Future Gastronomy Startup Forum

HIP 2024 – Horeca Professional Expo is a gathering at IFEMA in Madrid (February, 19th – 21th 2024) dedicated to innovation, digital transformation and emerging trends in the hospitality and food service industries (HORECA) where LABe – Digital Gastronomy Lab and Culinary Action, initiatives by Basque Culinary Center will host the Future Gastronomy Startup Forum: a showcase for synergizing and networking with a global, yet specialized, audience, including business leaders, potential partners and investors, and young entrepreneurs.

This forum is looking for disruptive and emerging projects that will impact gastronomy and hospitality in the future in the following categories and technologies:

• New foods, ingredients and processes (alternative proteins, fermentation, nutraceuticals and supplements, functional properties, personalized foods, healthy foods, robotics and automation)
• Sustainability & circular economy (sustainable materials, smart labeling, smart packaging, edible packaging, safety, transparency & traceability, food waste prevention/avoidance, upcycling, logistics and transportation, shelflife optimization)
• Culinary & sensory science
• Innovative kitchen and dining room machinery and equipment
• Virtual and augmented reality
• Indoor farming
• 3D food printing
• IoT – Internet of Things
• Enhanced customer experiences (accessories, music, services, personalized gastronomy)
• Distribution, logistics and traceability (transparency, information)
• Food delivery & On Demand
• Gastro-Tourism
• Smart restaurants and establishments (management, operations, inventory, suppliers, waste management, business intelligence, energy efficiency, personnel training, marketing, finance, customer knowledge & management, personalization)
• Connectivity (platforms, browsing, orders, reservations, payments, loyalty)

If you’ve got innovative solutions, here is your opportunity to present your project to the sector’s leading companies, potential partners and specialized investors.

Oreka Circular Economy stands as a force against food waste, providing companies with the opportunity to safely donate their surpluses to receiving entities. In return, this application opens the door to tax benefits, provides crucial data to guide management decisions, and supports Corporate Social Responsibility compliance, with a tangible social and environmental impact.

The company operates with three distinct lines of benefits. Firstly, it meticulously details the social and environmental impact generated by customers who avoid food waste. Secondly, it provides data, key indicators, and trends to empower them on their path towards surplus reduction. And thirdly, donations not only fulfil an altruistic act but also contribute to the revaluation of food. As a result of donations managed by Oreka, companies experience a significant reduction in production costs, from 100% to 45% in terms of tax savings.

Furthermore, these donations are a formidable tool to boost CSR, allowing clients to stand out and lead in the sustainability of their environment. Additionally, it adds internal value by actively involving employees in this process.

In previous editions, the awards were given to the intelligent workforce scheduling startup Orquest; the artificial intelligence startup for online reputation management and monitoring, Cloud Reputation, which has been added to Mapal Software’s solutions portfolio; Janby Digital Kitchen, a solution for digitizing the Sous-Vide cooking process by auto-configuring each cooking cycle through QR code scanning; Proppos, an artificial vision startup specializing in food recognition through Artificial Intelligence for automated cashier payments; and CloudTown, a solution that boosts restaurant revenues by adding specialized virtual delivery brands to their kitchens.