Over the last three years the IEA has been working with 25 Irish food & drink SMEs on a variety of new product development projects. This was part of an EU funded programme  –  Food Chains for Competitive Advantage (FCCA), which was further supported by Bord Bia.

According to Paul Hogan, owner of Hogans Farm: “The various workshops provide an insight into the different approaches to NPD and the identification of opportunities. They also provide tools to manage the projects including information on industry laws and regulations in the various markets. This training is then backed up with guidance from mentors who assist you from the beginning of the conception of the idea, through to the launch.

“We have found the training provided throughout the programme extremely beneficial to the overall NPD process and are now in the middle of working on exciting new product developments.”

The NPD workbook follows a stage gate process from idea generation to the launch of a new product.  It provides a systematic approach to food & drink NPD, practical tips, and a series of forms to aid NPD documentation.

If you are an Irish Food and Drink processing company and would like to receive a copy of the workbook free of charge, please contact the FCCA project manager Heike Owens ([email protected]).