New Technology Support Initiative for Food SMEs

Teagasc are announcing the establishment of a new Food Technology Support Programme for small and medium sized food companies, at a major Open Day for the food industry taking place at Moorepark Food Research Centre in Fermoy today, 9 June.

Speaking at the event, Professor Liam Donnelly, Teagasc’s Director of Food Research and Head of Moorepark Food Research Centre said: “A new consensus is required for public food research to bridge the gap in expectations between public research institutions and food companies. Food companies are often critical of public research because it does not relate to their everyday needs, while public research institutions place the greatest emphasis on scientific novelty, and are often frustrated by the lack of interest by food companies in new research outputs. This difference in expectations is not confined to food research but spans the whole of the public research spectrum, nor is it confined to Ireland but is a perennial problem experienced in all countries.”

The problem, according to Professor Donnelly, stems from the fact that it is an imperative for public research that the highest standards of scientific excellence and novelty are pursued, while food companies are often seeking technical information which is highly applications focused with the emphasis being on immediate relevance rather than scientific novelty. It is only at the highest level of industrial research performance, more likely to be achieved by multinational companies, that productive links in deeper science can be established. Public institutions are most comfortable operating at this level in which there is a common scientific language and often have difficulty in relating to near market needs of which they have a limited knowledge.

Over several years Teagasc has been building a business plan for its research which is aimed at bridging the gap with food companies. Teagasc is an applied research organisation and holds industry impact as its prime goal. Simultaneously, it is obliged to meet the high scientific standards that are mandatory for all public research performers. Hitherto, Teagasc’s business plan has been most effective in technology transfer to the larger companies, but now a new initiative is being taken to increase accessibility of smaller companies to Teagasc’s technologies.

The Food SME Technology Support Programme, which is being set up with this aim, in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, will be staffed by technologists whose role will be to accumulate and transfer information that is directly applicable to food companies. These technologists will draw from the knowledge and expertise of Teagasc food researchers at Moorepark and Ashtown Research Centres, which they will augment from other knowledge sources, national and international. By having such a corps of technologists, Teagasc aims to bridge the communication gap between public research and the general food industry, while at the same time accomplishing its mandate for high quality research and for innovation impact at the highest level of industrial research which will be key to driving the knowledge-based bioeconomy.

For further information & contact details please click here (445KB PDF Format)