Innovation support available through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership

June 11, 2021

The Food Technology Branch at the Loughry Campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), works with around 250 companies per year on technology transfer projects including “factory ready” recipe formulation, new product development and food process optimisation. The projects are in line with company needs and delivered in a manner bespoke to company objectives. This work can be supported by a funded programme such as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP). This is a subsidised three-way partnership between a business, a high calibre graduate and an academic institution.

CAFRE in collaboration with KTP at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) recently delivered a ‘Grow and Gain’ webinar to highlight the benefits of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership project to the Northern Ireland Food and Drinks Sector. The event gave an overview of how the project could benefit companies and included speakers from KTP at QUB, QUB Management School, KTN (Knowledge Transfer Network),and CAFRE . The keynote speaker was Michael Hall, Managing Director of Kestrel Foods who gave a presentation on how KTP helped his business.  In his opinion “the knowledge we gained through the KTP programme set the foundation for high levels of creativity which resulted in an organic growth of new products”. If you missed the event, the link to the recording can be found below.  

For further information contact – Deborah.Whinnery@deara-ni.gov.uk