For three days, the event brings together more than 8,000 professionals from the food industry in Bilbao and has more than 280 exhibiting companies.
From April 16 to 18, Food 4 Future – FoodTech Expo will be held in Bilbao, a global event that brings together more than 8,000 professionals from the food and beverage industry and has more than 280 exhibiting companies with the latest trends in innovation, sustainability and digitization. The objective is to share the latest developments in regulation, safety, new ingredients and solutions in the food field.
Food 4 Future Bilbao brings together some of the strategic pillars of Grupo UVESA such as innovation, digitalization and sustainability, so the company’s representation has been made up of Miguel Ángel Sanz, deputy director; Manuel Rojas, director of technology and systems; Ana Pascual, responsible for sustainability and environment; and Elena Molinero, head of R&D&i.
Water use efficiency
Precisely, on Tuesday Miguel Ángel Sanz participated in a round table on the efficiency of water use together with other companies of great relevance within the Spanish agri-food sector (Entrepinares, Leche Gaza and ACOR).
The objective of this forum was to share strategies to optimize the use of this resource, sustainable practices and practical applications of technology that different companies implement to achieve efficient and responsible management throughout the entire value chain.
According to Miguel Sanz, Grupo UVESA works at two levels, both in its own or integrated farms and in the industry. Sanz explained the measures that UVESA currently takes and that are allowing significant savings, as well as the company’s objectives in the short and medium term. Among the first, he cited rainwater collection systems on livestock farms for reuse as washing water, which achieve savings of more than 45% of annual consumption. He also automates cleaning using robots, with up to 15% savings, and which also contributes to raising awareness among farmers in the efficient use of water resources, among others.
Within the industrial part of the UVESA Group, work is being done on other measures such as the installation of solenoids at points in the process that involve a large consumption of water, such as the box washing machine, estimating savings of between 5 and 10%.
All members of the table agreed to urge administrations to study the current restrictions regarding the reuse of water in production processes, complying with water quality standards and always focusing on food safety. In this sense, they echoed the news published in El Mundo and titled The Government is studying allowing the use of reused water in the food industry “if health guarantees are given”, a measure demanded by the Spanish Federation of Food Industries and Beverages (FIAB) in order to opt for preferential access to water and where the employers warn that the drought may cause food shortages.