Luis Planas: "We want to give value to food and to those who produce it"

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, presides over the 36th edition of the Foods from Spain awards ceremony

Luis Planas presided over the 36th edition of the Foods from Spain Awards, in which he praised the excellence and effort of "men and women, committed to doing things well every day." Many of them are family businesses that, thanks to their work, have taken Spanish food to the top. This is a privileged country, Planas pointed out, because our food chain provides us with safe, quality, nutritious and healthy food that generates confidence and guarantees food safety.

The minister also highlighted the continuous modernisation of the award-winning companies, their adaptation to climate change, the application of new technologies, digitalisation, environmental sustainability and the social economy as values and keys to the success of their work.

Spain is a major agri-food power, the fourth largest exporter in Europe and the seventh largest in the world. Agri-food and fisheries exports reached a record high in 2023, with more than 70 billion euros. To continue on this path, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will focus its work on three lines of action: the prevention and reduction of food waste, the promotion of Spanish food and the National Food Strategy.

The minister highlighted the value of campaigns to promote Food from Spain, through campaigns such as "The richest country in the world", including the consumption of fish to publicise the benefits of seafood products, which are the animal protein with the lowest carbon footprint.

This year's extraordinary prize was awarded to the Spanish Radio and Television Corporation (RTVE) for providing rigorous, quality, independent and pluralistic information on the sector. A total of 23 awards were presented, with winners from Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, Castilla y Leon, Valencia, Galicia, Murcia and Navarre. You can download the document with the list of the categories and the winners here

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has been awarding these prizes since 1987 with the aim of recognising the work of companies and professionals who produce, offer and disseminate Spanish quality foods.

Non official translation