FUNDACION GRUPO CAJAMAR

Their core work

Fundacion Grupo Cajamar is the research and innovation arm of Spain's largest agricultural cooperative bank, based in Almeria — the heart of Europe's most intensive greenhouse horticulture zone. Their applied research spans two distinct tracks: plant science (harnessing tomato genetic diversity to breed varieties resilient to drought, salinity, heat, and emerging diseases) and circular agrifood systems (developing territorial solutions to upcycle packaging and organic residues from the agrifood sector). Sitting at the intersection of banking, farming cooperatives, and applied science, they serve as a bridge between research institutions and the farming communities of southeastern Spain. Their H2020 participation positions them as a domain-specialist partner bringing real-world agricultural context to large international consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first H2020 project (2020) focused squarely on plant genetics — tomato prebreeding for climate stress tolerance — reflecting a traditional agricultural research mandate tied to varietal improvement for growers. Their second project (2021) pivoted to the waste and circularity side of the same sector, addressing multilayer plastic residues and agrifood processing waste through a territorial systemic framework. In just two projects, the trajectory moves from the biological (genetic resources, crop resilience) toward the systemic and industrial (circular flows, digitalisation of waste streams), suggesting the foundation is broadening its mandate beyond crop science into sustainable production systems.

They are moving from upstream crop science toward whole-system agrifood sustainability, making them increasingly relevant to consortia working on food system circularity, packaging waste, and agricultural digitalisation.

How they like to work

Fundacion Grupo Cajamar participates exclusively as a consortium partner — they have not coordinated any H2020 project — which signals a preference for contributing specialist knowledge rather than managing complex multi-partner logistics. Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 63 unique partners across 15 countries, which means both projects were large-scale Innovation Actions with broad consortia. This pattern suggests they are valued as sector-embedded partners who bring applied agricultural context and cooperative network access, not as research generalists.

With 63 unique consortium partners across 15 countries from just two projects, Fundacion Grupo Cajamar has built a surprisingly wide European network for an organisation of its size and H2020 tenure. Their reach is firmly European, with no evidence of partnerships outside the continent.

What sets them apart

Few research organisations can claim direct institutional ties to a cooperative bank that finances tens of thousands of farmers across Spain's most productive horticultural region — that proximity to growers is a genuine differentiator when consortia need on-the-ground agricultural stakeholder access. Based in Almeria, they sit inside the operational reality of European intensive greenhouse horticulture, giving their research inputs practical grounding that university labs typically lack. For any project needing field validation, farmer engagement, or territorial uptake in southern European agrifood systems, they offer a channel that is difficult to replicate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HARNESSTOM
  The largest of their two projects (EUR 200,000) and their most technically specific, directly targeting tomato germplasm screening and prebreeding — a niche with high commercial value as seed companies race to develop climate-adapted varieties.
• Agro2Circular
  Addresses one of the most visible waste problems in Mediterranean horticulture — multilayer plastic residues from greenhouse covers — through a territorial circular economy model that combines digitalisation with physical waste valorisation.