The Extraordinary General Assembly of Ainia has renewed the appointment of Manuel Garcia-Portillo, President of Agrofresh Fruit Protection, SA, as president of the technology center. In addition, Agustin Gregori, CEO of GRefusa, SL has renewed his position as second vice president of the Governing Council of the entity and has been appointed Enrique Gimeno, President of the Sociedad de Fomento Agrícola Castellonense, SA (facsimile), as third vice president.
In addition, two new companies have joined the Council: Estiu Ice Cream y foodiverse. Thus, the Governing Council of Ainia is made up of a total of 29 members.
Despite the fact that 2020 has been a difficult year, which has required a special effort on the part of the center, the results of the year have been positive, both in the activity figures and in income, reaching the 16,4 millones de euros.
For the president of Ainia, Manuel Garcia-Portillo, It has been possible "thanks to the companies that have trusted us and to the enormous effort and commitment of the entire Ainia team."
Ainia, with a workforce of 220 workers, of which 66% are university graduates and PhDs, provides annual services to 1.572 clients and is made up of 714 associated companies, being one of the European technology centers with the most business associative base.
In addition to the R + D + i activity, the activity of the laboratories and the Altex plant are the ones that have experienced the greatest growth compared to the previous year. Thus, R + D + i represents 65% of Ainia's activity; analytical activity 24% and industrial services in advanced extraction technologies 8%.
In total, last year Ainia developed 227 R & D & i projects, a total of 190.000 analytical services, 1.420 hours of training, 370 legislative consultations and 188 studies with consumers.
As explained by Manuel García-Portillo, «among the work carried out in the last year, it is worth highlighting the various Covid-19 initiatives developed to respond to our customers by adapting some training and Consumer services, and the launch of new ones, especially in laboratories. '
