For this month of June, the publication of the line of aid aimed at the members of the Catalunya Clusters program of ACCIÓ, with 29 clusters from all over Catalonia, a  program that was established with the purpose of supporting the transformation of the companies that make up these clusters. With this date in mind, the Packaging Cluster decided to organize a  webinar on May 27 with its associate members to explain this opportunity to finance collaborative projects and think together proposals that can meet the requirements of the same.

Encarni Avilés, ACCIÓ's Head of Cluster Team Training, announced that the Administration is expected to publish in June the call for grants for Iniciatives de Reforç de la Competitivitat, projects that improve the competitiveness of its strategy and that run as a lever for innovation. The program will subsidize up to € 100,000 per approved project, with a maximum intensity of 75% for the best valued report, and the involvement of up to 10 companies or environmental agents.

An example of a project that was conceived with the financing of this ACCIÓ grant and the knowledge of the associated company 3D Click, is The Pack Finder, the first packaging Marketplace that connects packaging suppliers with brands through a collaborative virtual platform.

Mònica Riera, Head of European Projects and Entrepreneurship of the Packaging Cluster, explained the point at which the initiative is located: “We are in the process of developing the Pack Finder platform, which we will launch during the Hispack fair in October. Little by little, we see how more companies begin to be part of this emerging community, such as: Hinojosa Packaging, Bonpreu, Areas, Pastisart or Galletas Trias, among others "

Below, four project proposals that may have a place in the aforementioned program were presented, such as the FoodStart.CAT project, a cross-cutting initiative between several cluster entities of the agri-food value chain (see here), which was created with the aim of generating new business opportunities between food entities and startups.

FoodStart.CAT is in a first phase in which it is trying to involve all the key players in the food sector, because as Mila Valcarcel, Managing Partner of Eatable Adventures, states: "The food ecosystem of Catalonia has the potential to become a HUB of world innovation"

With the development of this project, the aim is to solve specific challenges where the role of the clusters is to strengthen the Catalan ecosystem with new business models that can scale their disruptive solutions to other markets and industries.

On the other hand, another of the proposals that were shared in the session was the incorporation of the BCorp standard to different companies associated with the cluster, with the support of Roots for Sustainability.

Nil Ibáñez, Roots for Sustainability Analyst Consultant, explained the context of the project that is in a second phase, which, after focusing on the methodology of working and accompanying companies since 2019, is preparing to devise an individual plan per company for the adaptation to the Sustainable Development Goals in the short and medium term.

Identifying the environmental impact of companies, improving their management and being part of a community with the same collaborative vision are the objectives of this project.

The third proposal that was presented was the integration of Digital Marketing strategies through a program that promotes the transition towards the digital environment and active communication between companies - Business to Business -, with the Playbrand agency.

"During the covid we have seen how the generation of content in the digital space has multiplied and this has come to stay" as announced by the director of Playbrand, David Martí.

With this program tested in other entities such as the Catalan Water Partnership, the situation of each case will be analyzed, with which to obtain key information about its clients and help to know the weight of Digital Marketing in the strategy of those associated with the cluster.

We close the webinar with the latest disruptive proposal such as the application of Neuromarketing in the packaging sector with the expertise of the IRTA technology center, which will study the consumer's response to a specific packaging to know the direct interaction with the product

The IRTA expert in Sensory Analysis and Consumer Behavior Food Quality and Technology, Anna Claret, affirmed that thanks to this development it will be possible to determine the attributes of the packaging that are taken into account when making the purchase and the different communication systems with for sustainability.

If any of these proposals meets your needs as a company associated with the cluster, contact us at [email protected]