"The food industry must develop the right talent to successfully bring innovation to market."

"We are currently seeing a very rapid revolution in the food industry in everything related to the value chain. But it is important to adapt not only in the creation of companies, startups or in the institutions themselves, but also in developing the right talent to successfully address this innovation and bring it to the market". This is how Beatriz Romanos, a consultant specializing in Food Tech and Food Innovation, defined the main challenge facing the food industry during the workshop "Foodtech. What it is and why it is changing the future of food", which was held on February 25 at the Campus of the University of Navarra in Madrid.

Organized by the Master's Degree in Sustainable management and Nutritional Innovation in Food Companies of the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition, the event brought together experts from the sector to analyze the main trends and challenges of the food industry. Along with Romanos, Miguel Ángel Cubero, CEO of Ingredalia and vice-president of FATE (Food & Agri Tech Europe); Carlos González, director of Innovation of the research center in Nutrition of the University of Navarra; and Eduardo Cotillas, Director of research and development of FIAB (Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries) participated in the event.

One of the central themes of the discussion was sustainability in the sector. Miguel Ángel Cubero underlined its relevance, stating that"it is not that sustainability in the food industry is important, but that it is essential". The expert defined it as one of the vectors on which to work to ensure resources that are finite. "If we do not work in a sustainable way, we will exhaust many natural resources that we now believe will never run out and we will not be able to do anything else." In this line, he stressed the importance of partnership between the parties involved: "Doing everything alone is a very linear Economics that does not work. Together we can do much more and in a more sustainable way. That is the way forward.

Complementarity between industry and academia

For his part, Carlos González highlighted the power of the partnership between the university and the food industry to promote innovation: "It is important because the industry is using more and more science, more and more knowledge. And the university needs the industry to tell it where to go, how to apply that knowledge". In this sense, Gonzalez stressed the complementarity between the applicability and innovation provided by the sector and the work of the Academy, which provides the knowledge. "The union of the two is what leads to success," he summarized.

In the same vein, Eduardo Cotillas provided the point of view of the partners belonging to the Platform in the areas of Food and Health, highlighting the partnership of different actors in the sector such as the companies themselves with universities, technology and research centers, and other entities such as startups to carry out research and development projects.

The event also addressed other core topic such as the impact of biotechnology on food innovation, sustainability and changes in consumer behavior, including the influence of new trends such as the use of GLP-1 drugs and their impact on food demand.

training and talent for an ever-changing industry

Precisely, promoting research and development of innovative solutions to meet the challenges of the food sector in the coming years is one of the purposes of the Master's Degree in Sustainable management and Nutritional Innovation in Food Companies. It is designed to train professionals capable of applying their knowledge in health and nutrition in order to improve public health and help in disease prevention.

It responds to the growing needs of the food sector with innovative training in nutrition and health combined with subjects such as sustainability, marketing, commercialization strategies and management, as well as workshops with IESE Business School methodology.