The agri-food industry dares with all kinds of proposals in the great conversation about itself that is, in practice, the ftalks Food Summit. The meeting organized by the KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub Foundation brought together the food sector in Valencia for two days to debate the future of foodtech, but also resilience, market trends and flavour.
The meeting included 100 speakers, from more than 25 countries, who spoke on food innovation and concluded yesterday afternoon after awarding two innovative projects, one of them born in Valencia. The team from the Universitat Politècnica de València Spread Sensations and the Zaragoza yeast company Levprot Bioscience were the two startups awarded among the 16 proposals.
The first is achieved with Lunat, a spreadable locust cream, a typically Valencian product. Made from cocoa and the typical Valencian bean, it highlights this traditional crop in the Valencian Community and seeks to promote the consumption of kilometer zero products. Behind the idea is the group Spread Sensations, which has won recognition for the best sustainable project, a startup from the Spontaneous Generation group “Fornejant Ciencia” of the Valencian university.
In second place, Levprot Bioscience managed to win the innovation award yesterday. Specialized in the production of alternative proteins for the pharmaceutical and food industries, through precision fermentation in yeast cells, the technology developed by the Zaragoza firm has allowed it to obtain biomaterials for direct application in the biopharmaceutical field, as well as proteins that respond to some of the main demands of the food sector.
For the first time in the history of the event, both will have a financial prize of 5,000 euros, thanks to the support of Solulim and Vicky Foods, in addition to joining the KM ZERO network made up of investors, companies in the food industry, and support entities. to entrepreneurship and more than 400 startups.
This year the awards had a record participation with more than 400 participants. Along with the winners, 13 other emerging companies have participated: Mommus, Bio2Coat, BreadFree, Ingredalia, Green
“The industry has realized that it needs to rely on entrepreneurs more than ever. We are in the middle of a change marked by a more conscious consumer and stricter regulations regarding health and sustainability, aspects that focus the work of many foodtech startups,” says Beatriz Jacoste, director of KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub. “Areas such as “The revaluation of waste and precision fermentation are already presenting great opportunities for the transformation of the food system, as demonstrated by the winning startups of the ftalks Food Summit,” concludes the director.
The first day of ftalks Food Summit, held on Monday coinciding with World Food Day, allowed all the finalist startups to present their projects before a jury made up of specialists in food innovation, as well as before an audience made up of executives from food companies. food, foodtech researchers, gourmets and funds with a potential investor of 2,000 million euros.