The Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and Mercabarna have signed an agreement to promote a stable framework for cooperation between the parties to allow access to more than 700 companies located in Mercabarna to the Technology Platforms at the PCB under preferential economic conditions. The agreement was signed by Salvador Maluquer, general director of the PCB, and Joseph Tejeda, general director of Mercabarna.This initiative is part of the strategic goal of the PCB of becoming a reference point in the transfer of knowledge between the university and research and businesses.

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The scope of the agreement covers the following activities: offering various scientific and technological services at the PCB to Mercabarna and its customers, project collaboration between the PCB and Mercabarna and its customers (companies located in the food park) to develop technologies, products or services; consulting and project management in order to put into contact Mercabarna and its clients with companies located at the Barcelona Science Park and other external companies that might offer scientific and technology solutions not available at the PCB, and any other initiatives that may be agreed upon or be convenient for the interests and goals of both parties.

PCB technology platforms covered by the agreement include: Applied Research Platform in Laboratory Animals (PRAAL), the Toxicology and Ecotoxicology Unit, and the Proteomics Platform, with the aim to provide to the more than 700 companies located in Mercabarna with added value related to issues such as genetic traceability due to regulatory requirements (final quality certification of the product when it reaches consumption), health issues (detection of contamination in raw or processed produce), fraud detection (quality control throughout the production and distribution chain), and as a business opportunity (commercial differentiation against competitors based on quality).

The agreement also encompasses the possibility that other scientific and technology centers of the University of Barcelona (CCiTUB) may be incorporated in the agreement in future, a set of scientific-technological infrastructure, located partly at the PCB- whose primary mission is to support research and innovation in the fields of chemistry, materials sciences and biosciences sciences, among others.

With the establishment of this framework agreement, the PCB aims to provide the many companies located in Mercabarna with access to support services for R & D that can be provided by the infrastructures and facilities available at the PCB in order to facilitate innovation and knowledge transfer to such a strategic and productive sector as the agrifood sector.

Research and technology innovation in the field of fresh produce mainly affects the machinery to improve processes (processing potatoes, cutting and washing of fruits and vegetables, etc). Also in the field of the development of fourth and fifth ranges (fruit peeled for restaurants, skewers of meat and vegetables, seafood, seafood broths for sale in the supermarket, game bird delicatessen that just needs warming, etc), with the goal of saving processes in the purchasing and in the cooking both to the consumer and the professional.

The packaging and storage of the products is also the subject of research and innovation by companies in Mercabarna, as well as in the field of transport and logistics (stock control, vehicle / routes via satellite, etc).