Food 4 Future – Expo FoodTech 2023

Food 4 Future – Expo Foodtech 2023 consolidates its position as the leading European FoodTech event with a new record of visitors. 8,372 professional attendees from more than 34 countries gathered in Bilbao (Spain) from 16 to 18 May to learn about the latest technological innovations that are transforming the food industry.

This edition of F4F – Expo Foodtech has become more international than ever by bringing together the largest Japanese delegation of companies from the food sector. As the guest country, Japan presented its latest technological innovations for the food sector. Koji Miyaura, Director General at the Department of New Business and Food Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan, welcomed the opportunity to participate in such an essential event for the industry.

To present their innovations and showcase how they are transforming the food tech sector, 287 exhibiting firms presented their latest solutions in robotics and automation, processing and packaging machinery for the food industry. This is the case of firms such as AgroBank, AZTI, BCC Innovation, Blendhub, Chemometric Brain, Christeyns, Basque Food Cluster, CNTA, Eurecat, IFR, Tecnalia, CEIN, Tech Transfer Agrifood, Dassault Systemes, Essence Food, Hiperbaric, Ingersoll Rand, Knauf Industries, Lev2050, Multiscan, Sener and T-Systems, among many others.

The event gathered 413 international experts from firms such as Bimbo, Campofrío, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Danone, Trops, Heura, and Nestlé, among others who shared the technological trends that are leading the sector into the new era of food.

In addition, 124 international investment funds unveiled trends in food tech investment and discovered the emerging projects of startups from around the world at the Foodtech Startup Forum. In this context, the Foodtech Startup Forum recognized the most disruptive startups in the field of innovation in the food industry. Foodtech Startup Forum is an event dedicated to entrepreneurship and new projects that takes place every year within the framework of F4F – Expo Foodtech. This edition brought together 200 international startups, including the 60 most disruptive ones, which presented innovative solutions and projects at the Foodtech Startup Forum, divided into seven categories: Agrotech, Industry 4.0, Automation, Refrigeration and Climate, Food Processing, Food Packaging, and Food Science. The winners of the Foodtech Startup Forum 2023 were Bio2cat, Bioprocesia, Fliwer and Vision Quality.

Moreover, the Foodtech Innovation Awards 2023 recognized the most innovative proposals that offer a disruptive approach to Customer Experience or Management. Innovative business models or technology that can make a change in the food sector. The winners at FoodTech Innovation Awards 2023 were Agricolus, BioProcesia, BreadFree, Lyras, AINIA and NUCAPS.