WHAT DO WE DO?
Alícia’s mission is to provide practical and realistic solutions, grounded in scientific evidence and culturally adapted to each need, health condition, or life situation. We achieve this, through cooking as a tool and scientific rigour as a method, combining culinary creativity with innovation tools.
Our way of working is built on more than twenty years of experience and a multidisciplinary approach that brings together scientists from both the experimental and social sciences, working alongside gastronomists and chefs, including both creative professionals and specialists in community catering and traditional cuisine.
We work with all stakeholders involved in food management, including primary producers, food manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, catering services, restaurants and healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, speech and language therapists, and dietitians-nutritionists), as well as hospitals, leading organizations, universities and technology centres. We also collaborate with end users, caregivers, associations and other groups connected to the fields of food and health.
The goal of every project is to help everyone eat better (healthier, more sustainably and more enjoyably), recognizing that this depends on what is eaten, who eats it and their circumstances. Focused on this, we have developed the Alícia Index, an innovation and evaluation tool that helps improve and develop any food-related product, service or initiative.
Our Basic Analytics Tool
The Alícia Index is a proprietary tool for analysis, innovation and evaluation that enables us to understand, improve and measure the impact of any food product, service or strategy based on its characteristics, its target audience and the context in which it is used. This unique method identifies opportunities for improvement, guides innovation and evaluates its results.
A healthy diet is a key tool for preserving health, preventing disease, slowing its progression, supporting recovery and improving quality of life. What we eat has a direct impact on our physical and mental well-being. In addition, cooking and eating are social acts that foster identity, connection and community, while contributing to emotional well-being.
We promote healthy eating habits throughout all stages of life, from childhood to older age, and encourage healthy ageing. We are internationally recognized leaders in culinary medicine and develop projects that provide food-based solutions tailored to people with dietary restrictions or special circumstances.
Since 2003, Alícia has been working in the field of culinary medicine, an emerging discipline supported by the scientific community that uses cooking, food and their day-to-day management as therapeutic tools to treat diseases or improve the quality of life of people with dietary restrictions or specific health conditions.
We develop and transfer tools and resources for healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers, family members, food service providers and the food industry, turning food into a key ally in the prevention, treatment and management of disease.
We have worked across more than sixty health conditions, including cancer, dysphagia and swallowing difficulties, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), highly prevalent diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia, sleep and fertility disorders, and rare diseases such as familial chylomicronemia syndrome, among many others.
We design and promote initiatives and projects that foster the acquisition of the knowledge, skills and values needed to manage food and eating habits in a healthy way. These initiatives help improve dietary habits and encourage responsible and sustainable consumption, both in public settings and at home.
As life expectancy continues to increase worldwide, it is essential that these additional years are accompanied by a good quality of life, enabling people to enjoy older age for as long as possible. At this stage of life, food plays a fundamental role in supporting healthy and dignified ageing.
To address this challenge, at Alícia we analyse the dietary needs of older adults, conduct research, and develop innovative products, services and strategies. We also support individuals and their communities to improve quality of life and physical and emotional well-being through food, social interaction and cultural transmission.