European FoodTech Nations Summit

Food 4 Future- Expo Foodtech will host the European Foodtech Nations Summit, with the participation of institutions and representatives from different European countries and regions.

Bilbao will bring together CEOs, plant managers, IT Managers, and Research managers from the food industry and policy officers on the food industry and agriculture from Europe. The Summit is aimed to discuss topics such as accelerating innovation for food systems transformation, making food production the key to tackling climate change, or how to achieve the Green Deal’s goal.

Food and feeding are key in the evolution of society and therefore of the planet, making us think about where we want to take our development. The European Foodtech Nations Summit aims to share different initiatives, projects, ideas, and experiences to face the technological and sustainability challenges that the food and beverage industry must face in the coming years.

To achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, the current food system and the production processes of the Food & Beverage sector have a lot to contribute, from responsible production and consumption to zero hunger by improving life on land and below water ecosystems or even climate action.

That is why Food 4 Future invites the main players in the food industry to meet with representatives of the different public administrations to share proposals for transformation and digitization, as well as the needs of the industry and the productive fabric in terms of policies, government aid, and funding solutions.

The European Foodtech Nations Summit will put the innovation ecosystems of the European food industry on the table. Three days to give visibility to all the initiatives in the foodtech field that are being carried out in other enclaves such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom – as guest country of this fourth edition -, or Japan, which repeats after its great experience in the last edition and returns to Bilbao to present its latest innovations to the European market.

More than 40 international representatives will meet at the European Foodtech Nations Summit, which brings together pioneering European regions in food technology to share their innovation and digitalisation strategies. Among them we will find a delegation of entrepreneurs from the food and beverage industry from the United Kingdom, guest country in 2024 and that comes to this event by the hand of ICEX Spain Export and Investment. The delegation will include profiles of international relevance in foodtech, such as Roberta Re, Director of Cambridge Food Science, Caroline Saunders, Senior Director of Health and Wellbeing at Pladis Global or Paul Gateley, expert professor at Leeds Beckett University. All of them will present the current UK ecosystem in this area, but they will also learn about Spanish strategies and innovations through the Spain Foodtech Nation session organised by ICEX, which will provide them with a unique perspective on Spain’s position as a centre of innovation in foodtech. A meeting point to foster dialogue and collaboration among participants to boost the foodtech sector and to offer a comprehensive exploration of the innovations and opportunities that are presented in the current ecosystem of our country.

Representatives from the Netherlands, such as Kees de Gooijer, CIO of TKI Agri & Food, will present the innovations and strategies carried out in the Netherlands in the field of circular economy, agri-food and agrotechnology. In addition, they will address some of the main issues facing Dutch society in the fields of agriculture, food and technology. To this end, they will outline the main objectives set out in the 2024-2027 agenda in this field, which include addressing the resilience of nature in the delta and the North Sea, sustainability in agriculture and horticulture, rural areas and the impact of the climate, and the creation of healthy, accessible and safe food.
After its great experience in the last edition as the guest country, Japan repeats its participation in 2024 to present to the European market its latest innovations in Foodtech.

More than 110 representatives of Japanese companies, startups, investors, consultants, etc. will be in Bilbao during F4F2024. Companies such as UnlocX & Co, Ajinomoto, Wired or Mitsubishi UFJ Bank will address in this edition one of the great challenges facing the food sector today: to provide food in sufficient quantity and quality to all the inhabitants of the planet and also to do so healthily and sustainably through technological advances such as genetics, Artificial Intelligence, robotics… Among the solutions to be presented will be some related to food fermentation or alternative proteins.
Likewise, the Basque FoodTech innovation ecosystem will also present its advances with Juanan Gutiérrez, Director of Consultancy and Analysis at HAZI, and Juan de los Ángeles, professor at the University of Navarra and expert advisor to HAZI, who will discuss how the food chain is being transformed in an economic crisis and the uncertainties of the future. They will discuss how technology is key to achieving the goal of being more sustainable through tools such as precision agriculture, traceability in the supply chain and innovations that seek greater efficiency, but always guarantee food safety.

Food 4 Future 2024 will also have spaces for companies from the Desafía Foodtech community, an ICEX immersion programme aimed at the internationalisation of this type of entrepreneurship, where participating companies will present their solutions and new products.

 “ICEX Spain Export and Investment has supported this event since its first edition to reinforce its international character, thus contributing to the international projection of Spain as a leading nation in science and technology applied to the entire food industry value chain”.

María Naranjo, ICEX Food Industry Director.