VII Foro Guatemalteco Highlights Innovation and Sustainability in the Dairy Industry
VII Foro Guatemalteco brought together Guatemala’s dairy sector to discuss nutrition, innovation, sustainability, technology and trade.
The VII Foro Guatemalteco de la Leche y Productos Lácteos brought together key stakeholders from Guatemala’s dairy sector to discuss the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry.
Organized by the Guatemalan Chamber of Industry (CIG) and the Gremial de Lácteos y Derivados (Grelac), the free event gathered producers, industry representatives, academics, authorities, healthcare professionals and students.
A space for dialogue across the dairy value chain
The seventh edition of the forum was designed as a platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences around production, nutrition, innovation, sustainability, trade and technology, while promoting greater collaboration among the different actors involved in Guatemala’s dairy value chain.
Wilfredo Fernández, executive director of Grelac, highlighted the sector’s relevance to the country across multiple areas.
“The dairy chain plays a relevant role for Guatemala due to its contribution to nutrition, health, primary production, industry, employment generation, trade and rural development.”
Enrique Font, president of the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Chamber of Industry, also emphasized the opportunities available for the sector’s growth.
Font pointed to the conditions Guatemala has for expanding the dairy industry and highlighted the importance of promoting informed milk consumption as part of an adequate diet throughout all stages of life.
Two sessions focused on the dairy value chain
The agenda for the VII Foro Guatemalteco de la Leche y Productos Lácteos was organized across two simultaneous sessions, allowing participants to explore both the health and nutrition dimensions of dairy products and the industry's production and business challenges.
Academic Session
The Academic Session focused on scientific evidence surrounding the role of milk in nutrition and health throughout different stages of life.
Topics covered the importance of milk from the first 1,000 days of life through old age, providing a scientific perspective on dairy consumption across the life cycle.
Industry Session
The Industry Session addressed topics directly related to the development and operation of the dairy value chain.
The agenda included primary production, sustainability, innovation, regulation, logistics, foreign trade, Industry 4.0 and predictive microbiological models.
Together, the two sessions provided a broader perspective of the sector, connecting scientific knowledge with the challenges faced by producers and the dairy industry.
International specialists share industry experiences
The forum also featured specialists and institutions from across the region and Spain, bringing international perspectives on developments within the dairy industry.
Among the participating institutions were INIA in Chile, CITA at the University of Costa Rica, CIAD in Mexico and the University of Córdoba in Spain.
Their participation contributed experiences and perspectives related to international trends, sustainability and innovation in the dairy industry.
Through these discussions, the VII Foro Guatemalteco created a meeting point between academia, industry, government, health professionals and students, strengthening dialogue around the development of Guatemala’s dairy value chain.
