Academia-Industry Gap Hinders Mexico's Food Innovation: Experts

The food industry must reformulate products to be healthier without sacrificing taste or cost, a challenge compounded by a disconnect between academic innovation and private sector needs, notes César Ozuna, Director of the Food Department, University of Guanajuato (UGTO). In an interview with MBN, Ozuna emphasized that innovation in the food industry must prioritize public benefit, given its direct impact on health. 

Experts consider that innovation must be accompanied by efficient public policy. Ozuna argued that while recent policies are a positive step, they are often not clear enough for the public. “For instance, the recently launched seal warning on excess macronutrients like sodium and calories, while a positive step, is not clear enough yet. This legislation still needs to be clearer for the consumer to understand what they are consuming," Ozuna stressed.

However, reducing these components presents a significant technical challenge. Ozuna noted that ingredients like sugar, fat, and salt fulfill key functional roles in a food beyond just taste. He explained that removing fat or sugar from a product like a muffin puts its texture, moisture, shelf-life, and overall sensory profile at risk, all key expectations from the consumer. He stressed that taste remains paramount, arguing that regardless of how healthy a product is, if it does not taste good, consumers will ultimately not buy it. This challenge is particularly acute in Mexico, where a rich gastronomic culture means consumers are accustomed to complex, bold, and flavorful food.

The Academia-Industry Disconnect

When asked about the disconnect between academia and industry in Mexico, Ozuna confirmed it is a significant factor in the food sector. He cited two main reasons: the different paces of the two sectors, and the fact that many transnational food companies conduct their core R&D in their home countries."The industry wants fast answers, while the times in academia are slower. Danone, for example, does all its research in France. What it does here in Mexico is reformulate or adapt the product to the Mexican palate," he added. 

Ozuna explained that  academics must balance research with teaching and, in his case, administrative duties as department director. "If you do not have a solid work team, graduate or undergraduate students, to support you in getting the research out quickly to connect with industry, it is complicated," he noted.

Ozuna highlighted that despite challenges, the academia has successfully delivered innovation to the industry, particularly when new government financing models require it. He explained that some state-level funding, for example, now requires academics to come hand in hand with a company, which has led to successful collaborations. He cited a project in Guanajuato developing ozone gas preservation treatments for strawberries and blueberries with a local company as a direct result of this model. However, he noted that these are still small efforts, concluding, "I think that a lot of linkage is missing. It exists, but it is still very small," he noted.

Ozuna López added that another hurdle for academics is closing the innovation cycle. He noted that researchers’ patents must have a clear commercialization strategy; otherwise, the innovation gets stuck in a document that is never exploited. A key part of this, he stressed, is creating realistic projects that address the population's needs, particularly affordability. "Sometimes publicly-funded projects want to generate functional foods, but it turns out the final product is very expensive. If you want to solve a national problem, it has to be through accessible and cheap food," Ozuna said.

According to Ozuna, modern innovation should not be at odds with traditional practices. He highlighted his own research group's work in using the ancestral practice of nixtamalization on unconventional products to create new, healthy, and affordable foods. "We are resuming ancestral practices like nixtamalization for products that are perhaps not conventional, like pumpkin, to create fortified tortillas. We are taking advantage of traditional knowledge to make new developments that also have an impact on the population,  and are at accessible prices,” he said, noting that the developed tortillas have the potential to be a dietary supplement for women during menopause.

This structural disconnect is now evolving to include the talent gap. According to Pablo Silva, Director of Content, The Food Tech, the speed of foodtech innovation in areas like AI and biotechnology is outpacing the sector's ability to train professionals with the necessary skills. He noted that a key challenge will be how companies and academia can collaborate to develop hybrid human capital, such as food engineers who know how to program or biotechnologists who understand industrial processes.

Ozuna, speaking as Vice President of the Mexican Association of Food Science (AMECA), extended an invitation to the private sector. He noted that the association is open to consultancies and can connect companies with a specific problem to one of its partners. "We are an organization that is open for consultancy. If any company wants to approach us about a problem, we can put them in contact with one of our members, to generate that linkage, which I think is super important,” he concluded.