EATEX Food Innovation Hub
- Type
- Enabler
- Location
- Spain
- Industries
- Alternative proteins, Food ingredients & products, Food reformulation, Controlled environment agriculture, Farm input, Crop / plant science, Farm management & precision farming, Food safety & quality, Sustainable packaging & plastic alternatives, Supply chain monitoring & traceability, Waste efficiency, New food processing techniques
- Technologies
- Artificial intelligence, Digital Marketplace, Platform as a Service, Platform technology, Smart & digital, Platform & Service technologies
About EATEX Food Innovation Hub
EATEX Food Innovation Hub is a collaborative innovation hub focused on transferring and implementing technology in the agri-food industry. It is designed as a meeting point where science and business work together to turn research into practical solutions for the sector.
The hub serves companies and startups in the agri-food value chain, helping them identify needs, develop and validate solutions, and scale them into real-world implementation. Its positioning is centered on open, applied innovation with a strong emphasis on technology transfer, collaboration with research centers, and reducing the risk and uncertainty of innovation projects.
Core Values
- Collaboration: EATEX is built around cooperation between companies, startups, research centers, and public institutions. Co-creation and shared problem-solving are presented as the basis for successful innovation transfer.
- Applied innovation: The hub focuses on practical, industry-relevant innovation rather than abstract research. Its programs are designed to develop, validate, demonstrate, and implement solutions that can be used in the market.
- Agility: EATEX emphasizes fast, flexible project management and agile research models. It aims to reduce friction in innovation processes and respond quickly to real sector needs.
- Risk reduction: A recurring theme is lowering the risk of innovation through funding support, controlled testing, and structured validation. This helps companies make better decisions before scaling or commercializing new solutions.
Unique Aspects
- Backed by CNTA and the SINAI network: The hub is promoted by CNTA, with support from the Government of Navarra and collaboration from more than 10 R&D centers in the Navarra innovation system (SINAI).
- EU and public-program foundation: EATEX was created within the AGROALNEXT complementary agri-food plan and is financed through the EU NextGenerationEU recovery framework, giving it a strong public innovation mandate.
- First transversal agri-food sandbox in the EU: The Sandbox AgriFoodTech is presented as the first transversal agri-food sandbox in the European Union, combining scientific, regulatory, and public-private capabilities in one controlled environment.
- AI-enabled manufacturer matching: Its third-party manufacturing platform uses AI to match companies with verified manufacturers and copackers, adding a distinctive digital capability to the hub’s service offering.