AseBio launches the Food Innovation Working Group to boost the biotechnological potential of the Spanish agri-food sector

  • The Spanish agri-food sector has undeniable strategic value for the national economy due to its impact on GDP: Spain ranks as the eighth global agri-food power.
  • Within AseBio, over 25% of our members work in the agri-food sector, with presence across the entire value chain: from R&D phases to industrial stage.
  • This group focuses its objectives on highlighting Spanish food innovation and Food tech, as well as driving food innovation to achieve recognition of new types of nutrients for both human and animal consumption.

     
AseBio
Unas manos sostienen en sus palmas tierra y plantas
Agrifood
Food & feed
Agriculture
Animal health

Climate change, land and ecosystem degradation, increased demand for healthier foods, and population growth pose significant challenges for humanity in terms of food. Given the current context, we need to seek and promote new, more sustainable economic models based on innovative forms of production and consumption that respect our planet.

The United Nations estimates that the world population will reach nearly 10 billion people by 2050, making it necessary to increase food production and ensure its availability. Furthermore, it's essential that the food produced is nutritious, healthy, and obtained sustainably. Tools such as biotechnology enable us to improve the nutrition and health of both humans and animals and promote more sustainable agriculture that better utilizes natural resources.

The transformative potential of the biotechnology industry, rooted in the triple perspective of economic, social, and environmental sustainability, allows for the development of crops resistant to diseases and adverse climatic conditions. It reduces the use of chemical pesticides, decreases soil erosion, preserves lands from deforestation, and conserves biodiversity. Additionally, it ensures safer and healthier food by enhancing crops, obtaining new sources of proteins and functional foods with higher nutritional value, and detecting and identifying substances. Moreover, it enables increasingly personalized nutrition.

On the other hand, biotechnology allows for the improvement of animal health through new vaccines, veterinary biopharmaceuticals, and molecular tools for early disease diagnosis, as well as enhancing animal nutrition through the acquisition and validation of functional ingredients.

The Spanish agri-food sector has an undeniable strategic value for the national economy due to its impact on GDP, but also for its capacity for territorial cohesion in the face of our country's demographic challenge. Spain is the eighth global agri-food power. Within AseBio, over 25% of our partners work in the agri-food sector, with a presence across the entire value chain: from R&D phases to the industrial stage.

"The agri-food sector is undergoing a historic and unavoidable transformation. The world's population will continue to grow, and climate change will not give us respite. So, we must find solutions. Insects are an advanced biotechnological tool that we have barely used to date. And they can help us along that path because they are not only a source of high-quality sustainable protein but also allow us to optimize the production of many other foods", declares Adriana Casillas, co-founder, and CEO of Tebrio.

With the aim of highlighting the work of our partners and promoting disruptive innovations derived from their work, AseBio has launched the Food Innovation Working Group. This group focuses its objectives on highlighting Spanish food innovation and Food tech, as well as driving food innovation by working towards the recognition of new types of nutrients for human and animal consumption in a more environmentally sustainable way.

The Food Innovation Working Group has nearly 60 members from 30 entities, including technological centers, foundations, institutions, promotion and investment centers, startups, and national companies. The AseBio partners comprising this Working Group are focused on the development and innovation of food, such as animal feed and feed, functional ingredients, new protein sources, prebiotics and probiotics, as well as vitamins and other nutrition products.

One of the main goals of AseBio's Food Innovation Working Group is to promote the establishment of an appropriate and stable national and European regulatory framework to facilitate the contributions of biotechnology to food production. This path also requires working to ensure that food innovation involves all necessary stakeholders for its optimal development.

"Biotecnology is positioning itself as the key tool to build a more sustainable and healthy agri-food industry. However, for this change to occur, biotechnology faces a series of challenges that need to be addressed, such as regulation, recognition, and driving food innovation. AseBio has the necessary tools to drive the sector and support companies in creating a more sustainable and healthy industry and society," concludes Bosco Emparanza, coordinator of AseBio's Food Innovation Working Group and founder and CEO of MOA Foodtech.

Contact information

PRESS CONTACT   

Ángel Luis Jiménez
Communications Director
662 172 126
ajimenez@asebio.com

Carlos Sanz
Communication and Digital Contents Technician
csanz@asebio.com 

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About AseBio

AseBio brings together more than 300 entities and represents the Spanish biotechnology sector as a whole. Its mission is to lead the transformation of the country, positioning science, innovation and especially biotechnology as an engine of economic growth and social welfare. Its members include companies, associations, foundations, universities, technology and research centers that develop their activities directly or indirectly related to biotechnology in Spain. https://www.asebio.com/