Seven companies were recognized at the sixth edition of the Foodtech Innovation Awards, held on May 28 as part of Expo Foodtech 2026 and Pick&Pack for Food Industry at the Bilbao Exhibition Center in Spain. The awards, selected from more than 200 applications, span categories including digitalization, sustainability, healthy food, automation, packaging, and startup innovation.
Plant-based protein from beverage sidestreams
Noiet Foods took the AZTI Award for best healthy food project for its NOIFERM protein, an ingredient developed to replace synthetic preservatives and antioxidants in food products. The protein is produced from oat and rice byproducts generated during plant-based beverage production, positioning it within the growing field of upcycled food ingredients.
The category finalists included Rich’in, for 100% plant-based high-protein pasta, and Fruselva, for a range of functional infant products.
Fermentation as industrial infrastructure
In the startup categories, Spanish biotechnology company Sporalys received the ICEX Award for the Spanish startup with the greatest international potential. Sporalys is developing a modular solid-state fermentation platform intended to function as industrial infrastructure for the food system, enabling bioconversion processes across applications, including coffee, meat analogs, and cheese alternatives. The company also featured in this year’s Food (Tech)² Challengers program run by CNTA (the National Centre for Food Technology and Safety), where it was selected alongside five other startups for further technological development.
The La Vega Innova Award for most innovative startup went to The consumer.ai, an AI-powered SaaS platform that enables companies to validate product concepts, packaging, and claims in minutes rather than weeks.
Other winners across the program
Other awards across the evening went to Laminar (AI-driven water optimization in food factories), Uraphex (chemical-free industrial water disinfection and reuse), Proton Europe (electromagnetic field-assisted freezing technology), and Bioplastics4health (PHBV, a fully compostable bio-based biopolymer for food packaging). Uraphex also appeared as a finalist in the international potential category.
Expo Foodtech, now in its sixth year, describes itself as the leading technology trade fair for the food and beverage sector in Spain. This edition ran concurrently with Pick&Pack for Food Industry and attracted more than 8,000 professionals.
