The food industry is one of the country's most important industrial sectors. Food companies account for a significant proportion of industrial activity, creating direct and indirect employment for hundreds of thousands of people. As the Belgian food industry federation, Fevia aims to promote the sustainable development of the sector. To this end, it strives to cooperate fruitfully with all stakeholders. Its membership includes large companies and SMEs; local, small-scale producers and companies engaged in mass-production based on leading-edge technology. Fevia also cooperates with 29 associations each of which represents a specific sector of the food industry. It focuses on issues of common interest, whereas the other associations deal with issues specific to individual sectors.