Culinary Innovation Network of Ecuador

Design, advisory, and launch of the new Culinary Innovation Network of Ecuador, which consists of three laboratories representing the gastronomic identity of the country’s three bioregions: Iche by the FUEGOS Foundation in the Pacific Ocean; Canopy Lab by Canopy Bridge in the Amazon rainforest; and Urku Minuka by the Salinas Group in the Andes Mountain Range.

This project aims to position Ecuadorian gastronomy as a powerhouse of food biodiversity. The network’s mission is to contribute to the transition of the food system toward a healthier, more sustainable, and inclusive model, improving the quality of life for Ecuadorians. It seeks to establish an open innovation ecosystem and promote gastronomic entrepreneurship, with BCC Innovation playing a key role in the development and implementation of the project through various activity phases:

• Advisory on Strategy Design: Implementing values currently in growth, such as sustainability in the food system, the increasing demand for healthy products, and new technologies that offer opportunities to add value and democratize opportunities in the country.
• Analysis of Trends and Market Intelligence: Identifying open innovation opportunities.
• Mapping, Structuring, and Promoting Value Chains: Aiming to shorten and localize them, creating circular processes empowered within the territory.
• Strengthening Innovation in Product Design and Launch: Designing an incubator and accelerator for ideas, talent, and entrepreneurship in the territory, helping them gain more prominence in society.
• Technical and Business Training: Provided by BCC Innovation’s team of researchers and technologists to boost products and ventures in the three laboratories.

Funded by the Inter-American Development Bank