U. de Concepción and berries exporters start associative project

12/05/2015

"Linking the Universidad de Concepción with the productive sector and processor of berries associated with Chilealimentos, to increase competitiveness, by ensuring the safety of exported frozen berries"Is the name of the project inaugurated today in the house of studies, in an activity that was headed by the vice-rector of Research and Development of the UdeC, Carlos González and attended by businessmen and executives of export companies.

The initiative is financed with resources from Conicyt and the Innovation Fund for Competitiveness (FIC) of the Regional Government of Bío Bío, and is part of the Regional Innovation Strategy.

In it, researchers from the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering participate, as well as academics from the Faculty of Pharmacy and INIA.

As explained by the project director, the academic Juan Antonio Cañumir, "consists basically of linking the University with the company, with government support, around a very specific issue, which is the safety of frozen and exported berries. Now, the subject is not a research project properly so; What interests us is to have collaborative networks that are durable over time, how to speak the same language, many times we academics talk in a language that not everyone understands, and how to smooth the differences we have to achieve development".

He added that "a lot of research has been done in universities, which in most cases do not come to be applied, that is, technological development is not there; for me the technological development is when you apply a knowledge that you have already achieved. Then, today (yesterday) in the morning we had a workshop in which 15 companies participated, in which we realized that we had a lot of research that they are requesting to solve their problems. We see that this link is missing, this means to converse and use a common language that allows us to understand each other, and that is what this project wants to achieve in the field of frozen berries".

In this way, the problems will be prioritized by the private sector, and there will be some in which technological transfer will be made, when the answers exist; and in others, the necessary research will be developed to arrive at the solutions, for which it will be necessary to initiate new projects.

Business-university link

The link between the company and the university is not new for the house of studies, explained the vice-chancellor Carlos González: "We have been doing this approach for many years, what happens is that in some areas we still needed to materialize this link. With food we have worked, but with Chilealimentos, in the way we are doing it, for us it is very important, because it brings together many producers".

González stressed that "There is a breakdown of some myths that have to do with communication and closeness. Here it has already been demonstrated that both the productive sector and the university sector have broken that gap and there is understanding and they work together, because it is not a particular initiative, but is associative".

He also stressed that the role of the State has been fundamental, because it provides the conditions to generate this link.

Regarding this particular project, the university authority stated that its relevance is given because this improves the quality of the products that are consumed and exported, and therefore, "Chile is prestigious".

Productive sector

The companies that are part of Chilealimentos represent in the order of 70% of the exported food volume of the country, a figure that was highlighted by Cañumir.

Likewise, Andrés Acevedo, manager of Research and Development of Chilealimentos, stated that "The link (between academia and business) should be the traditional way in which the industry should work, but it happens that in Chile there has always been this divorce between the private sector and universities. There is a paradigm that has to be broken down, that researchers have always done their work between four walls and companies are a little more accelerated, and seek solutions outside or in their own environment; but if you look outside, it's the way all the industries work, in conjunction with the research centers".

He specified that "This project will produce a real approach between both instances. Companies will tell their problems to the university, both in meetings and workshops, and in visits that researchers will make to process plants, and on the other hand, researchers will tell them what they are capable of doing. , and there they will reach common points and joint projects will be developed".

Max Ramírez, head of the Department of Quality Assurance of Alifrut, said that safety is a main issue, "because it allows you to stay in the market. If we are not able to offer an innocuous product, it simply can not be sold to international markets".

He added that the demands of the markets in this matter are increasing. "New things are coming out, in this last year there has been a strong theme of hepatitis in food, and lately, of noroviruses, which are transmitted to people through frozen foods and have their origin in bad handling in plants. process".

Source: Diario La Discusión