According to a statement made by Carlos Oliveira, the mayor of Vouzela, the municipality will now be home to an incubator for business ventures related to the promotion and experimentation of local goods and cuisine. Vouzela Food Lab, which will be housed in the Transport Coordination Centre, got funding of 150 thousand euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

According to Carlos Oliveria, “The aim is to welcome all entrepreneurs who wish to create and develop new products and recipes, carry out research and analysis on the food market, improve food preparation techniques and receive mentoring and support for the success of their businesses”. Carlos Oliveira recalls that the local government, along with parish councils, restaurants, associations, and manufacturers, sponsors several gastronomic events honouring these items each year in the municipality. This joint effort has “given visibility to the territory and boosted the local economy”, he considered.

According to him, the Vouzela Food Lab wants to support a number of initiatives, such as events, training sessions, and chef demos, in addition to “acceleration programs as support for business development in the gastronomy and endogenous resources sector”. The new incubator, which promotes culinary events and the valorisation of endogenous goods, "consolidates the work already carried out for more than ten years," according to Councillor Carla Maia.

For this program, the municipalities of Vouzela and Beiras were selected as they have “technological and non-technological businesses/startups that add value to the gastronomic ecosystem” and plan to use local goods from the municipality in their operations. Luís Martins of the consulting firm Territórios Criativos claims that this is the first national acceleration initiative in the field of endogenous resources and gastronomy.