Lacasmi Winery, at the Agricultural Cooperative of San Miguel de Abona (Casmi), hosted the third edition of Wine & Technology, a programme promoted by the Ashotel Accelerator SME Office, in collaboration with the Wine Tourism Cluster of Canarias, aimed at exploring in a pleasant and relaxed way technological solutions that enhance companies’ processes.
This third session, where wines and local products were tasted, included the participation of SMEs, freelancers, and digital agents, with the intervention of Javier Moreno, an agricultural engineer who developed the Kaampo application, specialised in the digitalisation of the primary sector through cyberagriculture, a tool capable of integrating all technologies applied to the field in a single technological environment.
The welcome was given by the Director of Innovation and Sustainability of Ashotel, Enrique Padrón; the president of the Cooperative and Asaga Canarias, Ángela Delgado; the manager of the Wine Tourism Cluster of Canarias, Hernán Tejera; and the Tourism and Employment councillors of the Municipality of San Miguel de Abona, Laura Paiz and Lot García, respectively. Both expressed gratitude for the event held in a municipality that is an example of economic coexistence between the tourism and primary sectors. They highlighted that an innovative initiative like this enhances the daily work and advocated for continuing to enhance synergies between both sectors.
Enrique Padrón emphasized that these meetings connect SMEs and digital agents and promote local products (wine, craft beer, cheese, etc.) in a relaxed environment. “Our goal is to encourage SMEs to demand technologies and stimulate the demand for digital solutions,” he said, adding that “if we do it in a space like this, a winery like Lacasmi, where we not only learn about their processes and facilities but also taste local products, it’s even better.”
Digital Investment
[–>
Ángela Delgado recalled that the San Miguel Cooperative is celebrating 65 years, highlighting “the importance of fostering this type of connection between the agricultural and tourism sectors to promote a greater presence of local products in hospitality and create wealth in Canarias”. She explained that this organisation went through very difficult economic times, on the brink of bankruptcy, and now generates an annual turnover of 25 million euros, producing wine, packaging bananas and potatoes, and innovating with the creation, in 2017, of a brand for the production of gluten-free, dye-free, and preservative-free products based on green banana flour. “Investment in digital tools that facilitate and optimise field production processes must be increased to be more efficient, improve the quality and food safety of productions, and advance in professionalisation,” she said.
Meanwhile, Hernán Tejera considered it interesting that Bodegas Lacasmi, a member of the Cluster, “is the setting to showcase digitalisation in the rural world, where digitalisation and innovation are key in a business approach and competitiveness in the primary sector, which focuses on quality, efficiency, and sustainability based on the consumption of local products.” Tejera advocated for a strong and powerful agriculture supported by tourism as a way towards the economic diversification of Canarias.
Javier Moreno addressed digitalisation in the rural sector and shared his vision on how technological innovation can help companies manage and supervise daily work. In his journey through the transformation of agriculture, he explained some technologies applied to the digitalisation of the rural sector, such as robotics, process automation, remote sensing, hyperspectral imaging, IoT devices, data science… He recalled that the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization) warned in 2009 that by 2050 agriculture will need 70% more food.
Lacasmi Winery was created 37 years ago and is the first regional winery on the Island. It has made strategic investments in technology, from the implementation of an AS400 ERP, allowing for comprehensive management of inventories, sales, purchases, and finances, improving efficiency and reducing operational errors, to the incorporation of a GMAO system, which optimises machinery maintenance, ensuring more efficiency and extending the lifespan of equipment.
[–>
Wine & Technology has the technical support of Grupo Innovaris, whose general director, Alexis Robles, briefly commented on the map of subsidies and aids for SME digitalisation, information of interest to attendees, with a special emphasis on the latest developments for companies with less than three employees in the Digital Toolkit aid programme.
