In order to drive innovation in the Irish Seafood Sector and to promote the services available through BIM’s purpose built innovation facility in Clonakilty, Co. Cork; the first in a series of innovation workshops was held on the 19th September in the Seafood Development Centre (SDC).
Pictured L to R: Richard White, Glanbia; Barry McFeely, Tesco; Susan Steele, BIM and Donal Buckley, Business Development and Innovation Manager, BIM.
Entitled ‘Driving Profit Through Innovation’, the workshop focused on how innovation processes can benefit your company through a series of informative talks and breakout sessions. The talks covering topics such as: how adding value to seafood is a key priority for the sector; how an idea is generated and brought to market; how new products survive the market and how to reduce costs to get your product to key markets using innovative methods were delivered by experts in BIM, Tesco Ireland, University College Cork, Glanbia, Bullseye Marketing, Oakland International, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia. An industry case study was also delivered by Alan Kingston of Glenilen Farms on how they have embraced innovation across all elements of their business and how they have developed their brand to date. Alan’s story particularly resonated with the industry as he explained how he and his wife have built up his father’s farm to an international success story whilst staying true to the beliefs of the company.
Donal Buckley, BIM’s Business Development & Innovation Manager explains the rationale behind the series; ‘The workshops will allow Irish seafood companies to hear first hand from Innovative experts across the food industry on how innovation is key to increasing sales and profitability. Ireland has an excellent raw material at its disposal, and maximising the added value of exports is a crucial part of our growth strategy going forward. BIM’s Seafood Development Centre in partnership with industry has achieved a great deal since it opened three years ago. This strategy is winning – seafood exports continue to remain buoyant and to date are up 17% to over €40 million compared to last year’
The workshop was well attended and feedback was very positive. John Holland of Galway Bay Seafood’s commented; ‘The workshop brought in all aspects and joined the dots – showing how to come up with new ideas, where the markets are and how to get to them and how to make the products work.’
This workshop is one of five in the SDC’s autumn series which will cover packaging, ingredients, smoking and seaweed. The centre is also starting a Diploma in Seafood Innovation in conjunction with University College Cork on the 19th October.
The following workshops are planned over the coming months:
- Friday 12th October: Innovative Packaging and Equipment
- Tuesday 6th November: Innovative Ingredients for Seafood
- Tuesday 20th November: Innovative Smoking Technologies for Seafood
- Wednesday 12th December: Seaweed Innovation
The cost per workshop is €50 to attend – lunch and coffee are included. To secure your place, please e-mail Corcoran@bim.ie or phone 01-2144151.
Learn more about the upcoming workshops…
