Innovation was on the menu at this year’s Enterprise Ireland Food Innovation Summit, which took place this week at Dublin’s Croke Park.
Attended by food and drink sector businesses from start-up to scale-up and multinational stage, it featured a packed line up of companies, global experts, researchers and policymakers, all of whom shone a light on the critical importance of baking innovation into the sector.
Featuring best-in-class case studies and panel discussions, it offered food and drinks enterprises of all sizes a chance to sample the latest thinking in innovation, as well as the future consumer and technology trends most likely to impact their business.
“The food and drink sector is the cornerstone of Ireland’s economy,” said Deirdre Glenn, head of food technology and food foreign direct investment, at Enterprise Ireland, who hosted the event.
“Our reputation internationally is as a trusted food source, which is why demand for our food continues to grow,” she added. “With the challenges now facing the world around food security and sustainable food systems, that demand is only set to increase massively.”
It’s why Enterprise Ireland is so focused on supporting food and drinks industry innovation.
“We know that innovation is essential for maintaining our competitive edge. It features both in our new strategy and in the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine’s Food Vision 2030, which aims to make Ireland a world leader in sustainable food systems,” she explained.
As delegates heard, “Too often when we think of innovation, we think of researchers in the lab creating new products,” she said. “It’s not. Innovation and creativity opportunities run right across the totality of your business supply chain. It is only by investing in innovation that that our companies can continue to compete, scale and win in global markets.”
Since its introduction in 2023, Enterprise Ireland’s annual Food Innovation Summit has quickly become a flagship event on the industry calendar.
“It has become a platform for us to gather clients, their critical stakeholders and international experts, providing a place for them to really talk about the role of innovation in driving sustainable and profitable growth across the industry,” said Glenn.
“It’s about raising awareness of the importance of investing in research and innovation to compete, and of our role to support them through funding, connections and partnerships. It’s also an opportunity for us to showcase some of the best-in-class start-ups coming out of our ecosystem.”
This year, that included innovators such as Femme Biome, a team of scientists undertaking groundbreaking research into how the microbiome influences hormonal health, and Positive Carbon, which enables businesses to track, manage and reduce food waste.
The summit also highlighted a number of industry trends, including alternative proteins; the role of precision fermentation as a manufacturing technology; and the work Enterprise Ireland is doing with manufacturers of sweeteners, flavours and high value ingredients.
It looked at sustainable packaging too. After all, as Glenn pointed out, traditional consumer food sectors such as bakeries are less likely to be disrupted by new products than they are by processing technologies, packaging and distribution.
The event also looked at digital solutions and artificial intelligence, as well as consumer trends such as the rise of weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Among the pioneering producers who spoke at this year’s event was John O’Connell, director of West Cork Distillers in Skibbereen. Established in 2003 it produces a range of spirits, including whiskey, gin and vodka.
‘I find it hugely interesting to get a different perspective from other people. Attending the summit is a good opportunity for cross examination and a self-check of your own processes’
Before co-founding it with his childhood friends, Ger and Denis McCarthy, O’Connell worked in corporate research for Unilever, and iconic Irish ingredients maker, Kerry Group.
Today West Cork Distillers employs 230 people over two sites, making brands such as West Cork Irish Whiskey, which is listed with all the main retailers in Ireland and exports to 70 countries worldwide.
Innovation has been central to its success, he said. “Innovation is huge for us because, in addition to Irish whiskey, we have a large alcoholic ingredient business, where we develop and sell alcoholic ingredients to nearly every big spirits company in the world,” explained O’Connell.
“Whiskey is a GI (geographical indication) product, with limited scope for innovation. So, it is on the ingredient side that we focus on innovation, creating products with serious intellectual property and for which we have a lot of patents,” he added.
Having such a diverse source of revenues streams helps protect it from the vagaries of the whiskey market, he explained.
Leaving his role as a speaker at the event aside, he found attending as a delegate to be enormously worthwhile, he said.
“I find it hugely interesting to get a different perspective from other people,” he explained. “Attending the summit is a good opportunity for cross examination and a self-check of your own processes.”
Another top speaker was Elaine Bourke, new product development and innovation director at meat producer Kepak.
Kepak began as a family-run butcher shop in 1950s Dublin and has grown into a leading food company, employing over 5,000 people. With manufacturing sites in Ireland and the UK, and sales offices across Europe and the US, it supplies fresh meat and value-added meat products to retailers and food service operators across domestic and international markets. Its brand portfolio includes Big Al’s, Rustlers and John Stone.
The Keating family, which owns it, started out in the 1950s with a local butcher shop, in Dublin’s Francis Street.
“Innovation and creativity are still at the heart of the company today,” says Bourke. “We’ve grown by being adaptable and forward-thinking, and that mindset continues to shape everything we do.”
She describes Kepak as a business where innovation isn’t confined to one department. “It’s embedded across the organisation: from product development and sustainability to how we work day to day. Everyone has a role to play.”
At the summit, Bourke encouraged other businesses to see innovation in a more practical light. “There can be a perception that innovation is all about big ideas or creative sessions with bean bags and whiteboards. That’s part of it – but the real work begins with implementation.”
Introducing change, she acknowledges, often comes with challenges. “It can feel daunting. There’s always some level of resistance. But that’s why the support from Enterprise Ireland is so valuable – it connects you with others on the same journey, gives you access to resources and shows that there are many ways to make progress.”
“There’s no single formula,” she adds, “but any business can take steps to innovate – and doing so is crucial for staying relevant and resilient in today’s environment.”
Visit enterprise-ireland.com to find out how Enterprise Ireland can help your food and drink business
