Cork food innovation summit was the first of its kind in Ireland

Enterprise Ireland hosted the first ‘Food Innovation Summit and the Food and Drink Start Up - Scaling Through Innovation’ event at Pairc Uí Chaoimh last week.

The summit is the first of its kind in Ireland and showcases the capability within Ireland’s food industry and the food research sector.

Two Cork-based client companies attended the event, Nutribio and Keohane Seafood Company.

Nutribio Ltd is based in Tivoli, and is an industry leader in the manufacture of supplementary feeds for food-producing animals.

A household name, Keohane Seafoods hails from Bantry, and is a renowned family-owned business run by father and sons, Michael, Colman, and Brian Keohane.

At the event, there were panel discussions with experienced food and drink companies, retail buyers and investors, and an overview of key trends in the global food market. The event was designed for current and future food and drink start-ups.

The Food and Drink Start Up event featured prominent international keynote speaker and food futurologist, Dr Morgaine Gaye, examining what the future of food will look like.

Enterprise Ireland continue to support the Irish Food industry and in 2022 saw exports in the food and sustainability sector increase by 23% in 2022, reaching €16.2b.

“This is the highest-ever level of growth for Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in the food and sustainability sector, which in 2022 accounted for 50% of exports by Enterprise Ireland-supported companies,” said a spokesperson.

Food and sustainability sector companies now account for 29% of total employment in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies. In 2022, 63,858 people were employed in companies that Enterprise Ireland supports in the food and sustainability sector, an increase of 3% on 2021 figures.