMMIT & EXPO
- Barcelona, Spain
- 8-9 March 2023
- https://www.nutraceuticalseurope.com/
PROWEIN 2023 Trade Fair
- Düsseldorf, Germany
- 19 to 21 March 2023
- https://www.messedusseldorf.es/prowein/
IFE 2023 – International Food & Drink Exhibition
- London, United Kingdom
- 20 to 22 March 2023
- ife.co.uk
GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEMS
- Barcelona, España
- 21-22 March 2023
- https://www.triptolemos.org/event/cumbre-sistemas-alimentarios-global-es/
FIGAN, FIMA GANADERA 2023
- Zaragoza, Spain
- 28 to 31 March 2023
- https://www.feriazaragoza.es/figan-2023
IBEROVINAC
- Almendralejo (Badajoz), Spain
- 29 to 31 March 2023
- https://www.iberovinac.es/
MaízSostenible ends with our support as technical office and communication agent
The MaízSostenible task force has concluded with a significant contribution to improving the environmental sustainability and profitability of maize cultivation through the application of a range of technologies and digital tools.
The trials have been carried out over two crop years, 2021 and 2022, and involved a number of commercial maize farms with a geographically representative distribution across the whole territory. In each of these farms, two experimental areas were established, a control area, where conventional farming practices were used, and an optimisation area, where precision farming techniques were applied. Among the results, key elements stand out:
1) From now on, the maize sector has a free public protocol for the implementation of precision farming.
2) The crop can be cultivated more efficiently from a sustainability point of view without reducing yields.
3) On the farms in this project, precision farming has helped to quantify in detail and reduce CO2 emissions compared to conventional farming methods.
The MaízSostenible operational group consortium has relied on our Innovative Investment Grants team to support the monitoring and technical-economic justification of the project. In addition, as a complement to these technical office tasks of the project, our Innovation Communication area has designed and developed a communication strategy to publicise the project.
For its implementation, this operational group has received a grant of €532,579.64, 80% co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development of the EU and 20% by the MAPA through the D.G Rural Development, Innovation and Agri-Food Training, in the framework of the National Programme for Rural Development 2014-2020.
We collaborate in the new automated platform of the Monbake Group
The Monbake business group, the third largest national operator in the frozen dough sector, is finishing off the final details of the project to expand its robotised logistics platform in the municipality of Noblejas (Toledo) with the help of our Engineering team, which has been in charge of the design and project management, as well as the management of suppliers and different administrative procedures derived from the project.
The complex will open its doors in the second half of 2023 and will have a built surface area of 7,075 m2 and 11 loading and unloading docks. In terms of capacity, this will rise to 23,000 total pallets for frozen products, with the entry into operation of 11,500 new spaces.
Managed by Monbake’s own personnel, the Noblejas logistics centre centralises all the links in the supply chain, from the moment the product leaves the production lines until it reaches the customer. There, the group has a conventional racking chamber, where order preparation, picking, re-labelling and special handling are carried out, all by means of automatic order preparation systems based on Pick to Voice. With regard to transport, goods are shipped from the La Mancha facility throughout Spain, including the Canary Islands and export customers, both to the platforms of large distributors and customers and to some of their secondary warehouses.
