Kerry Group establishes its southern European innovation hub in Barcelona

Kerry Group has inaugurated a new 900m² R&D and technology center in Barcelona, investing 2 million euros and creating a dozen jobs. The new facilities will focus on researching new products for sustainable nutrition.

The multinational company has chosen Barcelona to locate its innovation hub for the southern European markets. For this project, the company has received support and a € 182,600 grant from ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment, the Government's agency for business competitiveness, under the framework of the aid program for High-Impact.

The Secretary for Business and Competitiveness of the Catalan Government and CEO of ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment, Albert Castellanos, participated in the inauguration of the new hub and met with the President & CEO of Kerry Europe, Thomas Ahlinder; the VP and General Manager for Kerry South Europe, Juan Soto, among other company representatives, and also the Honorary Consul of Ireland in Barcelona, Susana Ferrer.

For Castellanos, "this new innovation center, which will specialize in the research of new products (with a special focus on sustainable nutrition), shows Kerry's trust in Catalonia".

The Secretary for Business and Competitiveness emphasizes that "over the years, Catalonia has built up a highly respected value proposal for foreign companies with assets such as a dynamic economy with a strong industrial base that is characterized by a combination of well-established sectors, such as the food sector, and other that are newer and more disruptive ones, in addition to having a vibrant technological and startup ecosystem, and offering a strategic location in southern Europe".

The VP and General Manager for Kerry South Europe said, "this investment will help us respond to our customer's needs at a pace as we work closely together in partnership to deliver sustainable nutrition to consumers through our globally connected, locally-led approach". Soto added, "Kerry's strategic investments in the region underscores the emergence of Southern Europe as a very significant base for food manufacturing and innovation. The launch of the new center brings Kerry's investment in Iberia to more than €200 million in the last four years".

In the new Barcelona hub in the Zona Franca (Barcelona), Kerry Group will have several laboratories for developing products for the food industry and other test areas to investigate new flavors and applications.

The innovation center will focus on multinational customers in Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy. The company focuses its business on B2B; it targets its products to other companies, mainly in the food and beverage and pharmaceutical sectors.

Kerry Group, headquartered in Ireland, established itself in Catalonia in 1998 after opening commercial offices in Barcelona. The company has a global workforce of over 23,000 employees and 150 plants in 36 countries worldwide.The group has 18,000 products and an 8.8 billion euros turnover.