Agrifood

Navarra is one of the leading ecosystems in agrifood in Spain. It is located in the Ebro Valley, and promotes and facilitates innovative processes being developed by the sector, thus improving its activity.

Navarra is one of the leading agrifood clusters in Spain

Navarra has a high-quality and innovative agrifood industry that is committed to the region, being recognised as a European benchmark.

With an annual turnover of €4.5 billion, plus 1.€129 billion from the primary sector, Navarra provides a solid agrifood base that practically covers the entire value chain, from the primary sector to the agrifood industry.

The agrifood sector is the second largest area of Navarra’s economy, representing 5% of total regional GDP and 14% of industrial GDP. It is a dynamic sector where exports of Navarra’s agrifood products account for 12% of all exports, a growing annually by 40% since 2014 and exceeding other sectors in Navarra.

The sector is composed of a wide variety of companies, some of which are recognised internationally:

Do you want to know the keys to invest in the agri-food sector in Navarra?

REGION OF THE FUTURE

Why invest in this sector in Navarra?

High production capacity

Easy access to raw materials in the Ebro Valley and 55,000 more hectares of high-quality irrigated land with no energy costs and a high level of concentration of ownership facilitate production.

Specialised industrial estates

We have specialised industrial estates for the agrifood sector. The Agrifood City of Tudela (CAT), a unique initiative in Europe with one million square metres for the food processing sector with centralised services in a strategic location.

Several consolidated industrial estates house agrifood industries in the Ebro Valley.

Direct access to the Spanish market

Our connectivity and the high quality of transport and logistics infrastructures make it very easy to launch on the Spanish market.

Qualified employees

Qualified employees with technical and academic training for the food and agriculture sector, ranging from basic training to postgraduate degrees.

An end-to-end innovation ecosystem

Technology centres, research institutes, clusters and universities, together with public-private partnerships between science, industry and the government, make Navarra a leader in agrifood innovation and the creation of new lines of growth in the sector.

The National Centre of Food Technology and Safety (CNTA) works hand to hand with the agrifood sector to establish new lines of quality, technology, safety and innovation in food. It focuses mainly on five large areas: research, development and innovation (R&D&i) in food; analytical control of food products, assistance with the process, quality management systems and food safety; technical training and consulting.

The Institute for Agrifood Technology and Infrastructures of Navarra (INTIA) provides specialised infrastructures for:

Food Sciences Institute of the University of Navarra: the extensive experience of the university in pharmaceutical development is directly applicable to nutrition research, providing a multidisciplinary platform that covers the entire process necessary for developing nutraceutical/functional foods.

Agrobiotechnology Institute (IAB): it is a joint centre, co-owned by the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Government of Navarra. The centre specialises in various areas of biomedical research.

 The Institute for Innovation & Sustainable Development in the Food Chain (IS-FOOD) seeks to produce, innovate and promote safe, sustainable and healthy food, working in 5 large areas: Soil, water and input management, Primary production, Food innovation; Food consumption, nutrition and health and Business management.

IS-FOOD organises its research into three major areas: the challenge of human food requirements in the 21st century, sustainable production and food quality, and Agrifood innovation.

Orizont is an innovation driver for the agrifood sector that looks for solutions to innovation challenges faced by large companies across Navarra.

NAGRIFOOD is an agrifood cluster in Navarra with more than 80 companies, which aims to align the sector with European innovation and sustainability policies, and detect opportunities for all actors across the value chain

Some sector companies

Latest agrifood news

Sungrow Ibérica

Sungrow Ibérica’s presence in Navarra is due to the fact that its current director, Javier Izcue, was convinced that the region would be an ideal place to implement an ambitious business plan in the field of renewables. The strategy he designed convinced the managers of this Chinese multinational specialising in photovoltaic inverters. And they were not wrong. In these years, they have achieved a turnover of over 100 million euros and have become a key region for the multinational’s strategic plans.

S21sec

S21sec was one of the first companies to use ethical hacking techniques. They were born in the middle of the bursting of the dotcom bubble, but it didn’t take them long to make the market understand the importance of cybersecurity and the capacity and specialization of their professionals. They were born in Donostia-San Sebastian, but the financial support of the Navarre Administration led them to change their headquarters to Navarra a few years later.
Other sectors

Automotive industry

Navarra, a strategic enclave for the automotive industry. This sector represents around 25% of industrial GDP in Navarra, which represents 30% of GDP of the Autonomous Community of Navarra.

Renewable energies

Navarra has a long tradition in the automotive sector. This sector represents a quarter of industrial GDP, which in turn represents 25% of regional GDP.

Health

Navarra is at the forefront of personalised medicine in Europe, with a competitive health sector capable of launching innovative and accessible solutions to health challenges on the market.

ICT

Through Big Data and artificial intelligence, Navarra is committed to becoming a benchmark in digital transformation and innovation both in the public and private sectors, as well as at academic level.