Barilla strengthens its leadership in food research with the inauguration of BITE – Barilla Innovation & Technology Experience, the new 13.800-square-meter R&D center, marking one of the Group's most significant investments in recent years. This hub is designed to transform pasta, sauces, and baked goods into advanced sensory experiences, combining science, technology, and Italian gastronomic tradition.
Over 200 professionals, including technologists, researchers, engineers, food designers, tasters, and chefs, will work within BITE. Each year, 30 young Italian and international talents will join the center through internship programs, confirming Barilla as a hub for qualified skills for Made in Italy. The Innovation Center is also part of an open innovation ecosystem that already includes 84 collaborations with universities and research centers around the world.
The facility—the result of an investment exceeding €20 million, with €2 million annually dedicated to upgrading the facilities—includes 4.800 square meters of space dedicated to design thinking, experimental kitchens, sensory analysis laboratories, and an auditorium; another 9.000 square meters house pilot plants, experimental lines, and laboratories for testing recipes, production processes, and new packaging. BITE thus represents a true "nursery" for Barilla's future products, with average development cycles of two years and projects lasting up to ten.
Among the most innovative areas is the new Customer Collaboration Center, where Barilla co-designs solutions with its customers through immersive experiences based on market insights, sensory studies, and culinary experimentation. Innovation, Barilla emphasizes, always starts with people's needs: "The BITE will be a center open to the world, where people can see and understand how we envision the future of food," says Michele Amigoni, Head of QA for the Group.
The center was designed with sustainability, inclusion, and accessibility in mind, featuring renewable energy, spaces dedicated to research in regenerative agriculture, and tactile pathways for the visually impaired created with Dynamo Academy. These are complemented by works from the Barilla collection, including the new sculpture "The Condition of Time" by Paolo Borghi, demonstrating the company's historic connection to the world of art. The official opening, attended by institutions, academia, and stakeholders, featured a TEDx discussion on the future of agri-food, confirming BITE's mission as an open laboratory for ideas and global connections.
