Eatex: new collaborative innovation hub for transfer and implementation of agri-food technology in Navarra, Spain

As a result of this project, Spanish leadership in innovation in the agri-food industry will be strengthened, technology transfers will be improved and accelerated, and the success rate of these transfers will be increased, reducing innovation risk.

Eatex Food Innovation Hub aims to address and solve 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.

This project promoted by CNTA has the support of the Navarre Government and the collaboration of more than 10 R&D&I centers of the Navarre R&D&I System (SINAI). Furthermore, 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.

The hub will be involved in identifying needs and generating new opportunities in the sector, developing, validating, and demonstrating solutions, and accompanying their implementation and scaling.

To promote the development of technological solutions, the hub also plans to provide financing, as well as to streamline project management and make it results-oriented. In this sense, collaboration and the creation of synergies with other entities and initiatives will play an important role.

This project will address six areas of research: the boost to agriculture and livestock farming of the future; the search for new ingredients and production models; the development of new foods and beverages for healthy eating; the implementation of Industry 4.0 and hyper-connected processes; innovation applied to food packaging and preservation systems; and the application of circularity and valorization of the use of waste and by-products.

Projects like these help to take a step forward to the Spanish ecosystem, supporting and motivating entrepreneurs in innovation and development of new projects.