Innovation ‘critical’ for food industry

INNOVATION is becoming a critical factor for the food industry, an international forum was told in Dublin yesterday.

Enterprise Ireland executive director Mike Feeney said this was in terms of product development and emerging markets, as well as attracting more science graduates and new talent into the sector.

He said health and well-being, convenience and indulgence were key drivers in the global food industry. The food-fuel-feed debate will also influence future production, demand for raw materials and market share.

“Demand is also driven by technological advances in storage and distribution, packaging, shelf life, new product development and marketing,” he told the sixth world food technology and innovation forum.

“In addition, the growing power and influence of retail chains, multinational food companies and government programmes are also driving consumption patterns and demand.”

Mr Feeney said it was also evident that patterns of food consumption were becoming more similar globally with a shift to higher-quality, added value and more expensive foods such as meat and dairy products.

Also, the increasing adoption of western-style diets and foodservice outlets in developing countries was leading to a new generation of consumers and market growth opportunities.

The transition to supplying higher value-added food products represented significant market opportunities, he said, noting that Irish food companies were investing heavily in R&D.

“Enterprise Ireland assists processing operations to improve competitiveness and increase export capability as an ongoing process. As part of this process we are a significant investor in research and development. Our commitment to innovation underpins our vision to support the long-term development of the food processing sector in Ireland.”

Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin, who opened the two-day forum, said the rapid changes taking place are critical to all food producing countries.

But this was particularly the case for Ireland where the food and drinks sector accounts for output valued at €18 billion, exports of €8bn and direct employment of 54,000 people.