Future Gastronomy Startup Forum

10-12 March 2025 | IFEMA - Madrid

 

 

HIP 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.

Winning Startup 2024

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.

Finalist Startups 2024

EFFIWASTE combines technology, training, and industry to eliminate food waste in the HORECA channel. They develop solutions that promote circular economy practices in the sector through waste measurement software, specialized training, report generation, and the installation of in-house composters.

mappetite studio is an assisted design software aimed at chefs and culinary creatives for the creation of gastronomic dishes and menus. An all-in-one platform to create an unlimited number of dishes while maintaining the balance between taste, nutrition, environment and cost.

VÄCKA was born with the mission to support the transition to a more sustainable and efficient diet. To this end, the company develops and manufactures 100% vegetable cheeses respecting traditional fermentation and ripening processes, and from organic ingredients without artificial flavorings, lactose, soy, gluten or GMO products.

We are the combination of the most compact and advanced corn tortilla machine and the freshest and most natural corn flour/mass.

Jury 2024

Alberto Criado
Principal
Cardumen VC
Luis Treviño
Investment Analyst
Draper B1
Amaia Egia Arronategi
New Business Development Manager
Mondragon Business Development Center
Cristian Ull
Cofuounder
Area101
Jose Peláez
Head of Digital Innovation
BCC Innovation y LABe (Basque Culiary Center)

Winners of previous editions

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.