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Spain Foodtech Partners: Sigma

Sigma - Eatable Adventures

Sigma operates in 18 countries throughout North and South America and Europe. With more than 65 plants and 184 distribution centers, the company produces, markets and distributes quality foods including packaged meats, cheese, yogurt and other refrigerated and frozen foods.

TASTECH BY SIGMA

Sigma has launched the third edition of its Tastech by Sigma accelerator program. With its open innovation programs and calls for projects, Sigma is committed to promoting the development of technological solutions, products and services to generate impact and improve the customer experience.

More than 900 startups from 41 countries have participated in Tastech, resulting in investments, a distribution contract, and other collaboration agreements in process.

Since 2019, Tastetch has continued to collaborate with the entrepreneurial ecosystem and drive high-potential projects in the food industry.

Following this year’s success, the program has selected 8 startups, 4 of which are Spanish, demonstrating Sigma’s strong commitment to the Spanish Foodtech ecosystem.

Daniel Alanis, Chief Growth Officer at Sigma.“Through Tastech, Sigma opens its doors to entrepreneurs from around the world to share their knowledge, conduct joint pilot tests and implement new technologies and solutions that will drive the future of the food industry. We are excited to find new ideas and support the talent of the most innovative and disruptive food startups.”

 

 

Daniel Alanis, Chief Growth Officer at Sigma.

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Spain Foodtech Partners: Mahou San Miguel

Mahou San Miguel - Eatable Adventures

Mahou San Miguel, a family-owned beverage company, 100% Spanish and leader in the beer sector in our country. It produces more than 70% of the Spanish beer consumed outside Spain and is present in more than 70 countries.

In 2022 it launches BarLab Ventures, its open innovation platform for entrepreneurial projects that drive the Food and Beverage sector.

RETHINK YOUR DRINK CHALLENGE

As part of its open innovation platform, the company launched in July, together with Eatable Adventures, “Rethink your Drink”, its first open innovation challenge to find answers to the sector’s major challenges.

The call is open to startups from around the world that have a differential, sustainable and innovative proposal that generates a transformative and sustainable impact on the traditional beverage industry.

More than 100 startups have registered, from which a first shortlist has already been selected. In the coming weeks, the company will announce the selected startups and their innovative proposals.

Miguel-Angel“We are convinced that thanks to this project we will be able to share with entrepreneurs a common perspective to make bars, restaurants, distributors and the rest of our value chain strengthen their collaboration to generate wealth, based on aspects such as excellence, innovation and sustainability.”

 

Miguel Ángel Miguel, General Manager of Transformation at Mahou San Miguel.

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Spain Foodtech Partners: Pascual

Founded in 1969, Pascual, a leader in the food sector, has a range of more than 200 products, 6 factories, 27 local offices and more than 2,000 employees in the 63 countries in which it operates.
Pascual advocates from the outset the creation of the Corporate Venturing branch of the company: Pascual Innoventures.

In 2020, Pascual and Eatable Adventures launch a collaborative challenge dedicated to international startups active in the production of solutions for the plant-based dairy sector.

MYLKCUBATOR

Incubation Program

Mylkcubator, the world’s first incubator specialized in the development of innovation projects for the dairy sector, was launched in May 2021. Since then, it has achieved incredible success, positioning Pascual globally as an innovative and cutting-edge company.

4 early stage startups from different continents are chosen, the main Venture Capital of the sector join to have access to Mylkcubator’s dealflow. In 2022, the second edition has been launched.

Pascual“The quality of the startups selected in the first edition has been amazing and shows us that this is clearly the way forward. The visibility of these projects, as well as the investment projects they are receiving is a sign that the industry is ready for this technological transition.”

 

Gabriel Pascual, director of Pascual Innoventures

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Eatex Food Innovation Hub, the new collaborative innovation hub for the transfer and implementation of technology in the agri-food industry

Eatex

  •   A project promoted by CNTA (the Spanish National Centre for Food Technology and Safety) with the support of the Government of Navarra and collaboration of more than 10  R&D&I centers of the Navarre R&D&I System (SINAI)

  •   Among the activities that will be developed in the hub there is the detection of needs between the stakeholders of the sector and the generation of new opportunities; developing, validating, and demonstrating solutions and accompanying in the scaling and the implementation of these solutions. 

 

Innovation in the agri-food sector is unstoppable. In 2021 the Spanish national Foodtech ecosystem tripled its investments compared to last year, according to accelerator Eatable Adventure’s data, achieving excellent traction from national and international investors, managing to position Spain as the fifth European power in this vertical. This boom in innovation and solidity in intellectual property has boosted the creation of new models of collaboration between the principal agents of this ecosystem to accelerate the technology transfer. 

In this context, CNTA  (National Center for Food Technology and Safety) has created the Eatex Food Innovation Hub, the new collaborative innovation hub for the transfer and technology implementation in the agri-food industry. An ecosystem of open and applied innovation that addresses and solves today’s and future problems in the agri-food sector through a holistic focus based on the implementation of agile and advanced dynamics and research models. 

Eatex Food Innovation Hub was born as a gathering point,  a space beyond a physical location, where science and businesses collaborate to make research and technology transfer successful. This project promoted by CNTA has the support of the Government of Navarre and the collaboration of more than 10  R&D&I centers of the Navarre R&D&I System (SINAI). The creation of this hub is part of the Complementary Plan AGROALNEXT, within the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience plan financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

Among its objectives is to improve and accelerate the technology transfer of valuable solutions from the R&D centers to the agri-food sector to increase the success rate of technology transfer and reduce the innovation risk. According to Silvia García de la Torre, Eatex Food Innovation Hub director, “the motivation to create this new hub comes from improving technology transfer, a very important tool with great potential for agri-food companies since it will allow them to open to new possibilities, ideas, and opportunities.”

This will be achieved through the implementation of agile and advanced research dynamics and models, based on collaboration and co-creation of solutions with a holistic vision of the entire value chain and with a focus on the final customer.  In addition, providing funding for the development of solutions with agile management of projects oriented towards results and collaborating and creating synergies with other entities and initiatives. 

Among the activities that will be developed in the hub, there will be the detection of needs in the sector and the generation of new opportunities; developing, validating, and demonstrating solutions while accompanying the scale and implementation of those solutions.

Eatex Food Innovation Hub will start its activity in mid-December with the ¨Program for the development of innovation and technology transfer” where it will address six research areas: promotion of agriculture and livestock of the future, search for new ingredients and production models, development of new food and beverage for healthy eating, implementation of the industry 4.0 and hyperconnected processes, innovation applied to food packaging and preservation systems and the application of circularity and appraisal of by-products and waste. 

More info about Eatex Food Innovation Hub  www.eatexfoodinnovationhub.com

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Alianza Team® launches it’s new Open Innovation Portal

Let's Raise the Bar

  • A new platform to address the challenges in the food industry 

  • Alianza Team® is one of the leading innovation companies in Colombia, thanks to the development of 21 patent families and the confidence placed in global startup investments in the foodtech sector for 3M USD.

Alianza Team®, a Colombian-based corporate group, expert in lipids and fats and leader in the food sector, has announced the creation of a new Open Innovation Portal to foster collaboration between startups and industry, thus responding to the most important challenges of the sector, especially in the field of sustainability. This portal is aligned with the company’s aim of “nourishing a better tomorrow” through the development of innovative products and solutions to respond to new market and consumer needs. 

The new open innovation platform was created by Albora, with the support of Eatable Adventures, one of the three most important food technology accelerators in the world. Startups that collaborate with the platform could benefit from an investment plan, access to Alianza Team’s ® facilities that are equipped with the latest technologies, and its logistics network, as well as  the know-how of the company’s R&D team of professionals. 

This is a unique opportunity to develop their innovative ideas and reach the market quickly, from the hand of one of the leading companies in open innovation in the food and beverage sector in Colombia and one of the 10 most innovative companies in Colombia according to the ANDI (National Business Association of Colombia), the most representative economic guild in that country. Alianza Team® has obtained these recognitions thanks to the development of 21 families of patents and the trust placed in global startup investments in the foodtech sector for 3M USD.

Let’s Raise the Bar Challenge

The innovation platform will kick off with the Let’s Raise The Bar challenge. Its first challenge aims to find the most disruptive startups in the soap industry, in all sectors, to obtain a sustainable raw material that offers a good quality product for its consumers and whose production is friendly to the planet. 

Entrepreneurs who participate in this challenge could  be able to partner with Alianza Team® for the development of new soap lines for future projects, or have the company’s collaboration for the design and manufacture of a specific product, optimizing costs and scaling through access to the company’s technology. They could  also be able to potentially access other markets and obtain an investment plan.

“Innovation is part of the DNA of our company, being a value that we seek to promote in all areas internally and in the development of the value chain externally. Our commitment with our Open Innovation Portal is to promote an innovative ecosystem that leverages the growth of all the actors that are part of the chain,” said Maria Paula Rios, Vice President of Innovation and Digital Transformation of Alianza Team®.

 

In the words of Mila Valcárcel, Managing Partner of Eatable Adventures, “We are proud to launch this new innovation milestone with Alianza Team®, a leading company in the food industry and a pioneer in implementing innovative solutions to respond to and anticipate new market challenges. The collaboration between startups and industry offered by the open innovation model is key to develop and bring to market new products and proposals in a very fast and much more efficient way”. 

For more information visit: ​​www.albora.co/portal

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The second edition of Baking the Future kicks off with four new startups

  •  After the success of the first edition, Cereal, the Innovation Center of Europastry welcomes again four startups with revolutionary projects that will change the bakery sector.
  •  The Israeli startup DouxMatok offers nutrition improvements through sugar reduction solutions; Spanish AgroSingularity develops vegetal-origin sustainable fibers that prolong the useful life of bread. Belgian Ajinomatrix digitizes the measurement of the senses of taste and smell through AI and Colombian Sacha Inchi develops products through innovative crops that satisfy the growing market of superfoods.
  • The startups selected will participate for six months in the Baking the Future program, a period where they will receive tutoring, advice, and business development.

Barcelona, November 30th, 2022.- After the success of the first edition of the acceleration program Baking the Future, Cereal, the Europastry Innovation Center welcomes again four startups with revolutionary projects that will change the bakery sector.

This year, applications from 11 different countries have been submitted, among which DouxMatok from Israel, Ajinomatrix from Belgium, AgroSingularity from Spain, and Sacha Inchi from Colombia, have been selected.

INNOVATION IN HEALTH, TECHNOLOGY, AND BAKERY SUSTAINABILITY 

The projects from the four startups give solutions to the challenges we set when we launch the second edition of the program: sustainability, health, improvement of the customer experience, and technologies aimed at seeking to improve production without losing quality. 

  •   DouxMatok, the Israeli startup, offers nutrition improvements through sugar reduction solutions. The perfect response to consumers’ preferences, for a tasteful experience and healthier food.  
  •   Belgian Ajinomatrix has digitized the measurement of the senses of taste and smell through AI. Which becomes an essential tool to obtain data that will allow companies in the food sector to take accurate and fast decisions.
  •  AgroSingularity, the Spanish startup, has developed vegetal-origin sustainable fibers that prolong the useful life of bread. Additionally, it allows the preservation of the nutrients and functional attributes of the original plant of the ingredients.
  •   Lastly, Sacha Inchi offers solutions to the needs of the growing superfood market through innovative crops of Latin American biodiversity. 

SIX MONTHS TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE BAKERY INDUSTRY

The objective of Baking the Future is to build an open innovation model for Europastry. “We continue to bet on open innovation, a fundamental tool for collaboration with entrepreneurs and our R&D teams to design and escalate the future of the bakery industry” states Ana Thielen, International Marketing Manager at Europastry

Over the next six months the entrepreneurs of the four startups will have all the company resources: workspace, mentoring sessions with the teams of Cereal, Eatable Adventures, and Google. Access to the R&D&I department of Europastry to develop, test, and launch the product to check its viability in the market.  

“Thanks to Baking the Future, we brought entrepreneurs from all over the world to   Cereal, to respond to the current challenges of the Bakery sector. We are sure that thanks to the collaboration of Europasty and its  I&D team these startups will be able to develop innovative solutions, capable of generating great impact in the sector and reach a global scale” affirms José Luis Cabañero Founder & CEO of Eatable Adventures.

After six months of preparation, during the celebration of Demo Day, the four startups will present their projects to a network of private investors and highly qualified experts.

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Precision Fermentation & Cell Agriculture Disrupting the Dairy Industry

In the dairy industry, cell cultures and fermentation techniques are beginning to demonstrate industrial and commercial viability, as shown by the growth of investment in this sector and the emergence of new startups using these technologies as their foundation. Proof of this is that investment in the dairy segment has tripled in 2021, compared with 2020, according to Dealroom data analyzed by Eatable Adventures. Also, according to data from The Good Food Institute, fermentation companies have raised $1.7 billion, which accounts for one-third of all investments in alternative proteins. 

Research, innovation, and technology make it possible to develop new production and food transformation models that allow us to improve existing products and create new ones. By remaking the same proteins and fats from dairy, but without animals, formulators are trying to create dairy alternatives that closely resemble traditional dairy products, thanks to disruptive technologies like cell agriculture and fermentation. 

The following extract from the FoodTech Market Intelligence Report – Alternative Dairy by Eatable Adventures highlighting the technologies and startups debuting in the Dairy Industry demonstrated that precision fermentation continues to gain momentum among new startups in the sector.

Alternative Dairy Startups Momentum

Source: Dealroom data analyzed by Eatable Adventures

From Eatable Adventures data, we find that in 2021 the alternative dairy fermentation startup, Perfect Day, debuted the fermentation investment profile after receiving $350M in funding, followed by Remilk at the beginning of 2022, receiving $120M.

Additionally, according to more Eatable Adventures data, we can state that precision fermentation technology is highly mature at the moment in terms of investments, meaning that the fascinating technology that cell culture is, is still ripe for innovation and is estimated to grow exponentially in the upcoming years.

Cell agriculture and fermentation in the dairy industry

Source: Dealroom data analyzed by Eatable Adventures

 

Precision fermentation is not only very mature in terms of investment, but also in terms of technology development. Foods containing ingredients made with this technology have been around for decades, and we are eating them on a daily basis. A recent article by Sonalie Figueiras from Green Queen features different precision fermentation foods and products we have been consuming, including enzymes used in food production (e.j pectinases which help make fruit juices clear), vitamins we take in supplement form or powder, natural flavors added to certain foods (e.j vanilla flavoring), and even cheese (rennet, a key ingredient in cheese production, is produced via precision fermentation). 

On the other hand, cell-cultured technology is a promising technology for animal-based proteins but still needs further development and acceptance.
By using this method, meat is produced with the same types of cells arranged in the same structure as animal tissues, delivering identical sensory and nutritional properties as conventional meat. Nevertheless, there are still many obstacles for cellular agriculture to overcome such as regulatory aspects, consumer perception, and socio-political challenges, but that doesn’t negate the fact that is a rising trend that entrepreneurs and investors, and companies should follow.

Accelerating the market through Open Innovation Programs

In this food revolution, open innovation programs and synergies between big companies and startups are of major importance to accelerate growth and assist new startups to reach their objectives.  For instance, Mylkcubator, the global incubation program led by Pascual Innoventures, and Eatable Adventures, recently launched its second edition and are currently seeking projects with innovative solutions in the cellular agriculture spectrum for the dairy industry. 

If you have THE idea or project regarding disruptive innovation in the dairy industry using cell agriculture technology, visit the official website mylkcubator.com and get to know all the details about the program.

For further details regarding Mylkcubator, click here.

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Baking the Future seeks startups for its second edition 

  • Baking the Future, Europastry’s startup acceleration program, begins the selection process for its second edition with Google Cloud and Eatable Adventures as collaborators.
  • Google Cloud, which recently landed in Barcelona, will collaborate hand in hand with Cereal and its accelerator Baking the Future, to boost the digital transformation of bakery startups.
  • The startups chosen for this second edition will enjoy a workspace, mentoring sessions, access to Europastry’s R&D department and will gain global impact through direct contact with the most relevant agents of the bakery industry value chain.

 

Baking the Future, Europastry’s startup acceleration program, opens the selection process for its second edition, which aims to find the next startups that will revolutionize the bakery sector.

After the success of the first program’s edition, we have teamed up with two collaborators that will bring a lot of value: Google Cloud and Eatable Adventures.

Google landed this June in Barcelona with a team of business consultants and experts in digital and cloud marketing to support and boost the digital transformation of companies by working and collaborating hand-in-hand with projects such as Baking the Future.

 Google Cloud will be close to the startups in the program, offering mentoring sessions, and providing support on its Cloud services. In addition to being part of the jury that will decide which startups will be with us in this second edition.

On the other hand, Eatable Adventures, the leading company in detecting and promoting the world’s most innovative and disruptive food startups, will offer entrepreneurship and business plan sessions.

 “We are proud to continue driving open innovation models with a leading global company like Europastry. Our collaboration started in 2019 with Baking the Future Challenge, a competition to improve processes and operations through the most disruptive startups in the industry and has derived into a more ambitious project with the accelerator program. Being able to activate a collaboration with Europastry, accessing an R&D center like Cereal, is a unique opportunity for any startup whose innovations and technologies apply to the bakery sector.” – Says José Luis Cabañero, Founder & CEO of Eatable Adventures.

 

SECOND EDITION OF THE BAKING THE FUTURE PROGRAM

The selected startups will enjoy:

  • A workspace in the Cereal, Europastry’s Innovation Center, equipped with the latest technology.
  • Mentoring sessions with highly qualified Cereal professionals from the R&D, commercial and marketing teams and the EaTable Adventures and Google Cloud teams.
  • Access to Europastry’s R&D department to develop, test and launch the product using the latest technologies to move from lab scale to pilot scale at Cereal’s facilities.
  • Global and direct project presentation with all the bakery’s industry value chain agents.

The drivers for these startups will be sustainability, improved customer experience, health and technologies aimed to improve production without losing sight of product quality.

Those interested in being part of the project can apply from today on the Baking the Future website.

 

INNOVATION AND EUROPASTRY

Innovation is part of our DNA. The company itself was born from an idea that revolutionized the bakery sector and since then, Europastry has always sought to be at the forefront of the sector, anticipating new trends and offering its customers the most disruptive products. “If you stop innovating you end up losing competitiveness and capacity for growth. That is why it is very important to keep reinventing yourself and never think that what you have is for life,” said Jordi Gallés.

Europastry currently invests 60 million euros a year in innovation and has one of the most avant-garde and pioneering R&D centers: Cereal.

“We have been part of the Baking the Future program and this is the result: a bread made with the flour of beer waste,” explains to us Aviaja, co-founder and CEO of Agrain, one of the startups accelerated in the first edition that came with a project that bet strongly on a more sustainable future of the food industry and that today already has a niche in the market. “Being part of Europastry has been a very good experience. We have met very astute and intelligent people who are passionate about the bakery sector.”

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Mahou San Miguel launches a new challenge addressed to the entrepreneurial community seeking to find the beverage of the future

  • The brewery along with the accelerator Eatable Adventures, are calling for startups from all over the world to participate in a new innovation challenge for the beverage sector.
  • The selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to develop a product test together with Mahou San Miguel’s team of experts.

Mahou San Miguel, a 100% Spanish family-owned beverage company and leader in the beer sector in Spain, launches the Rethink Your Drink Challenge, a new challenge to discover the drink of the future. As part of its Barlab Ventures project, along with Eatable Adventures, one of the three leading global food technology accelerators, the brewery wants to offer an open innovation platform for the entire food and beverage sector.

From today until September 5, startups from around the world with a differential, sustainable and innovative proposal that generates a transformative impact on the traditional beverage industry can submit their applications through the website www.barlabventures.com.

In the words of Miguel Ángel Miguel, General Manager of Transformation at Mahou San Miguel, “BarLab Ventures allows us to unite two of our main commitments: to leverage the possibilities that technology offers in order to provide innovative solutions to new challenges of the beverage sector, as well as strengthening collaboration with other organizations to drive their transformation”. Miguel Ángel, also points out that “we are convinced that through this project we will be able to share with entrepreneurs a common perspective to make bars, restaurants, distributors and the rest of our value chain strengthen their collaboration towards generating wealth, based on aspects such as excellence, innovation, and sustainability”.

José Luis Cabañero, CEO and founder of Eatable Adventures, commented “we are delighted to launch this initiative hand in hand with Mahou San Miguel, a company that is clearly committed to innovation and entrepreneurship”. He also assures that “the beverage sector offers many opportunities for entrepreneurs and startups who seek to offer alternatives and innovative solutions to consumers, responding to the current reality but, above all, to the challenges of the future”.

 

Supporting entrepreneurs

The startups will have to present their innovative solutions in one of the following categories: innovative non-alcoholic alternatives, low alcoholic beverages (4º-7º), traditional categories reinvented, and beverages of the future.

Mahou San Miguel will offer the opportunity to develop a product test with its team of experts to accelerate the success of the winning proposals. In addition, the brewery will make available to the startups its distribution network, support in managing their territorial licenses, as well as in the field of financing, among other services.

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Mylkcubator, the global incubation program for cellular agriculture technologies in the dairy industry, kicks off its second cohort

The incubator will help the selected startups in their business and R&D advancement strategies, preparing them for growth and investment rounds.

Pascual, a leading Spanish manufacturer of dairy products and beverages, has launched Mylkcubator 2.0, the second edition of the global incubation program for cellular agriculture technologies in the dairy industry. The initiative has been launched from the group’s Corporate Venture unit, Pascual Innoventures, in collaboration with Eatable Adventures, one of the top three global foodtech accelerators. The first edition of the program had recently been completed by four disruptive startups worldwide.

Mylkcubator 2.0 will last 6 months, from selection to the demo day. The goal is to enroll a new cohort of up to 5 startups or scientific projects, with innovative solutions in the cellular agriculture spectrum for the dairy industry within the following technologies: molecular farming, fermentation based, cell based, and applied technologies in this field. All the details about the program are available on the official website mylkcubator.com.

Pascual Innoventures has flexible venturing models that build, collaborate and support Foodtech startups in its early stages. The incubator will help the selected startups in their business and R&D advancement strategies, preparing them for growth and investment rounds.

In the words of Gabriel Pascual, director of Pascual Innoventures “The quality of the startups selected in the first edition has been amazing and shows us that this is, clearly, the way to go. The visibility of these projects as well as the investment rounds that they are receiving is a sign that the industry is prepared for this technological transition. Pascual has been a pioneer in shaping the path of innovation and non-conformism. An attitude that has been hatched generation after generation from my grandfather until our generation”.

On the other hand, José Luis Cabañero, CEO and founder of Eatable Adventures, has remarked “Mylkcubator has attracted the attention of companies, technology centers and professional investors from all over the world demonstrating that there is a great opportunity in the market to implement scalable technological solutions to future proof the dairy industry”. Proof of this is that investment in the dairy segment has tripled in 2021, compared with 2020, according to Dealroom data analyzed by Eatable Adventures.

The production of dairy products using cell cultures and fermentation techniques, that are complementary within the dairy industry, demonstrate industrial and commercial viability and presents a huge opportunity for the sector from both an economic and environmental point of view.

 

Mylkcubator website: mylkcubator.com

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