Changes to the food business horizon: certain difficulties, new opportunities


On November 6th, the Seminar "Changes to the food business horizon: certain difficulties, new opportunities" was held in Madrid. Its aim was to exchange experiences, detect business opportunities and create a bond within a group of people with shared interests within of the National Food Sector. More than fifty people from the three links of the Food Chain were able to share their opinions and experiences on this day.

To address these aims, real and current cases of food companies were analyzed, and two Conferences-Colloquium were held in which reflections and ideas were contributed to tackle the current strategic challenges in the Food Chain. Professionals from first-rate companies were in attendance.

Professor Miguel Ángel Llano Irusta presented the case study entitled "Grupo Agro Sevilla: facing the challenge of the North American market" where the situation of Agro Sevilla was raised in 2017 and how the boom in protectionism in the United States is affecting the Spanish olive sector.

Conversely, Professor Fernando Faces, approaching the situation of fear of the banks with the rise in taxes and the foreseeable increase in public spending, gave a lecture on whether the current policy is correct, how the tariff crisis can affect the companies and if the banks are truly ready for a cycle change.

Professor José Luis García Pueyo reflected with the participants on how to carry out the three key aims for the presence of a company in the digital environment. For this he used the Case Study entitled "Grupo DIA; How to develop a digital presence from scratch" and helped attendees reflect on the importance of e-commerce in food companies and how to tackle issues involved.

Finally, Professor Julio Audicana Arcas proposed an interesting debate with a conference on Amazon entitled "You digitalize, or you get digitalized". This debate served as reflection on the rise of this new player that has entered the food sector through the purchase of "Whole Foods" and how it can affect all the links in the chain, including manufacturers and suppliers.

These cases and conferences served so that seminar attendees could take interesting ideas to apply to their companies and continue to improve the Spanish and global Food Sector.