THIRD LEVEL
The agrifood industry
is well placed to gain
from a new
collaborative drive
between companies and
academics, writes
Dick Ahlstrom
I
reland’s food industries are in an enviable position given the structures
that have been put together in support of research and innovation. It
means companies can tap into expertise within the third-level sector, but also
rely on the support of government agencies to help them develop products and
reach new markets.
It involves companies and academics engaging in research activity and commercialising innovations emerging from the laboratories, says Dr Frank O’Mara, director of
research at Teagasc.
Few industrial sectors are as well placed
as the agrifood industries to gain from collaborative research activity, he says.
“There are huge opportunities there in
terms of both products and processes in
the food industry. And there are new areas
in relation to food and enhanced value that
can be added through nutraceuticals.”
Teagasc maintains links with most of Ireland’s third-level institutions, with particular connections to University College Cork
and Cork Institute of Technology. It has
400 scientists – 200 senior scientists and
postdoctoral researchers and 200 post
graduate PhD students – working at its various centres, he says.
Collaboration is a two-way street with exchange between partners in academia and
in industry. It is a pull and push whether an
idea comes from industry or from the lab,
but in the food sector it is usually a near to
market innovation, he says.
“More and more researchers recognise
the need to work closely with industry,” Dr
O’Mara says. “We do a lot of contract work
with companies. It is seldom wholly new in
food processing but an advance in technology, nutritional value, processing methods,
texture, for example the creaminess of low
fat yoghurt or reducing the salt content in
cheese. It is a very high technology industry and if you can find a way to improve a
process it can be as valuable to the company as having a new product.”
The third-level sector also sees the value
of collaborative research and innovation
18 |THE IRI 4