This article is from page 69 of the 2008-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
After last week ‘French kiss’ with her French counterpart, Michel Barnier, the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, is turning Japanese this week by leading an Enterprise Ireland visit to the far eastern nation WNL oo) .@
While the emphasis of the visit will be on food innovation as well as spe- cific sectoral innovation in the soft drinks and seafood processing sec- tors it is expected that the visit will facilitate the development of new trading opportunities.
“Japan is a world leader in pioneer- ing and developing the food and functional foods industry. This visit offers an opportunity to explore the potential for future collaborative research projects between Japanese and Irish food companies and food research institutes,” she said.
“The functional food and beverag-
es sector has grown to be one of the biggest global trends in food supply over the past 20 years.
“Ireland’s traditional strengths as a dairy and beverage producer along with our strong pharmaceutical in- dustry base, ample availability of quality raw materials, state-of-the- art food and drink research centres, and world class third level institu- tions, position us to become a lead- ing force in the functional foods sec- tor,’ he continued.
“We are also committed to emu- lating the collaborate approach be- tween Government, industry and the research community that has proved so successful in Japan.”
Also on the plane will be Mike Feeney, Director of Internationally Traded Business Sectors, Enterprise Ireland.
“A number of Enterprise Ireland clients are already collaborating with Japanese food companies who
are experts in this field of food sci- ence and processing,’ he said.
“Not alone will it benefit our clients to learn from Japanese expertise, but collaboration will also benefit Japa- nese food companies, offering them access to our leading-edge food sci- ence and technology research and access to a valuable and growing EU market for Functional Foods and Beverages.’
Six Irish soft drinks companies are participating in the Soft Drinks In- novation Study programme whereby they will meet with a number of key Japanese soft drinks manufacturers to evaluate emerging technology, packaging and product innovations in the sector.
In conjunction with Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), six Irish seafood processing companies, will be in ex- amining the latest freezing technolo- gies with a view to transferring them back to Ireland.