Obituary: Antonio Latorre

On Friday 14 January, Antonio Latorre Arteche, the former director of the Nestlé Research Center in Badajoz and the architect of the transition from the multinational to the CTAEX Research Business Association, left us.

After Nestlé's decision to close the Center, Professor Latorre was in charge of negotiating with different sectors of Extremadura network so that both the heritage and the talent that this company left behind in Badajoz would remain in Extremadura. After various contacts with the University of Extremadura and the regional government, it was decided to create a Business Association, of which Antonio Latorre was the architect, in which a novel research management model was created in the Iberian southwest, where the companies and cooperatives in the area became involved in their own (unique) Research Center, operating a Technological Center providing an experimental farm, laboratories, etc. In Antonio's eagerness to consolidate the Association, he carried out the procedures for the registration of CTAEX as a Center for Innovation and Technology, and of the Research Results Transfer Office (OTRI), of which he was its director, for which the Center became in 2004 in the first Technological Center of Extremadura .

Antonio Latorre Arteche graduated from the Complutense University of Madrid in Chemical Sciences in 1973. After being responsible for quality control of the Cervera dairy in Badajoz, he moved to the Nestlé Research Center in Badajoz, first as a researcher, then as head of Food Technology and General Director of Nestlé R&D Center Badajoz between January 1999 and November 2000. In December 1998, he joined the University of Extremadura as a professor in the Food Science and Technology Department, which he combined with the transformation of the Nestlé Center into a Business Association, occupying firstly the direction of research and later that of OTRI until his retirement. He was responsible for numerous projects related to innovative freezing systems as well as the development of new products, especially meat and vegetables, especially those from the tomato industry.

The Governing Council of the Center and its technical team want to thank the work and dedication of Antonio Latorre to "plant the first seed" to sow the culture of business innovation in Extremadura.

Source: CTAEX