Vive las verduras

Presentation of Olus Tecnología

Olus Tecnología signs a framework agreement with various technology centres.

With the aim of creating high added-value products and generating a research hub that focuses on vegetables, Olus Tecnología has been set up, a business project that was presented on Tuesday 13 May at the 2nd International 'Vive las Verduras' Conference held in the Baluarte Conference Centre in Pamplona.

At the ceremony presenting Olus Tecnología, a joint venture involving Barlovento (55%) and SODENA (45%), a framework agreement was signed with various technology centres of organizations that are benchmarks in the sector - the Public University of Navarre, the University of Navarre, the Technical Institute for Agricultural Management (ITGA) and the National Centre of Technology and Food Safety (CNTA) - to carry out research and act as a point of liaison between these entities and agri-food companies, as well as transferring technology internationally to very diverse business sectors related to this industry.

The agreement was signed by the manager of Olus Tecnología, Miguel Isaacs, the director of the Department of Knowledge Transfer at the Public University of Navarre, Cristina Bayona, Guillermo García Del Barrio from the Science and Technology Institute of Navarre, the director of CNTA, Demetrio Fernández, and Javier Sanz Villar from ITGA.

For the first time, the science and technology centres working in the sector in Navarre have united their objectives through this framework agreement to work together towards research and development.

Olus Tecnología, which was founded with a clear vocation to spearhead actions in the sphere of modified atmospheres, high pressures and active packaging on an international level, is based in Navarre, a community that boasts the necessary infrastructure to become an international benchmark in the agri-food sector, as apart from its products, industries and research facilities it also has an in-depth knowledge of the sector.

Indeed, its network of industries produces a very significant proportion (13.2%) of the total output of Spanish agri-food companies.

Olus Tecnología's activities, as a business project that will be constantly open to the entry of new partners, will enable high added-value products to be created based on technology to respond to market demands, hence generating evident benefits for society.

The envisaged contribution from the partners over the next three years is around 2.5 million euros, of which just over one million will be in the form of participation loans granted by SODENA.

The creation of Olus represents a clear step forward in developing the “Proyecto Vive” research project, which has already been working for the agri-food sector since 2007, because despite the concerted efforts made in the last few years by companies, associations, technology centres, etc., this is an industry where there is still a significant deficit in investments in R&D; this calls for there to be much greater research, especially in view of current alimentary practices.

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