Food Industry

In Mexico, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, during the first half of 2022, the agri-food sector exported products worth 27 billion 645 million dollars to the world, representing a 15 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021. In addition, imports stood at 21 billion 108 million dollars, a growth of 19 percent.

According to data of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Spanish agri-food sector is made up of some 900,000 farms and more than 31,000 food companies, of which more than 95% are SMEs, with 80% of the companies having less than 10 workers.

The digital evolution of the agro-industrial sector has become an indispensable tool for its development and sustainability in the current economic environment, and requires the extension of technological adaptation, the reduction of the gap between companies of such different types, and the parallel development of the appropriate use of data to achieve it. data to achieve this goal.. All the above, gives rise to a third objective, a logical consequence and evolution of the previous ones and, from our point of view is important, as we will see a little later, as is the impulse to the identification of new business models.

Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) are the organization and transmission of knowledge between people, organizations and institutions that use and produce this knowledge for use in agriculture and related fields. These AKIS, both regional and national, as well as international, represent an interesting model of exchange of great value in situations of increased business value that we believe it is of great value to enhance. . 

Where do we bring maximum value in the digital evolution of agri-food companies?

At Smartup we have developed trend research platforms in multiple sectors (consumer goods, tourism, electoral...) following the same strategy. We have applied behavioral analytics (IOB) to increase productivity in farms and we have related this productivity to marketing by establishing sales forecasting models. 

All of these are high-value actions depending on the stage of digital evolution in which the company in question finds itself. However, having advanced in all of them with significant results, we note a next step that can exponentially multiply the value achieved: interaction with new information ecosystems. 

The agro-industrial sector takes place in a specific socio-economic context, such as the rural environment, with its shortages and opportunities, which lives from the consumption of its products by people who are in completely different life contexts. The models of advanced analytics applied to business start by generating optimizations of production and efficiency in production processes, quickly opening the door to possible new products and services, but it is only a little further along in the process, in a third phase, when we reach what is called the Outcome Economy or a data-driven economy based on the sustainable creation of value for society. And this is where, at Smartup, we believe the real opportunity for sustainable growth of the sector and its companies lies. A sustainability based on crossing the behavior of those who, for example, do not want sugar, but value the care of the environment, seek quality products, but appreciate that they are produced in sustainable environments, in short, a group of consumers who share a culture of responsible consumption and with values close and assimilable by companies that have been able to distinguish and associate them with their products and communications.

In conclusion, this is a sector that is entering fully into the implementation of a solid external analytical structure to understand behaviors, an internal one to give value to its own data ecosystem and thus make it attractive to those with whom we would be interested in sharing it and, finally, developing an appropriate positioning that brings the company closer to a pull economy, which we will reach when technological systems have advanced sufficiently and artificial intelligence knows what to advise consumers to meet their objectives of satisfaction, health and sustainable care of the environment.