Dairy Concepts - Innovative dairy snacks
Company Background
Dairy Concepts IRL (DCI) is a consumer-led technology driven food R&D company established in 2012, following participation in Foodworks- a joint Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and Teagasc initiative, established to foster food entrepreneurs. In its facilities in Cork, it develops, manufactures and sells functional dairy snacks with global potential, including Fruchee and CheeseOs.
Engagement Type
Feasibility study with Teagasc and subsequent licensing of a Teagasc platform technology
Opportunity
DCI identified a gap in the market and potential growth area for Irish Dairy ingredients through the development of functional healthy innovative dairy snacks and realised Teagasc had the expertise and critically valuable intellectual property required to achieve this objective. Its ambition was to develop world first functional and natural hand held dairy snacks for global markets.
Teagasc Solution
Teagasc filed a patent application claiming a novel platform technology for wheyless cheese manufacture, and DCI CEO Tom Brennan, realised the potential of adapting this technology to develop a range of novel functional natural dairy snacks. Following a successful feasibility study with Teagasc, this led to the company licensing the patented technology from Teagasc, through its technology transfer office (TTO) to commercialise its novel innovative functional dairy snacks.
Impact
Further to developing a worlds’ first sweet high protein hand held dairy snacks product for adults and children (Fruchee ®), DCI secured EI investment, and became an HPSU client of EI. Through partnering with Teagasc, the company has based their product development function, and European manufacturing base at Teagasc Moorepark , with the first products produced in-house in 2017.
Testimony
“Partnering with Teagasc has been fundamental to our success– without the background technology, the products we envisaged would not have been possible. In addition, the on-going support and advice, from research staff and the TTO, has been extremely useful during the refinement stages and will be increasingly important as we develop a pipeline of products .”
Paul Simpson, Dairy Concepts IRL Sales & Marketing Director (2018).
Awards
Following selection for an innovation award at SIAL PARIS 2017 –the world’s largest food innovation exhibition, “Fruchee Friends” product went on to win the “Best Children’s Dairy Product” at the prestigious 2017 World Dairy Innovation Awards, where the judging panel deemed this to represent an “entirely new product category”. According to David Potts, ex-Sales Director of Muller Uk (2018), “Fruchee® is the most disruptive innovation in consumer dairy products in decades”
Teagasc and DCI were short listed in the Collaborative Research Award category for the Knowledge Transfer Ireland Impact Awards 2018, based on a TTO led submission. These awards recognise the success in knowledge transfer carried out in Irish publicly funded research organisations for the wider benefit of the economy. 24 April 2018 - Teagasc / Dairy Concepts Irl Shortlisted for KTI Impact Award