Walsh Announces €15M Investment in World Class Innovation Centre

18/2/2004

The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Joe Walsh TD, today announced plans by Glanbia plc for the development of a world class Group Innovation Centre to be located in Kilkenny. The project, supported by Enterprise Ireland and due for completion in September, will involve an investment of €15m over the next five years and will create employment opportunities for approximately 30 highly skilled graduates, some to PHD level.

Making the announcement, Minister Walsh, said: "Glanbia is to be congratulated on its plans to develop a world-class innovation centre. The scale of this investment is a first for the Irish food industry and will significantly strengthen Glanbia's competitive edge in the international marketplace. The Group has an established track record in the development of consumer products and functional foods and a strong R+D capability is essential to its growth strategy" .

"The Irish food industry in general needs greater investment in research and product development if it is to move rapidly towards higher value added products and to respond effectively to market requirements. This was also one of the key recommendations in the Prospectus report on the strategic development of the Irish dairy sector and I am very pleased to see Glanbia taking the lead in this regard," Minister Walsh added.

Welcoming the announcement by the Minister, Mike Feeney, Executive Director, Enterprise Ireland said: "The Glanbia Group Innovation Centre will be a world-class research and product development facility specialising in nutritional solutions for both consumers and customers. Enterprise Ireland is particularly pleased to see Irish food companies committing substantial investment to high quality Research and Development."

Commenting on the announcement, John Moloney, Group Managing Director, Glanbia plc said: "In line with our commitment to drive growth in high value markets, the Group is focusing on developing products with a health based functional foods and nutritional emphasis in both ingredient and consumer form. There is growing consumer awareness of the link between health and diet and Glanbia as a food Group is committed to achieving the highest standards of best practice in relation to science based innovation. This new world-class research and product development facility is core to this strategy."

The new Group Innovation Centre will focus on the European market and as such will complement the Glanbia R+D Centre at Twin Falls, in Idaho, which services the US nutritional market. It is envisaged that the Innovation Centre will work closely with Irish and international universities.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this article please contact Sorcha Tobin at STobin@glanbia.ie