AgroBank, CaixaBank's business division specialised in the agri-food sector, has launched AgroBank Hub, a digital platform for both customers and non-customers that aims to contribute to the transformation of Spain's countryside areas, promoting innovation, sustainability and strengthening communication between the sector's various agents.
The presentation event has been carried out within the framework of the Alimentaria trade fair, the international trade fair for food, drinks and food service, that is held at Barcelona's Gran Vía de Fira venue between the 18th and 21st of this month.
AgroBank Hub is conceived as an ecosystem that seeks to transform the way in which the bank's customers and non-customers interact with the agri-food sector, and become a meeting point and a benchmark for all agents across the country.
Thus, integrating four vertical areas into a single platform: a current meeting point, providing reliable and verified information to the country's agricultural sector; an environment of solutions for optimum decision making via tools and simulators; a marketplace with specialised products and services; and, lastly, a community that aims to contribute to the transformation of the sector.
The director of AgroBank, Jaime Campos, has explained that “AgroBank Hub is a way of strengthening our commitment towards all the farmers, ranchers, fishermen and the agri-food industry of our country”. “This platform has been created to transform the way in which agri-food professionals interact with each other and with the financial institution itself, with the aim of fostering sustainability, efficiency, profitability, innovation, entrepreneurship, training and the generational replacement of a key sector for our economy and for our society”, he added.
In detail, the users that access the AgroBank Hub will learn, in the first place, about the latest innovations and they will gain access to studies and reports specialised in agricultural topics, to figures from fish auctions and markets, to the AgroBank Magazine and to the audiovisual contents of the Innovation Corner, as well as a calendar that includes the sector's most relevant conferences, trade fairs and events.
Secondly, they will gain access to cutting-edge services for agronomic management, such as a carbon footprint simulator, risk-optimisation tools, fertilisers or soil management, among others, and to advice on how to obtain grants and subsidies.
The third vertical area, the agro shop, has access to CaixaBank's marketplace, with a specific catalogue of agricultural products and services, as well as to the vehicle renting service. Lastly, the fourth vertical area develops an ecosystem of innovation and digitisation; specific training in collaboration with CaixaBank Dualiza, the foundation for the promotion of vocational training; and entrepreneurship support provided by MicroBank, the social bank, among others.
AgroBank Hub will soon be adding new solutions, the water footprint for measuring and improving the environmental impact of the activity and weather reports. Furthermore, the marketplace will include additional products, such as security systems, satellite or sensory imagery.
CaixaBank's presence at Alimentaria
CaixaBank is a global partner of The Alimentaria Hub, that is set up as a major innovation, trends and business space. With a surface area of 3,000 m2, The Alimentaria Hub is also an area set aside for holding business meetings, conferences, study presentations and awards ceremonies, among others.
In this edition, CaixaBank is also sponsoring The Olive Oil Bar, a space for self-guided tasting that it will allow guests to discover more than a hundred of the best Spanish extra virgin olive oils.
The company, committed to the innovation, sustainability, internationalisation and competitiveness of the sector, will have a stand at The Food Hub, where a team of professionals specialised in the sector will offer advice on various matters and will foster interaction among visitors.
The financial institution participates in Alimentaria by means of several of its lines of business, such as AgroBank, which specialises in the agri-food sector; CaixaBank Empresas; CaixaBank Negocios Food&Drinks; DayOne, division specialised in technological companies and their investors; or Comex and the bank's International Banking division. All of them promote various activities at Alimentaria, including a lecture on ‘Training, management and innovative approach’ by Ferran Adrià, President and founder of elBullifoundation; a round table that will be held to discuss the ‘Foodtech’ market study in Spain; and a meeting on sustainability in the agri-food sector with an intervention by Lourdes Moreno, Head of Sustainable Finances of CaixaBank's Corporate Banking.
In addition, AgroBank and the Basque Culinary Center will hold a conference, with interventions, debates and showcooking, on the subject of the joint initiative ‘Impulso Agro’, aimed at creating awareness of young people who, by means of their work and projects, are contributing to the transformation of the Spanish agri-food sector.
For their part, Foreign Trade and Treasury will offer the companies in attendance with advice on foreign trade via their specialists who will be present at the CaixaBank stand, and they will also be holding several conferences on internationalisation within the agri-food sector, the situation of the international currency market and digitisation.
Additionally, CaixaBank Negocios Food&Drinks, a vertical area specialised in the catering sector, will provide a session to raise awareness regarding the specific value proposal for the sector, including both financial and non-financial solutions. Moreover, specialists in equipment renting will share the advantages of this product with the attendees.
CaixaBank's stand at Alimentaria will also include the Innovation Corner, a space where the spotlight falls on the customers of the various CaixaBank business divisions, as benchmarks for the entire food chain, where brief recordings will be made in relation to their activity that will later be posted on social media channels.
