The Antoni Gaudí Auditorium hosted the unveiling of Hub Foodtech & Nutrition, one of the most ambitious projects Reus Town Council is submitting for EU Next Generation European Funds. It is led by the Council through municipal firm REDESSA, Tarragona Provincial Council, Rovira i Virgili University, the Eurecat technology centre and the private sector, represented by the Southern Catalonia ICT Cluster and local food businesses.
Hub Foodtech & Nutrition is a public-private partnership designed to build a powerhouse ecosystem for nutrition innovation which fosters dynamics between the strategic technology and food sectors in southern Catalonia to meet present and future challenges and support post-pandemic recovery and economic and social transformation. “This project steps up the town’s historic commitment to the food industry,” argued Carles Pellicer, Reus’s mayor. “It involves major investment in innovation and technology coupled with a clear intention to transfer knowledge to the local production network which helps to drive economic recovery.”
Hub Foodtech & Nutrition is one of the 27 flagship projects backed by the Catalan Government as part of its Urban Tech Hubs, specifically in the nutrition segment. “Hub Foodtech & Nutrition is an example of what can be done when stakeholders join forces to achieve a shared goal,” commented Matilde Villarroya, Secretary for Economic Affairs and European Funds in the Catalan Government. “European funds are a window of opportunity for transformation projects. In particular, the Agri-Food Strategic Project for Recovery and Economic Transformation, which envisages €1 billion in investment, has the potential to be a major driver for the sector. Hence at the Catalan Government we are asking to share in leading this Strategic Project to make sure that these funds really do make a difference and get to tangible projects such as Hub Foodtech & Nutrition which has been announced today.”
“The food and nutrition sector is evolving and digital technologies are a lever to address challenges such as the industry’s impact on climate change and its decarbonisation, changes in consumer habits and increasingly painstaking traceability,” said David Ferrer, Secretary for Digital Policies, in his intervention. “Tapping the frontier digital technologies we are pushing at the Ministry of the Vice-Presidency through strategies and initiatives tied to Hub Foodtech & Nutrition will be critical to fully harness their impact and put in place public-private partnerships for digital transformation.”
A powerhouse project connecting two strategic sectors involving €49 million in investment
The Hub connects two strategic private sector industries in the region: technology, where its ICT cluster features 60 businesses and organisations, 2,000 workers and a turnover of more than €1 billion, and nutrition and food consisting of over 100 firms in the Tarragona region employing more than 6,000 workers and with annual turnover standing at €2.5 billion.
The Hub has already begun to roll out some of the tools to drive the ecosystem. That’s because “southern Catalonia is the setting for the growth of businesses and start-ups in the two economic sectors which come together in the Hub and which in conjunction with the nutrition research conducted in the region will meet some of the major challenges facing the food industry across all areas of its value chain,” pointed out Teresa Pallarès, CEO of REDESSA and Cabinet Officer for Economy, Knowledge and Housing at Reus Town Council. “We’re talking about technological solutions in fields such as food safety, efficient and sustainable production, new foods, personalised nutrition and traceability which generate new jobs to attract and retain talent and make companies more competitive.”
In terms of nutrition research, the Hub has identified key strands which the region is working on in major projects: healthy ageing, personalised nutrition and efficient and sustainable production.
“Eurecat is part of this ecosystem as a world leader in innovation and technology transfer in nutrition and health and as an expert in the challenges and demands of the agri-food industry and the needs of society,” argued Xavier López, Eurecat’s Chief Operating and Corporate Officer. “These capabilities and our systematic cooperation with other partners in the ecosystem will enable us to deliver cutting-edge solutions which will be transferred to the sector or lay the foundations for new businesses or projects.”
The project’s nerve centre is the Hub building in the facilities the URV has provided to Eurecat on the Bellissens Campus, which in the near future are also expected to house the Faculty of Medicine and the Bachelor’s Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics. María José Figueras, the URV’s Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the Hub Foodtech & Nutrition initiative and said she was pleased that “generating nutrition expertise at the URV has enabled our institution and the Eurecat technology centre to transfer knowledge.”
Hub Foodtech & Nutrition is a research cluster where businesses, research, universities and government undertake innovative projects to attract investment and generate new business models by fostering start-ups and new avenues for growth which will have an impact on the region’s economic and social development. “In its role as the driving force of the territory, the Provincial Council supports all projects which, like the one featured today, seek to innovate and transform the local and county business community to bring it national potential,” commented Noemí Llauradó, leader of Tarragona Provincial Council.
Hub Foodtech & Nutrition seeks technological solutions tailored to food businesses through digitalisation by unlocking tools such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, 3D printing, Internet of Things and drones. “The companies involved in the ICT Cluster will strive to deliver the technological solutions which will bring projects and pilot schemes to fruition and thereby achieve fresh success stories in the industry as part of the new Hub Foodtech & Nutrition in southern Catalonia,” said Pablo Mazón, chair of the TICSUD Cluster.
Hub Foodtech & Nutrition has earmarked €49 million for investment in promoting projects which will unleash the ecosystem’s growth and generate fresh dynamics among the stakeholders involved. Architectural and development work is also scheduled for the Hub Campus, which runs from the URV’s Bellissens Campus to the Reus Tecnoparc Technology and Innovation Park. These measures will make the Hub’s buildings more energy-efficient and sustainable, ramp up their digitalisation and invest in the research and prototyping equipment needed to roll out food technologies projects.
