Food.pdf Mar. 2014 | Page 18

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