Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center: Accenture, Barilla, Lavazza and Microsoft join forces to innovate the food landscape, launching:
Food-Tech Innovation Award, Retail Edition
Two Italian food giants join the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center in Lugano, in a quest for innovative solutions in the food retail sector
Lugano, 1 March 2021 – Barilla, the world’s largest pasta producer, and Lavazza, a prominent Italian manufacturer of coffee products, have joined forces, with a mission to innovate the food retail sector.
On the occasion of adhering to the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center, an innovation hub in Lugano, Switzerland, Barilla, and Lavazza launched a special joint initiative, in partnership with Accenture, Microsoft, Loomish, and UBS:
- Food-Tech Innovation Award, Retail Edition
The Award is a call for mature startups and innovative B2B and B2B2C service providers, with the focus on two particular areas:
- solutions that enforce client engagement across omni-channel touch-points;
- solutions that enable rich data capture in grocery retail settings, both online and offline.
Igor Nuzzi, Regional Director Switzerland & Italy Lavazza:
“For Lavazza, innovation has always represented one of the fundamental guiding values, as demonstrated by our history and our ability to meet the challenges of the present. We believe that innovation must also be, today more than ever, at the heart of the relationship between the food industry and distribution: these two players, in fact, must be able to evolve in the face of an increasingly multi-channel shopper. It is also thanks to innovative projects such as the one carried out together with LTCC that we will be able to read the new customer journey even better, so as to increase loyalty to the sign and the brand, in a joint effort that brings value to all the main players in the supply chain”.
Luca Ravazzoni, eCommerce Director Barilla, considers the adhesion to FoodTech an opportunity. An opportunity that will allow the comparison with large companies on the development of the value of the brands, the understanding of people’s needs, and the development of assets that can enhance the relationship with business partners by expanding the value as well as for the final customer: “Barilla’s participation in the FoodTech Innovation Award and collaboration with the LTCC aims to identify ideas, technological solutions, and partners with which to implement and develop innovative services. Multi-channel online services, Mar-tech, and big data exchange platforms are just some of the areas of interest for the eCommerce team, which is always focused on innovation and development. We are pleased to be working with Microsoft, Accenture, Loomish, and UBS in identifying technology scale-ups that can help us to improve our on and offline knowledge”.
The LTCC invites and welcomes international B2B mature startups to learn more and apply here.
The call closes on May 16, 2021, and the selected finalist will be invited to pitch in front of a prestigious jury panel comprised of Accenture, Barilla, Lavazza Microsoft, and UBS senior managers, as well as several executives from the major international supermarket chains. The final pitch day, which could present significant business development and investment-seeking opportunity to the selected startups, is scheduled for June 15, 2021.
The newly-established Lifestyle-Tech Competence Centre in Lugano provides major brands from Food, Fashion, Design, and Travel arenas with R&D and open innovation services. Its President, Carlo Terreni, says: “I am extremely pleased that today we are launching the partnership with Barilla and Lavazza, joining forces to innovate the Food retail sector. Opening the food vertical is of strategic importance for our recently launched Innovation Center.”
Michele Raballo, Managing Director eCommerce Lead Accenture: “As a founding member of the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center, we believe in co-creation of innovation among large corporations and scale-ups. Our role in this project will be to help and support in the software application evaluated and offering our capabilities to successfully implements the selected projects”.
The Mayor of Lugano Marco Borradori also commented: “The City of Lugano is pleased to support the initiatives promoted by the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center Association, which is establishing itself as a center of excellence in the creation of innovative technologies in the fashion and food sectors. Today, investing in research and innovation is an essential requirement to increase the competitiveness of companies, and to meet the new challenges related to sustainability, traceability, and food safety. The creation of synergies between companies and academic institutions and the exchange of knowledge – USI and SUPSI are among the partners of the Lifestyle Tech Competence Center – contribute significantly to the development of activities in the food-tech and distribution sectors. The participation of world leaders in the food industry is further confirmation of the value of the Competence Centre”.
The scouting provider on this project on behalf of the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center Loomish, a Swiss advisory company, with expertise and a rich track record in the field of open innovation.
Other partners, all peers in the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center, include USI, SUPSI, and Accenture.
Contact information:
Loomish SA
+41 76 303 85 24
Galleria 1, Via Cantonale, 6928 Manno, Switzerland
valentina.muller@loomish.ch
PR & Media in Ticino and Italy
Matrix Media
Dagorà Innovation Hub
Via Cantonale Galleria 1
Manno – Lugano
arianna.salpietro@matrixmedia.it
About Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center:
The Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center is a Swiss association that aims to support innovative companies that carry out research and development activities in the Lifestyle-Tech arena, including FoodTech, FashionTech, Travel-tech, DesignTech, and Smart-living, among others. Specifically, the Association intends to foster collaboration between academic institutes and companies, encouraging the exchange of technology and knowledge. Accenture, Bally, Dagorà, Guess, Hyphen, Loomish, Microsoft, and Swiss Universities SUPSI and USI are the founding members of the Lifestyle-Tech Competence Center Association. Find out more at www.lifestyletechcompetencecenter.com
About Loomish:
Loomish SA is a Swiss-based investment management firm specialized in Lifestyle -Tech, with a focus on Food, Fashion, Travel, and Design industries. We are committed to accelerating value creation for all the players within the lifestyle ecosystem: investors, digital start-ups, and established corporations looking for innovative solutions. Strategically located in Ticino, between the dynamic financial center Zurich and the global lifestyle hub Milan, Loomish is perfectly positioned to link the best of both worlds. We deliver expert guidance and facilitate investments in the Lifestyle-Tech sector, focusing primarily on the disruptive technologies offered by European medium-sized start-ups and scale-ups. Find out more at LinkedIn @Loomish_SA and www.loomish.c
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