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Food and drink firms invested €166m in R&D in 2024

Enterprise Ireland-backed food and drink firms exported €15 billion worth of goods last year
Enterprise Ireland-backed food and drink firms exported €15 billion worth of goods last year

Enterprise Ireland-backed food and drinks companies invested €166m in research and development last year, according to the semi-State body.

That is on a par with the spend by firms in 2023, as firms sought to gain or hold an edge in an increasingly challenging global market.

The figures were released ahead of EI's Food Innovation Summit, which takes place in Croke Park in Dublin today.

"We'll have 400 companies in Croke Park today talking about the challenges facing the Irish food and drink sector, but also the opportunities," said Mark Christal, Enterprise Ireland's manager of food, sustainability and climate change.

"Some of the key themes and trends that we see driving the agenda for our clients is in respect of food as a medicine, health and well-being, personalised nutrition, alternative proteins and process innovation and smart manufacturing," he said.

"We have some excellent start-up companies and an excellent cohort of Irish companies who are employing about 60,000 people directly across our economy, and contributing €15 billion in terms of exports," he added.

Artificial intellgience is also a major talking point for food and drink firms - as is the growing demand for anti-obesity drugs, which creates a challenge but also an opportunity for many companies.

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West Cork Distillers is one of the firms that is taking place in EI's summit today. And while many of its products are based around age-old methods, they still see innovation as vital to its growth.

"We do manufacture packed whiskey products for sale, but up to 70% of our revenue comes from alcoholic ingredients and services," said John O'Connell, managing director of West Cork Distillers. "So there's a lot of innovation , particularly at the moment in regards to manufacturing efficiencies - that's particularly pertinent at the moment."

Covid, the tariff threat and supply chain issues have all contributed to that - making a smarter manufacturing process even more important than before.

However Mr O'Connell said that as R&D can often take time to give a return on investment, getting the balance right between investing in innovation and investing in day-to-day issues is difficult.

"You have to get that balance correct, but I suppose with the cost of goods going up so considerably in the last couple of years... the benefits of innovation are so profound at the moment that it's absolutely key to strategy," he said.

Keeping a lid on costs and remaining innovative is also important as the company navigates a challenging period ahead, in large part due to doubts around the US-EU trade relationship.

"The uncertainty is probably more of an obstacle to progress than anything else. "West Coast Distillers has two manufacturing premises - one in Skibbereen and one in Waterford, both employing around 150 people," he said.

"My biggest focus is leveraging the relationships that an Irish company like ourselves has built up over the last 10 years, with our customers, to be able to mitigate and negotiate equitable factors against the tariffs. It's the relationships that is the big thing," he added.