InterTradeIreland FUSION project on food product innovation

The project was unique as it had 2 academic partners bringing separate expertise. The advantages of having two Academic Partners, Northern Irealnd Centre for Food and Health and Loughry, have been enormous for both the company and Joanne Beirne, the knowledge carrier. Overall the project has been a good learning experience for all involved and now at the end, the company has a new product range and a unique selling point into the UK. This Fusion Project involved those steps from concept to development through to the food service and retail launch of a range of “hidden vegetable” products, whilst at the same time developing the functional foods capability and introducing vegetable processing capacity at the company. The first part of the project, to develop a range of hidden veg products, was completed in the first 2 quarters of the project. Due to a strategic change within the company, vegetable processing capability was no longer a priority. Therefore the 3rd and 4th quarters of this project have been dedicated to developing the functional foods capability of the company. The 12 month time scale for this project worked well for all involved. It was particularly beneficial to the company as it enabled a quick turn around and launch to fill a gap in the market.