Food: food start-ups fly, need to accelerate on AI

Very positive, therefore, the data on start-ups but now a quantum leap is needed in the application of artificial intelligence.

"AI," explain Federalimentare, "is establishing itself as a widespread enabling technology, capable of improving efficiency and performance in the different segments of the supply chain. Overall, Artificial Intelligence already represents a central technology for the future of the agrifood industry and companies, whether large, medium or small, will have to redesign their business around AI solutions'.

'The 2026 edition of the National Made in Italy Day,' commented the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, 'marks a new record. In two years the initiatives have more than doubled and it is the vital proof of a network that tells of the richness and dynamism of our production system. Made in Italy rests on solid supply chains, the 5 A's: food, clothing, furnishings, automotive and automation, and is expanding to sectors with higher added value, as we have also indicated in the White Paper 'Made in Italy 2030': the health economy, space and defence, the blue economy, tourism, cultural and creative industries. These growing sectors strengthen the international presence of our companies and support the growth of exports'.

'Masaf,' added the advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Lollobrigida, Giorgio Salvitti, 'focuses decisively on technological innovation: it is by no means an oxymoron to associate it with agriculture, but rather a fundamental tool for developing a sector that is decisive not only in economic terms, but also in social terms for the country.

"The Italian food industry," commented the president of Federalimentare, Paolo Mascarino, which in 2025 set new records with over 200 billion in turnover and 59 billion in exports, confirms itself as a global success because it represents what the world is looking for from Italia: quality, taste, tradition, trust. To sustain its development also in the future, innovation will be the basis of the sector's competitiveness, also to follow the new trends in world food. This is why we wanted to give high priority to the construction of a national ecosystem of innovation in the agrifood sector, which favours the meeting between research centres and industries, particularly SMEs, and to the promotion of knowledge and the development of innovative start-ups in Italia'.