Barilla Selects Manual.to as Part of its Good Food Makers Program

Parma, – November 21, 2024 – For the sixth consecutive year, Good Food Makers, the global food-tech accelerator launched by Barilla, is bringing together innovative players in the agri-food sector to support and drive the development of sustainable solutions. Among the four winners of the 2024 edition is Manual.to, revolutionizing industrial training and procedures with an intuitive platform for creating and sharing visual instructions. As a winner, Manual.to will benefit from an intensive eight-week collaboration with Barilla’s teams to develop and test its solutions in an industrial setting.

A Solution to the Growing Demand for Continuous Training

In today’s fast-evolving technological and operational landscape, the need for continuous training—especially within production environments—has become a strategic priority. Simplifying and improving access to training is now essential.

This is precisely why Manual.to was selected for the Good Food Makers program. The start-up’s solution transforms complex technical procedures into accessible, visual tools that are easy to understand. These tools not only simplify operator onboarding but also help reduce human errors and ensure safer, more efficient production processes.

“The collaboration with start-ups like Manual.to highlights how digital solutions can transform key industrial processes. Their ability to make training more accessible and effective aligns perfectly with our vision of innovation that places people at the heart of everything we do,” explains Claudia Berti, Barilla’s Global Open Innovation & IPR Manager.

To address this need, Manual.to is currently collaborating on a pilot project at one of Barilla’s production facilities in Italy. This initiative aims to test the efficiency of their solution in a real-world setting, tailoring the technology to the specific needs of the agri-food industry.

“Barilla shows how giants and innovators like Manual.to can create magic—scale meets speed. It’s incredible to see a global leader in food embrace the agility of a small, scaling tech company like ours. Together, we streamline how food know-how is shared across their global production sites.” says Jorim Rademaker, CEO de Manual.to.

Barilla and Plug and Play: Collaborating to Transform the Food Industry

Launched in 2019, Good Food Makers aims to identify and support start-ups capable of transforming the food industry through innovative technologies and sustainable approaches. In partnership with Plug and Play, the world’s largest start-up ecosystem, the program received nearly 1,000 applications from 30 countries for this edition.

The winners, selected across key categories such as AI, health, and sustainability, will benefit from expert support and share a €40,000 grant. For Manual.to, this collaboration represents a unique opportunity to scale its solution with the backing of a global leader.

This partnership between Barilla and Manual.to exemplifies the company’s commitment to leveraging innovation and international collaboration to shape a more sustainable and efficient future for the food industry.

About Barilla Group

Barilla is a family business, not listed on the Stock Exchange, chaired by the brothers Guido, Luca and Paolo Barilla. It was founded by their great-grandfather Pietro Barilla, who opened a bakery in Parma in 1877. Today, Barilla is renowned in Italy and around the world for the quality of its food products. With its brands – Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Pan di Stelle, Gran Cereale, Harrys, Pavesi, Wasa, Filiz, Yemina, Misko, Voiello, Academia Barilla, First, Catelli, Lancia, Splendor, Back To Nature and Pasta Evangelists – it advocates tasty, hearty and wholesome nutrition, inspired by the Mediterranean Diet and the Italian lifestyle.

When Pietro opened his shop over 145 years ago, the main aim was to make good food. That principle has now become the Barilla way of doing business, with almost 9,000 people working for the company and a supply chain that shares its values and passion for quality.

The Group’s commitment is to offer people the joy that good, well-made food can bring them, produced with selected ingredients from, as far as possible, responsible supply chains, to contribute to a better present and future.

Press contacts

Chloé Jalaguier – + 33 7 86 06 27 30 – chloe.jalaguier@publicisconsultants.com
Victoria Cauchie – + 33 6 28 66 70 37 – victoria.cauchie@publicisconsultants.com

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