Food 4 Future – Expo Foodtech and Pick&Pack for Food Industry will take place simultaneously from April 16 to 18 at the BEC-Bilbao Exhibition Center.
Leaders of international companies such as Danone, Campofrío, General Mills, Vichy Catalán or Pascual will present their strategies and technologies to face the challenges of the food industry.

Bilbao, March 14, 2024 – Food 4 Future – Expo Foodtech 2024 presented this morning the novelties of its new edition, which will once again turn Bilbao into the capital of food innovation worldwide. In a year in which, as a novelty, it will be held simultaneously with Pick&Pack for Food Industry. Under the slogan ‘Foodtech 6.0’, F4F – Expo Foodtech will bring together more than 8,000 professional visitors, 280 exhibiting firms, and more than 450 international experts to share solutions, strategies and success stories that help transform the production plants of the food industry towards greener, sustainable, technological and digital factories.

During the presentation, Bittor Oroz, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy of the Basque Government, focused on the future of the sector and stressed that “either we apply technology or we will not be able to address issues such as decarbonization. We also have to commit to an increase in the production of sustainable and healthy food throughout Europe and to connect companies with people. Events such as Food 4 Future are undoubtedly a step towards achieving these objectives”.

For his part, Xabier Ochandiano, Delegate Councilor of the Economic Development, Commerce and Employment Area of the Bilbao City Council, pointed out that “Bilbao is very proud to have an international event like Food 4 Future, so important for the city and for this sector that is growing every year”. Likewise, Joseba Mariezkurrena, general director of Entrepreneurship, Talent and Business Competitiveness of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, said that “food has been identified as a strategic sector for Bizkaia, which also has an advanced entrepreneurship ecosystem connected with the whole world that favors the development and growth of technological startups and innovative companies”.

For María Jesús Abellán, head of the food innovation department of ICEX, “events like Food 4 Future are key to boost food innovation and for the international projection of our country, which is already an agri-food power and is taking the next step to position itself abroad as a benchmark in science and technology applied to food. From ICEX we work to consolidate, with activities like this, the image of Spain FoodTech Nation”.

The President of F4F – Expo Foodtech and CEO of Campofrío, Javier Dueñas, explained that this new edition will address industry challenges such as “population growth, where it is being proven that there are continents that have stagnated, but consumption has increased. We must try to ensure that innovations contribute to meeting these challenges in a post-inflationary moment, where technology and innovation have become essential in the face of changes such as the rebalancing that the food industry value chain is undergoing”.

For three days, leading firms such as AgroBank, AZTI, Basque Culinary Center, Blendhub, Chemometric Brain, Christeyns, the Basque Food Cluster, IFR, Siemens and Tecnalia, among others, will showcase the latest foodtech technologies in robotics and automation, sustainability, and food science and safety, among other solutions. In fact, business development and the promotion of the creation of new companies and businesses are two of the fundamental bets that Euskadi pursues for the strengthening and growth of the value chain of food and gastronomy, a strategic sector for the Basque economy. That is why Euskadi will have a stand where the instruments available to the food and beverage industries at the institutional level will be presented.

World summit of food industry leaders at Food 4 Future World Summit

Once again this year, F4F – Expo Foodtech will host the Food 4 Future World Summit congress, where technology in food production and preservation will be one of the central themes of the new edition. “This year will showcase the latest advances in precision agriculture, sustainable practices and conservation technologies, and will address the impact of generative AI and Big Data on the supply chain in the food sector. The implications of the inflationary environment and geopolitical factors for the sector will also be discussed. Also, different COOs from leading companies in the food industry will address the challenges and trends of the future, changes in consumer demands, food safety or the incorporation of next-generation ingredients,” summarized Rogelio Pozo, Director of the Food 4 Future World Summit congress and CEO of AZTI.

Leaders from companies such as Danone, Campofrío, Mahou San Miguel, Pascual, Nestlé, Estrella Galicia, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Iberia, Sanygram or Eroski will be just some of the more than 450 international experts who will discuss and present the latest trends in the food and beverage industry.

Pick&Pack for Food Industry lands in Bilbao together with F4F – Expo Foodtech

The new edition of Pick&Pack 2024, after passing through Madrid, will arrive in Bilbao and will be held simultaneously with F4F – Expo Foodtech from April 16 to 18 at the BEC. The only event in Spain specialized in packaging and logistics for the food industry will bring together leading firms that will present their latest solutions in processing systems, containers and packaging, logistics robotics, transport, traceability and traceability, supply chain, labeling and coding, packaging systems and new materials for packaging; in addition to technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, IIoT or Data Analytics, among others.

About Food 4 Future – Expo Foodtech (April 16-18, 2024, BEC-Bilbao): F4F – Expo Foodtech is the innovation event for professionals from the entire food industry value chain. For three days, F4F – Expo Foodtech will bring together, at Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), more than 8,000 food industry professionals and 250 exhibiting firms to present the latest solutions in foodtech, robotics and automation, processing and packaging machinery for the different segments of the food industry, as well as food safety and food science. In addition, it will host the Food 4 Future World Summit, the largest European congress in which to discover the latest trends, success stories and tools to transform the food and beverage industry from the hand of more than 450 international experts. F4F – Expo Foodtech is organized by NEBEXT and AZTI. This year, F4F – Expo Foodtech 2024 will be held simultaneously with Pick&Pack for Food Industry, the only event in Spain specialized in packaging and logistics solutions for the food industry.

About Pick&Pack for Food Industry (16-18 April 2024 | BEC – Bilbao Exhibition Centre): is an event organized by NEBEXT, a company specialized in professional events focused on innovation and technology transfer, such as HIP, Digital Enterprise Show, Rebuild, Tourism Innovation Summit or Advanced Factories. Pick&Pack is a boutique innovation event for industrial leaders and SMEs in the food industry looking for solutions in logistics, intralogistics and packaging. Two congresses will be held within the framework of the summit: the European Logistics Summit 2024, specialized in distribution; and the National Packaging 4.0 Congress, dedicated to packaging. Pick&Pack 2024 will be held simultaneously with Food 4 Future – Expo Foodtech, the international innovation event for the food and beverage industry.

For more information and press materials: press@expofoodtech.com | press@pickpackexpo.com | +34 919 551 551

For BIOGA, it is a priority to promote intersectoral collaboration between entities and to power networking activities, both national and international. If you want to know more about us, please click the following link.