IFAB welcomes Barilla Group as a new member: a significant step that marks the entry of one of the most iconic Made in Italy food groups into the Foundation’s network, further enhancing IFAB’s role as a bridge between industry, research, and advanced technologies, in support of innovation across businesses and production sectors.
Founded in Parma in 1877 as a small bakery and now operating in over 100 countries, Barilla Group is a modern, international family-owned company, globally recognized as a symbol of Italian craftsmanship. With around 9,000 employees and 30 production sites worldwide, the Group operates a supply chain that produces over 2 million tons of products annually, always placing quality, innovation, and responsibility at the forefront. More at barillagroup.com.
Innovation, data and sustainability: a shared vision
Barilla Group’s decision to join IFAB is driven by a convergence of shared values and strategic objectives. On one hand, the Group’s commitment to promoting healthy, safe, and nutritionally balanced food inspired by the Italian lifestyle and Mediterranean diet; on the other, IFAB’s mission to enable innovation in production sectors through access to the supercomputing infrastructure at the Tecnopolo Data Manifattura Emilia-Romagna in Bologna, one of the most advanced in Europe, along with the expertise of its scientific and industrial network.
Barilla Group’s membership in IFAB represents a significant step towards more data-driven and sustainable industrial models, where technological innovation becomes a concrete tool to care for people, communities, and the planet. This partnership looks to the future of the agri-food industry and, more broadly, to the development of an economy that combines competitiveness, responsibility, and positive impact, powered by the potential of supercomputing and Artificial Intelligence.
IFAB as a platform for collaboration between industry and research
With Barilla Group’s membership, IFAB further consolidates its role as an open ecosystem where large industrial groups, SMEs, startups, academia, and research centers can collaborate to transform technological complexity into tangible value for the production system.
The Foundation provides its members with:
- access to HPC and AI infrastructures at the Bologna Technopole
- specialized expertise and know-how from IFAB’s professional network
- opportunities for exchange and dialogue through events, workshops and conferences
- advanced training programs dedicated to companies and stakeholders.
