The strategic partnership between the University of Lleida (UdL) and the Eurecat technology centre to foster food science and technology research and knowledge transfer to agri-food businesses has been extended with the addition of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), thereby enhancing cooperation channels to unlock innovation in this industry.

The partnership agreement was signed by Olga Martín, Vice-Rector for Knowledge Transfer at UdL; Rosa Maria Sebastián, Vice-Rector for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship at the UAB; and Xavier López, Eurecat’s Chief Operating and Corporate Officer. It will lead to greater capabilities at the joint Food Science and Technology R&D and Innovation Platform set up as part of the strategic alliance kicked off in 2017 by the University of Lleida and Eurecat.

The agreement, which runs initially for three years and can be extended for successive periods lasting the same length of time, stipulates that the University of Lleida, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Eurecat will pool their food science and technology R&D and innovation strands and work together through their human resources and scientific and technological facilities.

This partnership will encompass the University of Lleida’s food science and technology scientific services and pilot plant, the Autonomous University of Barcelona’s Centre for Innovation, Research and Transfer in Food Technology (CIRTTA) and the Eurecat technology centre’s Nutrition and Health Unit based in Reus, Tarragona

“In 2017, we came to the conclusion that Eurecat and the UdL had complementary capabilities in food-related fields and so the two institutions signed a partnership agreement to set up a joint Food Science and Technology Platform to deliver a more holistic response to the food industry’s needs,” comments Olga Martín, Vice-Rector for Knowledge Transfer at the University of Lleida.

“The success of this partnership has become clear over time. Evidence of this is that the UAB has now joined the initiative, thus expanding the range of services offered to the industry,” she says, adding that “signing what is now a three-way agreement is proof of the institutions’ readiness to lend their full backing to food innovation for the benefit of consumers who will have food which meets their needs.”

Rosa Maria Sebastián, Vice-Rector for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship at the UAB, is delighted to join this platform and “link up with a leading group of people, knowledge and scientific facilities in a strategic sector,” noting that the Centre for Innovation, Research and Transfer in Food Technology at the UAB is “a standout player in emerging technologies and new processes for improving food attributes in terms of process, safety, health effects and sensory properties.” Sebastián points out that this partnership will make it possible “to share strategic R&D and innovation strands while raising the profile of our institutions’ actions on international platforms and jointly seeking the co-financing needed to undertake projects.”

Xavier López, Eurecat’s Chief Operating and Corporate Officer, says that the UAB’s inclusion in the strategic partnership “reflects the importance of joining forces to take forward cutting-edge projects and further enhances existing technological innovation synergies to meet agri-food businesses’ competitiveness and sustainability needs via solutions in areas including food safety, new product development and end-to-end agri-food value chain management.”

Strategic partnership

In 2017, the University of Lleida and the Eurecat technology centre entered into a strategic partnership to foster food science and technology research and knowledge transfer to agri-food businesses in Catalonia which has now been joined by the UAB. This agreement led to setting up a joint Food Science and Technology R&D and Innovation Platform which has made it possible to undertake joint research and technology transfer projects for the agri-food production sector and bring together the range of services on offer in this field.

The agri-food industry is crucial for the three institutions due to its importance in Spain and also in Catalonia, where it accounts for 19.7 percent of industrial GDP. It is the leading sector in Catalan industry by turnover at €48.23 billion and for job creation with 175,600 workers.

PHOTOS BY: UdL