Creating science-based food innovation

Located on the Teagasc campus in Moorepark, Fermoy, adjacent to the food research centre and the Moorepark Technology Ltd (MTL) pilot plant facility, the newly-opened national Food Innovation Hub represents an €8.8 million investment by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Conceived to help food companies located in Ireland to secure new export markets in the post-Brexit era, the facility provides secure, company-dedicated offices, laboratories and storage space. The hub also includes a boardroom, training centre and full ICT infrastructure.

The new hub provides a platform for companies of all sizes to build a research base. Its location on the Moorepark campus offers access to sophisticated analytical instrumentation for research and development purposes and an opportunity to connect with expert food-research scientists from the Teagasc food research programme.

"The scientific pipeline emanating from the Teagasc food research programme is the driver for science-based innovations and solutions for national and international food companies," says programme head Mark Fenelon. Success results from the extensive expertise resident within the food programme, in both dairy and non-dairy disciplines.

Facilities at Moorepark include the DNA sequencing facility where Prof Paul Cotter and his staff are leading the Irish coronavirus sequencing consortium, the National Food Imaging Centre, the flavour chemistry facility, the bio-functional food engineering facility and a rheology suite.

“What makes the Moorepark site different to any other in the world is that we have the food research side, we have the state-of-the-art MTL pilot plant which has just had a €10 million investment, and now we have the food innovation hub,” says Fenelon.

“We were already working with Irish and international food companies, and they wanted to be able place people on site here to collaborate with Teagasc researchers and use the MTL pilot plant to test and scale up production to pre-commercial stage,” he continues. “FDI food companies can put people on site and have their own labs and office space and IT systems in a dedicated confidential facility. They can engage with our researchers and utilise our world-class equipment and facilities.”

Joint venture

Access to the MTL pilot facility is particularly important. MTL is a joint venture between Teagasc and industry investors which is available for hub clients to support pre-commercial-scale manufacturing trials to provide realistic product and process transfer.

A further facility to be developed within the next two years is a food biotest facility, where companies can evaluate the health benefits of functional foods and ingredients through in-vivo feeding studies, in addition to performing food digestion studies. Other accessible Teagasc facilities, located on a different campus, include the cereal chemistry laboratory and test bakery facility, the meat industry development unit, the nutraceutical research facility and others.

Additionally, the Teagasc animal and grassland research innovation programme is located on the same campus as the food research programme.

The Teagasc food research programme is internationally recognised and spans the entire food chain, from farm production to food processing and innovation, Fenelon explains. Teagasc is a host institute for the APC Microbiome Ireland and VistaMilk SFI research centres while also participating in a number of national industry-led partnerships such as Meat Technology Ireland, Food for Health Ireland and the Dairy Processing Technology Centre.

“The food research programme also links to all national universities and many colleges in Ireland, primarily through the Teagasc Walsh Scholarships Programme, while Teagasc and UCC have established a formal strategic alliance in food research,” he adds.

The aim of the alliance is to develop greater scientific critical mass to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the two organisations in underpinning innovation in the food industry. The alliance delivers scientific expertise and support to industry in the areas of food and health, food science and technology, and food and the consumer.

International links

Linkages are not limited to Ireland. "We have connections far and wide, which include both industry and academic linkages, in addition to a direct link to a laboratory in China for food structure studies," Fenelon adds. "Teagasc also has close links to the International Dairy Federation – the head of our food programme is currently secretary of its national committee."

The hub is already fully occupied. “There are 12 companies in the hub already,” says Fenelon. “We have a good mix of Irish and international food companies and there will be a slight turnover among the occupants over time to allow new companies avail of the facilities. The hub is helping to attract more FDI companies carry out research activity here in Ireland. All research activity at the hub is completely confidential. That is very important to those companies. They allow get access to highly specialised graduates in areas like biosciences, chemistry, microbiology, food safety and so on.”

The hub will also support collaborative engagement between multinational companies and indigenous Irish firms and the wider research community. "It's a perfect platform for engagement with funding agencies like Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Agriculture with its funding for fundamental research," Fenelon notes. "It further embeds the companies in Ireland by carrying out research here and copper fastens and de-risks their investment in this country."