Technology Strategy Board

Driving Innovation
Food processing and
manufacturing efciency
COMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
APRIL 2012
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INNOVATION PLATFORM
02 | Technology Strategy Board
Food processing and manufacturing efciency
COMPETITION 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 efciency, sustainability and
competitiveness in the food processing
and manufacturing sector.
Rising costs and increased regulation
around greenhouse gas emissions and
waste pose a signicant challenge to the
industry. This competition aims to
encourage more efcient food processing,
packaging and distribution in retail and
food service sectors and the efcient
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 brieng 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 worlds
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 UKs economic growth agenda.
Rising raw material and energy costs and
increasing regulation around greenhouse
gas emissions and waste management
pose signicant 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 benets, 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
benets 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 efciency
COMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
Project proposals aimed at delivering
more efcient food processing, packaging
and distribution in the retail and food
service sectors as well as the efcient
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 efciency 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 efciency and
management of refrigerated
supply chains
K logistic and distribution efciency
K reducing supply chain waste through:
K food spoilage control and improved
product shelf-life
K reducing supply chain scheduling
inefciencies
K packaging and storage innovation
K maximising efciency 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
competitions@innovateuk.org 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 brieng 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 nd collaborators and networks.
Technology Strategy Board February 2012 T12/018
Printed on 100% recycled paper.
Food processing and manufacturing efciency
COMPETITION 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 benet of UK business,
in order to increase economic growth and
improve quality of life.
Collaborative research and development is
part of the Governments 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
rst 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:
competitions@innovateuk.org
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 condential or
commercially sensitive. The titles of
successful projects, names of organisations,
amounts awarded and the public description
will be published once the award is conrmed
as nal. Information about unsuccessful
project applications will remain condential
and will not be made public. E-mail
pressofce@tsb.gov.uk with any queries.
Key dates
Competition opens 11 June 2012
Brieng 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 brieng 14 August 2012
Deadline for invited applications 19 September 2012 noon
Decision and feedback to applicants 19 October 2012