Sights on food tech innovations

Barilla and Lavazza have both joined the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center, a Lugano-based hub for research and development activities. According to a press release, to mark this development, the two food corporations, together with existing partners in the form of Accenture, Microsoft, Loomish and UBS, have established an open innovation initiative: the Food-Tech Innovation Award – Retail Edition. 

For this, international start-ups focused on B2B and B2B2C services in two areas (the development of innovative multi-channel experiences and services for end customers in the food retailing sector and the digital evolution of brand-retailer relationships through online and offline data exchanges) are being invited to take part.

The call to tender is not aimed at start-ups right at the beginning of their journey, but is rather directed exclusively at mature B2B start-ups that have already posted a profit, have developed existing use cases and boast a structured team. Applications can be submitted up to May 16. The selected finalists will be invited to present their ideas in front of a high-ranking jury made up of representatives from all partners on June 15 in Lugano in the canton of Ticino.

“I am delighted to announce the partnership with Barilla and Lavazza today”, comments President of the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center, Carlo Terreni, in the press release. From Lugano, they are planning to “jointly remodel and refresh the food retailing sector”.

The Università della Svizzera italiana (USI: University of Italian Switzerland) and University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Italian Switzerland (SUPSI) are two of the partners of the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center, which provides research and development services for large corporations operating in the food, fashion, design and travel industries.