Innovation

In line with consumer trends, and thanks to our knowledge of markets and consumers, our various businesses have continued to make progress in developing and improving products that are healthier and more natural, without losing taste; products that are safe and of the highest quality, with simpler and clearer composition and labelling.

Our innovation focuses on developing and improving products that are increasingly healthier, and that meet the demands of consumers concerned with healthy living. Our products have less sugar, less salt, fewer additives, fewer fats, more fibre and more proteins. For example, we have introduced ancestral grains such as quinoa, millet, spelt, buckwheat, oats, chia seeds, etc. into our products. They provide a great number of benefits for physical well-being.

In 2019 we have provided ourselves with the necessary resources to know our clients and consumers better and to anticipate their needs, tastes and demands. To do this, we base ourselves on a rigorous analysis of consumer trends at a global level, the markets in which we operate and our competitors, which we then specify in specific plans for each of our product categories.

Cerealto Siro Foods also makes an effort to offer solutions to groups with specific nutritional needs. That is why we have expanded our product range, reduced or eliminated sugars and gluten, and extended the use of alternative, healthier fats such as high-oleic sunflower-seed oil. We have a complete range of biscuits that are free of palm oil. We have also made great efforts to find alternative gluten-free products and to use technologies that can give us an advantage in this respect.

Cerealto Siro Foods has an innovation model divided into three levels:

Its organisational structure is made up of:

• The Innovation Committee, a strategic body responsible for establishing strategic lines, approving innovations and monitoring project results.
• The R&D Development Committee, focusing more on operational matters, such as process standardisation, documentation and monitoring.

Cerealto Siro Foods has teams composed of: Business Development Managers (BDMs), Category Development Managers (CDMs), New Product Developers (NPDs) and Project Managers (PMs), who are assigned to each innovation project to provide input from market, consumer, product and R&D perspectives and guarantee that we offer added-value projects that exceed our customers’ expectations.

We also have a strategic alliance with I+dea, an international private research and development centre that is a pioneer in the agro-food business. It has a team made up of more than 120 professionals, who provide advice and support for the development of know-how and solutions for our clients, ranging from the creation of new products and implementation of improvements (their acceptance by end consumers is always validated through panels or focus groups), to advice on cost savings, problem resolutions in the manufacturing process, and even consulting on legislation affecting product placement in new markets.

Co-innovation projects

At Cerealto we promote applied scientific knowledge through collaborative projects with European Universities and Food Research Centres. In 2022 we have collaborated in more than 300 innovation projects.

Innovation associations and platforms

We are members of the operational groups of the national and European Food4Life platform of the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Industries (FIAB).

Members of the Open and Collaborative Innovation Platform of AECOC (#PIA).

We participate in the Cereals Association together with large multinationals in the sector.

Members of the Forética Circular Economy Action Group.