InterTrade Ireland FUSION project on functional spring waters innovation

Overall the project has been a learning experience for all involved and now at the end, the company has a heart health product for launch, a gut health product prototype, an immune function product concept and a stronger scientific literature base to underpin future work on these three product categories. In general terms, the aim of the project set out at the beginning has remained the same, however, the major progress made by the company in the area of “satiety” between the time of project submission and the commencement of the project required the “functional” area of primary interest to be changed to “heart health” and the other areas for work to be specified as “gut health” and “immune function” rather than left unspecified. This FUSION Project therefore involved the development of novel (and potentially inventive) functional spring water product concepts in areas of heart health, gut health, and immune function. In the first quarter of the project, scientific literature around “heart health”, “gut health” and “immune function”, was reviewed, and a range of product concepts were generated. The second quarter of the project increased market understanding for spring waters in these three health categories in GB multiples and the US convenience stores, and produced the prototype products for the “heart health” and “gut health” categories. The third quarter saw commercialisation plans for the “heart health” product produced, and the “immune function” product concept created. At 10 months into the project, the Graduate left the company with the Company Supervisor, and the latter provided consultancy support to ensure the knowledge gained was embedded in the company. It was agreed to end and write up the project after 10 months, two months before the original planned end point.