Barilla announces the winning startups of the Good Food Makers 2025 program

After months of scouting and selection, Barilla has announced the three winning startups of the seventh edition of the Good Food Makers program, the open innovation initiative dedicated to startups, spin-offs, and innovative companies aiming to contribute to the transformation of the agri-food sector.

What is Good Food Makers?

Good Food Makers is Barilla’s open innovation program that engages startups and technology players in solving real-world challenges across the food value chain. Each year, the program launches an international call to action, inviting innovative companies to propose concrete solutions that make the food system more sustainable, safe, and technologically advanced. The goal of Good Food Makers is to accelerate the adoption of emerging solutions and apply co-creation approaches in research areas that reflect Barilla’s broader vision for transforming the food system: from precision agriculture to ensure high-quality raw materials, to supply chain traceability through digital data; from the use of artificial intelligence and sustainable processing systems to develop innovative ingredients, to improving the quality and safety of industrial processes. The program also focuses on creating new consumer experiences, including connected packaging and products designed to meet emerging food trends.

The 2025 edition, organized in collaboration with Almacube (the innovation hub of the University of Bologna and Confindustria Emilia Area Centro), introduces the Good Food Makers – ECOSYSTEM format, aimed at building an open innovation ecosystem involving partners and stakeholders across the Barilla value chain.The 2025 edition recorded impressive numbers: 288 applications from 41 countries across 5 continents.

“Good Food Makers is not just an innovation program: it’s a catalyst for discoveries and collaborations. Every year we select real-world challenges that allow us to explore emerging technologies and models, accelerating the adoption of the most promising solutions. At the same time, we promote a more open and collaborative culture that transforms the way we approach innovation and positively influences the daily work of our teams, and now also provides tangible benefits to our partners and an example for the entire value chain,” said Claudia Berti, Head of Open Innovation at Barilla. “In this edition, we identified solutions capable of generating real impact on three crucial areas: sustainable farming practices, food safety, and the shopping experience.”

The 2025 Winning Startups

After a selection process involving 33 finalists from around the world, Barilla identified three companies that best addressed the innovation challenges proposed by the program. The winning companies are:

• Feldklasse (Germany) – for the category AgTech for Climate Resilience, in collaboration with Open Fields – has developed an innovative mechanical solution for the automated removal of weeds in basil fields, reducing manual labor and improving the sustainability of crops destined for Barilla sauces and pesto.

• xNEXT (Italy) – for the category New Frontiers of Detection, in collaboration with the German company Bizerba – has designed XSpectra®, a patented photon-counting technology for real-time chemical and physical analysis of food products, capable of detecting anomalies invisible to traditional X-ray systems.

• Vusion Group – (Italy/France) for the category Best on Shelf, in collaboration with Conad Nord Ovest – proposes Captana, a monitoring system based on smart cameras and artificial intelligence to optimize product availability, reduce out-of-stock occurrences, and improve the in-store shopping experience.

The three companies will now begin working side by side with Barilla teams and supply chain partners, engaging in co-design activities and dedicated pilot projects that will culminate in the Innovation Day scheduled for January 15, 2026.

Feldklasse: Sustainable Innovation in Basil Fields

Among the three selected is Feldklasse, a German startup at the forefront of developing technological solutions for agriculture. The company has created an innovative system that automates the process of weed removal in basil fields, optimizing operational efficiency and making the cultivation of crops destined for Barilla sauces and pesto more sustainable. Through this innovation, Feldklasse has effectively responded to the sector’s needs by reducing manual intervention and improving agricultural resource management, further highlighting Germany’s leadership in agri-tech innovation and its contribution to advancing sustainable farming practices across Europe. “The Good Food Makers program gives us the opportunity to put our technology into practice within an industrial environment, working side by side with Barilla to develop a tailor-made, sustainable solution for weed control in basil cultivation.” said Andrè Dulks, founder at Feldklasse. “The supply chain is essential to producing high-quality products, and together with Barilla, we share the goal of finding solutions that bring added value to every partner involved.”

XNEXT: The Italian Technology that “Sees” the Invisible

Among the three selected companies is the Italian startup XNEXT, a pioneer in developing advanced inspection systems for the food industry. The company has created XSpectra®, a patented technology that combines photonics, nuclear electronics, and artificial intelligence to perform real-time chemical and physical analyses of food products. Unlike conventional X-ray systems, which rely on the average signal intensity, XSpectra® uses the “photon counting” technique: each photon is analyzed individually across up to 1,024 energy levels, enabling the detection of even the slightest differences in material composition. This approach makes it possible to identify low-density contaminants such as plastic and wood. The integration with deep learning and artificial intelligence algorithms further allows the system to recognize abnormal patterns and adapt to different product shapes and materials, enhancing the efficiency of quality control processes.

“Collaborating with Barilla through Good Food Makers is a unique opportunity for us to apply our technology in a world-class industrial context,” says Bruno Garavelli, Chairman and CTO of XNEXT. “We share the same vision: bringing innovation and safety across the entire food supply chain, putting technology at the service of quality and consumers.”

Bizerba: Defining the New Frontiers of Food Detection

The “New Frontiers of Detection” challenge was designed together with Bizerba, a German leader in industrial weighing and inspection technologies. Drawing on its expertise in food quality control, Bizerba helped Barilla explore next-generation imaging systems – from photon-counting X-rays to AI-based vision tools – to improve accuracy and safety in food inspection. The initiative reflects a shared commitment to advancing innovation and quality across the agri-food industry. “As food safety standards evolve, the need to detect even low-density contaminants is driving innovation in X-ray inspection.“ said Fred Köhler, Managing Director Business Unit Industry at Bizerba. “By combining photon-counting technology with AI, we’re transforming inspection into intelligent quality assurance. We’re proud to contribute our expertise to this pioneering collaboration.”

A Growing Track Record of Success

Over the past seven years, the Good Food Makers program has supported numerous innovative ventures, contributing to the introduction of new solutions in the agri-food sector. Among the most successful international cases in recent years are Manual.to, a Belgian startup that simplified industrial training through digital visual instructions; Nosh Biofoods, a German company developing sustainable, high-nutrition ingredients through fermentation processes; and Aitme, also from Germany, which continued its growth path with an automated robotic kitchen and has reached large-scale success.

Innovation at the Heart of Barilla’s Business Model

Confirming its leadership in the food sector, in 2024 Barilla invested around €50 million in Research and Development. The new RDQ Headquarters is currently undergoing redevelopment and expansion. Covering a total area of 12,000 square meters and featuring new laboratories, the new hub in Parma will bring together all of Barilla Group’s technical expertise, significantly strengthening the company’s research and innovation capabilities. All of this is being achieved through increasingly cross-functional and international teams dedicated to specific projects, as well as through ongoing collaborations with external partners, including the startups selected through Good Food Makers.