The 41 million Euro investment granted will have an impact on nine value chains in the food sector through 70 companies in 12 autonomous communities.

AVS CONSULTING and PONS IP, leading consultancies in their respective fields of management of public aid for R&D and technology and industrial property management, respectively, have announced the provisional award of two projects totalling 41 million Euros in aid for the global EcoFood2023, project, made up of the ECOFOOD and FOODECO, driving projects, and for the creation of a strategic alliance of the agri-food sector aimed at the complete renewal of its value chains, through ecological and digital transformation by means of innovative solutions.

This figure represents the largest financial allocation of the projects presented by the 225 entities in Spain for Axis 1 of the Agri-Food PERTE managed by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and aimed at promoting industrial strengthening actions in the agri-food sector.

Of the 41 million Euros of aid proposed for the projects that make up EcoFood2023, 36.78 million will be in the form of direct subsidies, while the rest, 4.74 million, will be received through zero-interest loans from the PERTE as part of the Transformation, Recovery and Resilience Plan financed by the European Commission. This milestone follows the provisional resolution proposal by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, which last Friday published the resolution of the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of the Agri-Food Sector, awarding 161.5 million Euros in aid to 281 projects from 225 entities that will contribute to the modernisation, sustainability and digitisation of the agri-food sector. After the publication of these grant proposals, the processing of these grants continues and a period is opened for possible allegations to the provisional resolution proposal.

With this boost, the EcoFood2023 Agri-food PERTE will address R&D&I in the main value chains of the food sector through the 70 companies participating in the project in 12 autonomous communities such as the Valencian Community, Catalonia, Region of Murcia, Galicia, Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, Castile and León, Andalusia, La Rioja, Asturias, the Basque Country and Extremadura.. In this sense, the EcoFood2023 initiative proposes to work on 41 projects coordinated by 70 companies that cover virtually the entire technological progress of 9 strategic value chains for the sector, such as wine, beverages, fruit and vegetables, meat products, sweets, dairy products, bakeries and fishing activities.

Towards the largest innovation ecosystem in the Spanish agri-food sector: EcoFood2023

EcoFood2023 was presented in October 2022 as the sector’s most ambitious R&D&I project aimed at creating the largest innovation ecosystem in the Spanish agri-food sector throughout the agri-food industry value chain. In its initial conception, EcoFood 2023 required an investment of more than 100 million Euros with an estimated creation of around 2,000 direct jobs and the maintenance of 4,500 existing jobs linked to the member companies of the R&D&I project.

The project arose with an innovative spirit, also in terms of management. Therefore, EcoFood2023 will have a Technological Management led by AVS CONSULTING and PONS IP where, according to both driving entities, industrial property will be one of the main tools for the management of innovation with the aim of providing transversal support to partners in the identification and definition of strategies for the protection and valorisation of the assets that are generated.

In this sense, Nuria Marcos, CEO of PONS IP, pointed out that the success of EcoFood2023 “is great news because the Ministry has positively taken into account the structure of the challenges posed and the appropriate management of the related technology, which will promote aspects such as food traceability or the automation of industrial processes towards more sustainable models, and will also take into account industrial property management as a fundamental factor within its R&D&I systems.” Meanwhile, Raúl Natividad, CEO of AVS Consulting, stressed that the provisional resolution with EcoFood2023 represents “a qualitative and quantitative leap for innovation in the Agro sector. We are very pleased with the approval of this project which consolidates AVS Consulting’s position as the leader in the management of this type of aid. We are especially grateful for the trust given by the companies that are part of EcoFood2023. We now have the challenge, together with PONS IP, to support them to achieve the best results within the approved framework.”