The Free Zone of Cádiz participates in the II Agro-food Summit "Global Agro-food Systems", which will be held on March 23 and 24 in Barcelona as part of the Alimentaria 2026 fair. The event, organized by the INCYDE Foundation and the Mediterranean Diet Foundation, brings together institutional representatives, experts, and companies to address the main challenges and opportunities of food systems at a global level.
The State Delegate in the Cádiz Consortium, Fran González, speaks at one of the round tables of the forum, titled "The value of sustainability in a global world", where Fernando Miranda, Deputy Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Mari Luz Castilla, an expert in sustainability and ESG aspects, and independent consultant; and Ana Palencia, Director of Communication and Sustainability at Unilever Spain, also participate. The table is moderated by Óscar Hernández, Director of Public Affairs, Communication, and Sustainability at Grupo Pascual and President of Ecoembes Commercial.
González presents at this forum the industry model developed by the Free Zone of Cádiz, in which innovation, sustainability, and the Blue Economy act as central axes. The delegate also informs about the Decarbonization Plan of the Cádiz institution and the advances made in this area, with the recovery of a Cádiz salina as a pilot project for blue carbon intended to offset the CO₂ footprint of the Free Zone.
Within the framework of the summit, the Blue Core project has its own stand where the activities developed in the field of Blue Economy linked to the food sectors are displayed. Six of the startups working in food-related activities within the Incubazul-Blue Core acceleration program are present in the exhibitors' area, and one of them makes a presentation to the attendees.
The startups participating in Alimentaria 2026 are Salaria, dedicated to the sustainable extraction of artisanal salt with differentiated organoleptic and nutritional properties; Productos La Salá, which produces innovative products based on salicornia harvested in the natural park of the Bay of Cádiz; Escaramujo Wines, an underwater winery; Marisma Biomed, which develops functional foods and dietary supplements with ingredients from the marsh; Flavoom, dedicated to the production and distribution of homemade, vegan, and sustainable sauces and vegetable preserves; and SeaBites, which produces natural pet food from marine products.
Fran González has pointed out the importance of the presence of the Free Zone of Cádiz, Blue Core, and the six startups at the Agro-food Summit, which "will provide visibility to the institution's projects related to the Blue Economy and will create new contact opportunities in one of the main international forums of the food sector." The delegate reminded that the summit takes place within the framework of Alimentaria, a fair that has gathered the entire value chain of the food industry since its inception in 1976 and has established itself as one of the major international benchmarks in the sector.
The presence of the Free Zone of Cádiz at this forum is part of the strategy of the Cádiz Consortium to position the Blue Economy as an opportunity sector linked to innovation and sustainability, with special attention to the utilization of marine resources and the marshes of the Bay of Cádiz for the development of high-value-added food products.