QualityFry, food technology for the hospitality sector

The term Foodtech refers to everything that is about to the application of new food technologies: from production to distribution and consumption, through innovation in products, logistics, marketing or business; everything that offers a new, improved value chain, with food safety and efficiency, as well as new solutions that promote sustainability.

According to the latest report from ICEX Spain Export and Investments, that seeks to focus and put in context the international potential of Spanish Foodtech, Spain is positioned as the fourth largest agri-food power in Europe and tenth in the world.

In addition, 2021 began as one of the most decisive scenarios for the Spanish foodtech ecosystem, since investment in startups has tripled (€695M) with which 400 start-ups have been created that work focused on the development of the future of agrifood value chain. These data are one of the main conclusions of the study Foodtech in Spain: Moving the Spanish Food System Forward which places Spain among the world leaders in the sector.

Reviewing the Foodtech ecosystem in Spain, have been analized the startups that work from the beginning to the end of the value chain. That is why, ICEX, in its report, has divided it into four sections that cover various sources of innovation and technologies such as biotechnology, robotics, blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data.

Percentage of foodtech startups by area of the agri-food value chain

Agritech 24%

1. Ag-Biotech: soil regeneration, seed optimization, etc. through the use of biotechnology.
2. Crop automation systems: Software and hardware for agriculture.
3. Robotics applied to agriculture.
4. Water management. and new growing systems: Vertical Farming, Indoor Farming, hydroponic and aquaponic crops, etc.
5. Intensive cultivation systems (greenhouses and productive improvements).
6. Marketplaces for agriculture.
7. Others.

Food production and transformation 35%

1. New sources of ingredients: plant-based, fermentation, biosynthesis and insects.
2. New products made with new ingredients. Includes all kinds of innovations.
3. Technology applied to the improvement of food production processes.
4. Packaging and Traceability (including blockchain and IOT).
5. Food safety.
6. Food waste management and circular economy.
7. Others.

Logistics, distribution and retail 24%

1. Robotics applied to retail.
2. Retail analytics platforms.
3. New sales channels: Direct to Consumer models (online sales, meal kits, digital native brands, new generation vending, etc).
4. Smart tags. Such as traceability, knowledge.
5. Delivery and last mile of packaged products.
6. Food waste management of packaged and retail products
7. Others.

Restaurant tech 17%

1. Reservation platforms
2. Hospitality management platforms
3. Cloud Kitchens.
4. Cooking Robots: kitchen applied robotics
5. Payment services development
6. Restaurant marketplaces
7. Delivery and last mile Horeca
8. Food waste management Horeca
9. Others

Below is a map of the main Spanish Foodtech startups, selected by degree of investment and innovation, placed in the different phases of the chain.

Restaurant tech with QualityFry

The sector has experienced a very notable boost in 2021, consolidating its position as a strategic niche for innovation in the food industry. Thanks to these technologies, the Foodtech ecosystem will be closer to facing sustainability, a challenge presented by the agri-food industry.

In the restaurant tech section, the development of tools for the digital management of restaurants grew in the last year from 22% to 40% of startups.

The digitization of restaurant processes is gaining strength and hospitality professionals are beginning to anticipate the demands of their customers. For this, it is important to trust companies that have a patent for their technology, such as QualityFry.

All QualityFry equipment incorporates the ecofry technology developed by the brand, the results are to offer quality, healthy and specially sustainable frying. Studies show that up to 24% energy is saved compared to a conventional fryer because our innovative, closed, vertical frying module fries with no light and with virtually no oxygen In this way, we minimise heat loss and ensure a constant oil temperature during frying, saving of 37% in oil. Finally, during the frying and drying process in our equipment, the water, the evaporated oil and the volatilized solid particles are extracted, leaving a golden and crunchy product, also achieving food free of excess oil and products made in record time (a 27% less frying time).

On the other hand, its Built-in smoke extraction and condensation extraction system ensures that smoke and odors are not emitted during the frying process. In this way we seek to respond to the sectors and businesses that do not have extraction or smoke outlet and promote new consumption scenarios.

Automatic and intelligent, it is another of the characteristics that make diferrence QualityFry. It does not require additional or specialized personnel. They are Plug & Play, that is why, they only need an electrical outlet to start cooking and they can be installed in different locations, offering autonomy and mobility thanks to their reduced dimensions.