FATE – Food Agri Tech Europe CEO Side Chats
Why are we where we are?
Last Thursday I was in Madrid at the ICEX headquarters. FATE, the first association of companies in the Food and Agritech Tech sector in Spain and Europe, which convened its partners to the CEOs Site Chat of FATEto celebrate its first year of life. It was a forum that reminded me why we are where we are; to solve problems in the agri-food sector and, together, to collaborate and promote innovation.
After the institutional opening by Maria Naranjo (ICEX), the President of the organization Roselyne Chane, with her entrepreneurial and inclusive spirit, invited all partners to collaborate and participate.
The day began to discuss the “winter investment” in food tech, with a diagnosis of the situation of investments in the sector that had dropped significantly in 2022, 2023, due to the high numbers of investments in the years 2021, post covid, with significant numbers in delivery and plant based.
Ruben Hidalgo, Director of Open Innovation at Capsa Ventures, posed the question of what will be the new wave, after delivery and after plant based? He revealed that Capsa Ventures is researching functional food, and supplementation focused on vital health and longevity. In fact, they have created a €50m fund for inno-health.
Juan Aguirano, Head of Sustainability of the multinational Kerry, which has been in Spain for only 5 years but already has a 6-figure turnover, sums up his company’s objective in 2 words: Sustainable Nutrition. And I certainly believe that there is a lot of vision and truth in this. Summarized to the most functional, that it is sustainable to nourish us.
But what does the market want? What do consumers in Spain value?
Sergio Román from Alcampo sums it up: you want ease, responsibility, animal welfare, you want it all and at the best price.
Maruxa Quiroga of Tastelab says “Taste“. One thing is that you buy, try and another thing is the repurchase, which happens in 97% because you like the taste.
Amandio Santos, president of Portugal Foods, put into words the reality of innovation that works for a mainstream public: today we all buy soup at the supermarket. A traditional dish of a lifetime, but available in high quality. It is not the disruptive innovation, but the one that gives us time, time to be foodies and eat well at home. Because we increasingly like to eat better at home and this is an important change, according to Santos.
To close the day, came the Food Tech Santa, personified by Vanessa Martinez, CEO of Carinsa, to discuss desires for improvements in the food system and people’s health.
I would like to highlight two issues that seem fundamental to me – generational replacement in agriculture, where there is a shortage of 1M workers to maintain productivity, in addition to the impact of climate change.
Microbiota health, gut health and specific probiotics for different needs, such as diabetes, were also discussed.
I personally see metabolic health, and the conversation about cellular health – the metabolism of converting energy from food into vital energy that passes through healthy cells with intact mitochondria –as one of the relevant topics of 2025.
stay tuned…
We are going Food Scouting!
