Between April and October 2021, we executed the technological roadmap for the food ingredients industry in Peru, hired by ProInnóvate Perú, and leading the consortium formed between Cluster Consulting and Discovery & Watch.

Through this project, ProInnóvate Perú, the Technological Institute of Production and the Ministry of Production, the three driving members of the project, seek to increase the added value and the degree of complexity of the food ingredients that Peru exports. The objective is for the project to have a positive impact on Peru's food exports by promoting the generation of value in the different agricultural chains and by promoting greater productive diversification of the national exportable supply.

The project is important due to the great diversity of raw materials with the potential to be transformed into vegetable ingredients grown in Peru. Peru is already recognized as an important producer and exporter of different types of superfoods, however, there is an opportunity to promote their transformation into processed ingredients that take advantage of their nutraceutical characteristics, especially in the form of proteins, oils and vitamins. For their part, around 100 companies of different sizes and origins have been identified in the ingredients industry that could benefit from a common vision for the industry.

The initiative to develop a Technological Roadmap for the Food Ingredients Industry in Peru includes the diagnosis of competitive gaps and opportunities, the construction and validation of a vision for the industry and the design of a technological roadmap.

Specifically, the following activities were carried out:

1. Project planning and preparation of the work plan, including the review of previous consultancies and documents.

2. Diagnosis of competitive gaps and opportunities, which included:

a. Basic diagnosis of the ingredients industry, which included:

i. Analysis of the international demand for ingredients,
ii. Analysis of the national supply of ingredients, for which 29 interviews were conducted with actors.
iii. Analysis of entry and exit barriers to the international market
iv. Analysis of industry support in Peru

b. Mapping of value chains and their actors, mapping the value chains of avocado, sweet potato, capsicum, blueberry, quinoa, camu camu, maca, yacón, kiwicha, chestnut, the sacha inchi, the aguaymanto and the chia.

c. Realization of an international benchmark, which consisted on analyzing the ingredients industry of the Netherlands, Brazil and Israel.

d. Identification of competitive gaps in the ingredients industry in Peru and opportunities.

3. Construction and validation of the vision, which included:

a. Virtual workshop for the construction of a shared vision, with participants from industry, academia and government, held in two 3-hour sessions. The work for the workshop included the organization, mobilization of the actors of the industry, academia and government to participate in the workshop, and the execution and subsequent analysis of results.

b. High-level workshop with for validation with sector specialists, where the long-term vision was validated.

4. Technology roadmap design

a. Gaps prioritization workshop along with a technical table established by the client.

b. Organization and realization of a market pull & technology push virtual workshop.

c. Work session next with the technical table.

d. Organization and implementation of a virtual workshop to define and prioritize actions. Includes mobilization of actors

e. Consolidation of workshop results.

f. Preparation of the final product:

i. Executive Summary
ii. Methodological introduction
iii. Graphic design of the technological roadmap (drivers, initiatives, resources).
iv. Roadmap initiatives.
v. Prioritization of initiatives
vi. Goals, indicators and budget
vii. Detailed development of the 14 prioritized initiatives.

The result was a technological roadmap with 14 prioritized initiatives and a budget of more than USD 100 million to invest in 10 years, which must be approved by Supreme Decree in Peru, and is expected to be approved in 2024.