Two Focus Group meetings have been organised by Life Supporting Technologies – Universidad Politécnica de Madrid on December 2020 representing MED Food TTHub in Spain. The objective was to gather ideas, experiences and opinions of the different actors involved in the agri-food chain in Spain on traceability and authenticity and their application. The first meeting was in person while the second one was virtual, not being possible for COVID-19 emergency to foresee a physical meeting.
In a nutshell, a total number of 9 participants (7 females and 2 males) were representing the four pillars of the Quadruple Innovation Helix with a societal and scientific relevance: Civil Society, Government and Public sector, Academia and Research; Industry and Business. These stakeholders represented different organisations including the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Industries (FIAB), the Innovation Unit of The Institute of Sanitary Research of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital (IdISSC), Madrid Region Confederation of Consumers and Users (CECU) and two Spanish SMEs devoted to the meat industry (Carnes Barbero S.L.) and the transport of food products across Europe (Transportes Lara Cea S.L.). The main argument throughout the session was the importance of traceability and authenticity in the food sector to achieve safe and responsible consumption, incorporating traditional and emerging technologies that play a leading role improving and facilitating these procedures. Interesting requirements and needs have been captured during these sessions. Thanks to the involvement of 2 nutritionists, functional and non-functional requirements from the Nutritional Profile Module that will be developed by UPM have been extracted.
At the end of the meetings, all the attendees expressed their gratitude and satisfaction for being part of a co-creation approach in the context of a European project aimed at improving the processes of traceability of food products.
The first step is here! Looking forward for new collaborations with such relevant entities in Spain!