Begoña Pérez Villarreal

Director, EIT Food South

Begoña Pérez-Villarreal is the Director of EIT Food for Southern Europe aimed to boost innovation involving stakeholders from the Mediterranean area, from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey up till Israel. Main activity is related to building a dynamic ecosystem developing collaborative projects and activities in business creation, education, innovation and communication programs to develop products and services contributing to a healthy lifestyle and a sustainable circular bio-economy.

BSc in Pharmacy, DESS-Microbiologie des Aliments, DEA-Business Management of Food companies. She has been involved in R&D&I activities and technology transfer to the food industry, particularly in the SME area, concerning quality issues, product development, traceability, authenticity and sustainability of the food chain for 25 years, coordinator of several European projects, has published 75 articles and is co-author of 5 new food products patents. She collaborates with different organizations and governments departments on strategic plans for R&D for the food industry.