Italian food production must be accompanied by a continuous search for product and process innovation to continue to maintain its competitive position and give value to a production that is characterized by high levels of excellence.

This is the challenge to be met by Industry 4.0, which is already changing the Italian food supply chain. This is a technological evolution involving Italian “know-how,” the territoriality of products, the problem of food waste, and the use of technology.

According to Federalimentare’s data, the agribusiness sector invests 8 percent of its sales in R&D, and today, in fact, about a quarter of sales are for innovative products with high added value, different reformulations of ingredients or otherwise positive consequences in public health. Among other things, these changes are often related to the natural evolution of society, and new foods, in fact, try to adapt to changes in the world.

Technologies are critical for agribusinesses that want to diversify into new markets. Indeed, only through research and machinery innovation can Made in Italy food go far, while maintaining its quality and wholesomeness characteristics And aiming to achieve, in this way, the goal of 50 million euros in exports pointed out precisely at Cibus in Parma by Agriculture Minister Martina.

It is precisely in the food machinery sector that Italy is doing really well: in 2015 the country exported machinery worth more than 3 billion, a growth of more than 6 percentage points. The coupling of the food sector and machinery, says Sace, the Cdp Group’s financial insurance company, could foster more than 400 million in additional exports by 2019.

The food supply chain, in this sense, must also involve machine and plant manufacturers: dialogue between these players and end customers is indispensable for the effective development of the sector and to boost innovation in the industry.