The food industry in Belgium is pivotal to the manufacturing industry as a whole. Its primary subsectors are the meat industry and the dairy, chocolate, sugar and beverage sectors. It is also interlinked with other economic sectors like agriculture, the retail trade, pharmaceuticals, the chemical industry, packaging and logistics.
Thanks to its efficient food industry, large quantities of international raw materials and intermediate goods flow into Belgium, where they are manufactured and then distributed within the country or exported.
Wallonia’s food cluster
As part of its Marshall Plan 2 - Green, the Walloon Region fosters and funds innovative projects designed to give companies a competitive edge in the domains of applied research, innovation, training and exports. The strategic priorities for competitiveness in the agri-food industry fall into four main areas of innovation:
- Food safety
- Technological development
- Environmentally friendly food packaging
- Sustainable food-industry systems
Click here for more information on WAGRALIM, Wallonia’s food cluster.
Flanders' FOOD
Flanders also has a centre of excellence in this sector: Flander's FOOD, which serves as a single knowledge centre to which food companies intent on innovating can turn.
Click here for more information on Flanders’ FOOD, the Flemish food industry’s centre of competence and innovation.
The Brussels-Capital Region’s food cluster
Even though Brussels accounts for just 3% of overall activity in the sector, food is no less important to the Brussels-Capital Region. Consequently, a food cluster has taken shape within the Brussels Enterprise Agency (BEA) to help Brussels-based companies active in various domains, such as biotechnologies applied to the agri-food sector, additives, packaging, equipment and services provided to agri-food companies. This dynamism is reflected in the fact that some of the world’s leading multinationals, including Nestlé, Danone, Ferrero, Unilever, Coca-Cola and Monsanto, have chosen to site their European, regional or Belgian headquarters in Brussels.