food processing and manufacturing efficiency
TRANSCRIPT
Technology Strategy BoardDriving Innovation
Food processing and manufacturing efficiencyCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING APRIL 2012
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INNOVATION PLATFORM
02 | Technology Strategy Board
Food processing and manufacturing efficiencyCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
Summary
The Technology Strategy Board, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Scottish Government are to invest up to £15m in collaborative research and development to encourage an increase in efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness in the food processing and manufacturing sector.
Rising costs and increased regulation around greenhouse gas emissions and waste pose a significant challenge to the industry. This competition aims to encourage more efficient food processing, packaging and distribution in retail and food service sectors and the efficient recycling of manufacturing by-products and waste.
Proposals must be collaborative and business-led. Successful projects will generally attract up to 50% public funding. We are likely to award grants of between £100k and £2.5m, although projects larger than this are eligible to apply.
This is a two-stage competition that opens on 11 June 2012. The deadline for registration is noon on 11 July 2012 and the deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 18 July 2012. The deadline for invited applications is at noon on 19 September 2012.
A briefing event for potential applicants will be held on 19 June 2012.
Background and challenge
Food and drink manufacturing is the single largest manufacturing sector in the UK. It represents 16% of all manufacturing and has a turnover of £76.2bn and a gross value added of £20.9bn. The sector employs around 400,000 workers in over 6,000 enterprises, representing 15% of the overall manufacturing workforce in the UK. Many of these enterprises are small companies employing fewer than 10 people.
The UK exports nearly £11bn of food and non-alcoholic drink products a year, 77% of which go to the EU, making it the world’s eighth largest exporter of food and drink.
The food and drink manufacturing sector has been the most resilient and stable of all manufacturing industries throughout the recession, making its continued competitiveness a strategically important part of the UK’s economic growth agenda.
Rising raw material and energy costs and increasing regulation around greenhouse gas emissions and waste management pose significant economic and operational challenges to the sector.
The food supply chain is complex and all stages generate greenhouse gas emissions and quantities of waste. Many of these waste streams have potential value as sources of energy, or as feedstocks for other processes. There are real opportunities for UK business in measuring, monitoring and managing the impacts of food processing and manufacture.
Reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions will save resources and bring environmental benefits, but there are also opportunities for UK businesses to develop technologies and innovative systems that can improve the competitive position of this important manufacturing sector and deliver tangible economic benefits to the broader economy.
Scope
We are seeking business-led collaborative projects lasting up to three years that deliver innovation and technological advances across the UK food processing and manufacturing sector and create opportunities for export of goods and services to the wider global agri-food industry.
While there may be opportunities for innovation in relevant aspects of primary production, the main focus will be downstream of the ‘farm gate’. Applicants must therefore secure industrial leadership from the food processing, manufacturing, distribution, retail or food service sectors rather than those involved in primary production.
Technology Strategy Board | 03
Food processing and manufacturing efficiencyCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
Project proposals aimed at delivering more efficient food processing, packaging and distribution in the retail and food service sectors as well as the efficient recycling of manufacturing by-products and waste streams will all be in scope.
We will fund development across all food and drink groups and sub-groups, including fresh, frozen, canned, dry and convenience. We are seeking to attract proposals covering, the following areas:
K increasing efficiency in food processing, manufacturing and distribution through:
K manufacturing process innovation
K engineering solutions and process automation
K reducing and recovering energy and water used in manufacturing processes
K improving the efficiency and management of refrigerated supply chains
K logistic and distribution efficiency
K reducing supply chain waste through:
K food spoilage control and improved product shelf-life
K reducing supply chain scheduling inefficiencies
K packaging and storage innovation
K maximising efficiency and value of resource (by/co-product) recovery and use
K waste auditing, process validation and added value services.
The above list is not prescriptive and innovative proposals outside the areas listed that support the broader aims of the competition will be considered.
Funding allocation and project details
We have allocated up to £15m to fund collaborative R&D projects that address the technical challenges outlined in the scope above. This competition is open to all UK-based companies and research organisations, either through business-to-business or science-to-business collaborations.
Projects must be led by a food processing, manufacturing, distribution, retail or food service sector business. They should be collaborative and last up to three years. They can range from focused basic research aimed at establishing technical feasibility, through to applied research and experimental development projects. We anticipate that most applications for this competition will focus on applied research (attracting up to 50% funding) or experimental development (up to 25% funding) categories. Projects involving industry-orientated basic research (up to 75% funding) will also be considered, but applicants must make a robust case to support the requested level of funding.
We are likely to award grants of between £100k and £2.5m. Projects larger than this are eligible to apply but applicants for this scale of project must contact [email protected] before submitting their expression of interest.
All proposals must demonstrate:
K the requirement for R&D in the area and the value that our investment would bring
K innovation in the proposed solution
K commercial application(s) and the exploitation path
K a credible route to market for the technology or process and detail of the market size.
Applications are assessed on individual merit by an independent panel of experts.
Application process
This two-stage competition opens on 11 June 2012. The deadline for registration is noon on 11 July 2012 and expressions of interest (EOI) must be submitted by noon on 18 July 2012. The second stage for invited applicants opens on 6 August 2012 and the deadline for invited applications is noon on 19 September 2012.
Applicants may make an optional EOI prior to their compulsory application. The optional EOI will be reviewed and a response given to applicants within three working days. Applicants may take advantage of this up to ten days prior to the compulsory EOI deadline.
A briefing event will be held on 19 June 2012 to highlight the main features of the competition and explain the application process.
Looking for partners to work on your project? Go to _connect (www.innovateuk.org/connect) to find collaborators and networks.
© Technology Strategy Board February 2012 T12/018 Printed on 100% recycled paper.
Food processing and manufacturing efficiencyCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the Government. Its role is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve quality of life.
Collaborative research and development is part of the Government’s Solutions for Business portfolio.
The Technology Strategy Board North Star House North Star Avenue Swindon SN2 1UE
Telephone: 01793 442700
www.innovateuk.org
More information
To apply for this competition you must first register with us. You can do this by going to our web page for this competition at www.innovateuk.org under Competitions. When you register you will get access to all the supporting information you need to read before you apply, including the Guidance for Applicants and the application form.
Competition helpline: 0300 321 4357
Email: [email protected]
Publicity
As part of the application process all applicants are asked to submit a public description of the project. This should adequately describe the project but not disclose any information that may impact on intellectual property, is confidential or commercially sensitive. The titles of successful projects, names of organisations, amounts awarded and the public description will be published once the award is confirmed as final. Information about unsuccessful project applications will remain confidential and will not be made public. E-mail [email protected] with any queries.
Key dates
Competition opens 11 June 2012
Briefing event 19 June 2012
Registration deadline 11 July 2012 noon
Optional expression of interest deadline 4 July 2012 noon
Expression of interest deadline 18 July 2012 noon
Stage 2 opens for invited applicants 6 August 2012
Full stage briefing 14 August 2012
Deadline for invited applications 19 September 2012 noon
Decision and feedback to applicants 19 October 2012