The director of impact investment and open innovation at Capsa Food (Grupo Central Lechera Asturiana), Rubén Hidalgo, announced this Thursday the social innovation strategy "Territorio Lácteo," developed through CAPSA IMPACT, with which the dairy group plans to mobilize around ten million euros by 2030.
Hidalgo, in statements to Europa Press prior to the official presentation of the strategy at the Museo Pueblo de Asturias, within the framework of the 69th International Fair of Exhibitions of Asturias (Fidma), which takes place at the Gijón fairgrounds "Luis Adaro," emphasized that this is an additional effort specifically aimed at addressing the problem of generational change in the Asturian dairy sector.
He indicated that solving the so-called generational clock is based on three axes: act, know, want, and be able to. In this line, he detailed that the aim is to facilitate that people can settle in a village, with affordable housing, proximity services, and, from a financial perspective, services and insurance, the capacity to assume the costs involved in managing a livestock farm.
In the area of wanting, he emphasized that they seek to launch cultural projects that once again convey to youth the idea that working in the field is "wonderful," and the same happens in the dairy sector, where it is possible to "earn a good living and have a good quality of life working in the field."
Regarding the knowledge aspect, he announced that they will launch a training action structured in three stages. The first year will include four months of specialization aimed at livestock technicians.
Subsequently, they will work on an already official specialization. On this point, he noted that, together with the Public Employment Service, they will try to design a "solvent" professional career so that both people with family ties to the sector and those coming from outside who want to join the dairy activity can do so. He specified that their goal is to reach ten participants in the first year.
This training is integrated into the Paraíso Natural Academy, a new line created to respond to the shortage of qualified profiles, facilitate generational change, and open employment and rooting opportunities in rural areas.
From Central Lechera Asturiana, it has been pointed out, through a press release, that the territorialized social diagnosis reveals a clear "paradox of rooting."
Specifically, it is highlighted that the surveyed individuals rate the territory with a 6.2 out of 7 as a place to live, but the rating drops to 5.0 when asked about job opportunities. It is concluded that good quality of life, by itself, is not enough to retain population.
Employment is positioned as the main priority for 64 percent of the consulted individuals. However, the dominant narrative is not so much that there is a lack of work, but that there are positions that remain unfilled because the access conditions, the required qualifications, or the associated life project are not sufficiently attractive.
Housing appears as another structural bottleneck: 43% identify it as a problem and 56% as a priority. In the central area of Asturias, this perception rises to 57%, particularly linked to tourist pressure.
Aging, cited by 48%, confirms that generational change is one of the major challenges of the dairy territory: ensuring it requires improving the profitability of farms, modernizing the sector, and building a narrative capable of turning livestock farming into an attractive professional option for new generations.
The presented strategy also includes the creation of alliances with municipalities, administrations, funding entities, knowledge centers, and associative fabric.
The diagnosis warns that, despite community life receiving a score of 5.8 out of 7, 76% perceive little or no collaboration among the actors in the territory. Strengthening that coordination is therefore considered a key condition for solutions to scale and be sustained over time.