A 2014 innovation study from UCD’s School of Agricultural and Food Economics found that Ireland lags behind other countries in terms of business investment in research and development.

It also found that Ireland’s agri-food sector is relatively strong at innovation that removes cost from the supply chain (lean principles), but it is weaker in terms of the development of new products.

The study also found that there is a perception that a conservative mindset dominates organisations with power and influence and that leaders in the agri-food sector need to be more open to the benefits of co-operation, collaboration and partnerships for innovation.

One of the benefits of Ireland as a small country is that it is able to coordinate activity more easily than larger countries. However, the industry must foster a culture of collaboration across and between all components of the sector, especially given our reliance on exports.

To drive innovation, universities need to further strengthen engagement with industry. Companies may well need to be incentivised to take a longer-term view to R&D but similarly academics should be encouraged to look out to industry more, which could improve accessibility for companies. Alternative funding arrangements, such as the establishment of agri-food venture capital funds may be needed to overcome financial constraints – after all, this is a thin margin business along the supply chain.

Because of this risk/return issue, novel public/private funding partnerships may need to be developed.

All stakeholders need to ask are the structures fit for purpose for a beef sector that wants to be world leading in terms of innovation and performance. Strong leadership will be required to ensure that innovation is facilitated and not hindered.

The challenge for MTI will be to deliver effective results within a relatively tight budget of €8m over five years. To put this in context, the dairy industry which has an output level similar in size, saw a total of €35m invested by the Government and industry in two dairy research and innovation centres in Limerick and Cork in recent years. The need for this type of innovation centre for the Irish beef sector is even more heightened with the new threat posed by Brexit, where over 50% of all Irish beef ends up in the UK market.

Ultimately, investment in research can build a reputation for excellence that creates a platform not only for export growth, but also for inward investment by major global players in the food industry.

What is Meat Technology Ireland?

  • Meat Technology Ireland is an €8m research and innovation programme set over five years.
  • The programme has been developed by the Irish beef industry and co-funded by Enterprise Ireland and a consortium of nine beef and sheepmeat processing companies.
  • Meat Technology Ireland is hosted by Teagasc at its Ashtown food research facility in Dublin, along with research partners Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Dublin City University (DCU), University College Cork (UCC) and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).
  • The companies behind the initiative are ABP Ireland, Ashbourne Meat Processors, Dawn Meats Group, Dunbia (Ireland), Hilton Foods Ireland, Irish Country Meats, Kepak Group, Liffey Meats, and Slaney Foods International.