iBET Hosts Industry Open Day: Driving Agri-Food Innovation Through Sustainable R&D Solutions

On February 19th, iBET’s Sustainability for Food & Health Division, with the support of FIPA (Federação das Industrias Portuguesas Agro-alimentares), hosted a fruitful and rewarding Industry Open Day, welcoming 30 representatives from the national agri-food industry.

The event began with opening remarks from Paula Alves (CEO of iBET), and Maria Lina Dionísio (Director of the division at iBET), who emphasized iBET’s commitment to strengthening partnerships with the agri-food sector and developing innovative solutions to address industry challenges. Pedro Queiroz (General Director of FIPA) also addressed the audience, reaffirming FIPA’s dedication to promoting RD&I of its associate members, enhancing the sector’s growth and global competitiveness.

The program continued with engaging talks by researchers Teresa Serra, Teresa Crespo, and Frédéric Gaspar, showcasing iBET’s R&D capabilities in the areas of Natural Bioactives & Nutraceuticals and Microbiology and Molecular Biology. Through specific case-studies, they demonstrated how iBET’s research has been successfully applied in past and ongoing collaborative projects, delivering effective solutions to current challenges.

Left to right: Presentations on iBET’s Sustainability for Food & Health R&D capabilities by Maria Lina Dionísio, Frédéric Gaspar and Teresa Crespo, and Teresa Serra

Attendees were then guided on a tour of iBET’s facilities, including the semi-pilot unit (Technological Platform) dedicated to developing sustainable technologies for the extraction, purification, and formulation of natural functional ingredients.

Left to right: Guided tour of the R&D facilities presented by Rosário Bronze and Naiara Fernández

By promoting knowledge-sharing and strengthening ties with the agri-food sector, this Industry Open Day demonstrated iBET’s ongoing commitment to advancing sustainable solutions for food and health.