AKO, Sant Pere de Ribes Town Hall, and UPC join forces in the FRED-HUB project

Refrigeration news 15 May 2024

AKO, the Sant Pere de Ribes Town Hall, and UPC join forces in the FRED-HUB project to promote an open innovation ecosystem in the field of cold chain refrigeration.

Sant Pere de Ribes, May 14, 2024 – AKO and the Sant Pere de Ribes Town Hall, as founding patrons of the FRED-HUB Foundation, have formalized today their inclusion in the Board of Trustees of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, jointly promoting an innovative initiative by creating a research and technology development center aimed at revolutionizing the refrigeration sector in the cold chain.

On this May 14th, the first Board of Patrons meeting of the FRED-HUB Foundation was held in the plenary hall of the Sant Pere de Ribes Town Hall. This meeting was attended by distinguished personalities from the Sant Pere de Ribes Town Hall, such as the Honorable Mrs. Abigail Garrido, Mayor of Sant Pere de Ribes and President of FRED-HUB, accompanied by Mrs. Ana Herrera, Councilor for Economic Development, and Mr. Santiago Blanco, Secretary.

The Board also had the presence of one of the top authorities in the academic world, Mr. Climent Molins, Vice-Rector for Transfer, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship of the UPC, accompanied by Mrs. Marisa Zaragozá, Director of EPSEVG UPC, and Mr. Hernán González, Deputy Director of Research EPSEVG UPC.

Representing AKO, a founding patron alongside the Sant Pere de Ribes Town Hall, was Mr. Josep Lluís Bescós, CEO of AKO and Vice President of FRED-HUB, accompanied by Mrs. Neus Lloveras, Head of External Relations and is a member of the Board of Directors at AKO and Secretary of FRED-HUB, and Mr. Miguel Angel González, Director of Innovation at AKO.

The FRED-HUB Project is much more than a local initiative; it presents itself as a project with a global impact that aims to be a reference at the European level. The main objective is to bring together companies, entrepreneurs, research centers, universities, the public sector, and users to energize and strengthen this innovation ecosystem, generating maximum synergies and benefits, both to address innovation challenges in the cold sector and to promote economic activity in the territory.

FRED-HUB will offer knowledge transfer and dissemination services, infrastructure for testing and experimentation, talent development and training programs, studies and diagnostics for the cold chain, deployment of proof of concepts, an entrepreneurship space with an incubator and startup accelerator, as well as project articulation and funding search.

The goal is to build a collaborative ecosystem where all participants share their knowledge and experience. This collaboration will drive the creation of new economic activity in the region, attracting new companies, and fostering entrepreneurship, all within an innovation framework.

The project is undoubtedly a further step in the transformation of the refrigeration sector, and we are confident it will have a very positive impact both locally and globally.