The good reputation of Spanish food is also materialized in the notable growth of exports of agri-food products. Thanks to the international projection of this industry, the country earned a record amount of 69,066 million euros last year, 86% more than a decade ago. Despite the good data, we must not overlook the impact of the drought on the sector, since “it is the biggest challenge” it faces, admits Elisa Carbonell, brand new CEO of Icex, the public entity in charge of promoting the internationalization of Spanish companies.
In this context, technology applied to agriculture – agrotech – and to food and beverages – foodtech – is gaining more and more prominence. Carbonell states that, to continue being one of the main world powers in the export of agri-food products, “we have to be a leader in the foodtech field.” A subsector in which Spain, he adds, has an advantage due to “the diversity and decentralization” of its food industry, which in other countries “is usually very focused on some focus or in large capitals.”
Specifically, the country has 420 startups, around twenty technology centers and 50 universities that participate in research and innovation projects. The potential that the foodtech ecosystem has, argues Carbonell, is reflected in the fact that it is “one of the sectors that has suffered the least from the adjustment of investments” in a global context of regulatory uncertainty and interest rate increases that have cut global investment in foodtech by 60%. In contrast, Spanish startups managed to raise more than 226 million last year in different rounds, which represents a year-on-year drop, however, of 15.7%. In 2022, the country ranked fifth in foodtech investment, after the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Despite the investment rate falling, the number of startups continues to grow, although at a moderate rate, and the sector continues to diversify. Carbonell emphasizes the role that the Desafía programs play as a lever towards the internationalization of this type of companies, since those who go through them “generally grow in potential.” The program consists of two weeks of immersion in leading ecosystems. In the foodtech subsector, the initiative has been carried out in the Netherlands and two more programs are planned in Germany and London in which groups made up of 10 startups will participate.
Catalonia is the community from which the largest number of emerging companies that have participated in this initiative come, about forty, of which 16 have raised 21.6 million in total. In the case of foodtech, Heura stands out, for example, which since 2017 has offered vegetable meat products made from legumes and is present in twenty countries. “Catalonia is a vital focus of trends because it anticipates a lot and has positioned itself as a hub for the development of alternative protein, also due to the dynamism of the Catalan meat sector,” explains the CEO of Icex, dependent on the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Company.
According to the data managed by this organization, the Catalan community was the one that exported the most food last year, taking over from Andalusia. Specifically, the export of agri-food products reached 13,919 million, 43% more than in 2019. “The evolution in recent years has been excellent,” highlights Carbonell, while maintaining that “Catalonia is the export engine of Spain. ”, followed by Andalusia, Valencian Community and Murcia. Pork, fresh stone fruits, chorizo, ham and other cured products lead the ranking of Catalan exports.
While in Spain as a whole, fruit vegetables, olive oil, frozen pork and citrus fruits have a greater outlet. The main export destinations beyond the EU are the United States, Latin America and the United Kingdom, a country in which Brexit funds have managed to increase food industry exports by double digits – 12% – between 2021 and 2023.
“The image that existed 30 years ago that cheap products were sold in Spain has been surpassed by extraordinary and very diverse products,” says Carbonell, which is why he considers that the statements in which the former French minister Ségolène Royal described Spanish tomatoes bio of “false and inedible” are “the results of a hot moment due to its own internal problems, and it is refuted with the data: Spain is the first organic producer in Europe”, with a strong international commitment to gourmet products to continue generating added value in an industry that represents 5% of GDP.
