José Maria Gil is the Director of CREDA and Professor of Agricultural Economics at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). He is also responsible for the Information Systems and Food Supply Chains research arm of CREDA. His current research focuses on the economics of food quality and safety, and related policy issues with respect to the consumer, the food industry, and trade. Another major research interest concerns the analysis of the competitiveness of food supply chains. Further, he has considerable experience in econometrics and statistical methods for analyzing food chains and household purchasing behavior.