Agriculture Minister visits Glanbia Ireland’s new €15 million Innovation Centre

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue toured GI’s new 2,000 sq m Research & Development hub recently. Guests including Enterprise Ireland’s Alexa Toomey viewed facilities which include a plant-based lab capable of milling grains to different sizes for various applications, the site’s new sensory suite, the applications and development lab, a modern visitor engagement experience, along with analytical laboratories and one of Ireland’s most sophisticated pilot-scale spray dryers.

The Innovation Centre will allow Glanbia Ireland to expand and develop its product ranges made from top quality milk and grains supplied from over 5,800 family farms in its catchment area. While the customer-focused R&D Centre will allow colleagues there to showcase our expertise to customers from across the world, enhancing our relationships with some of the world’s leading brands and consumers.

The state-of-the-art facility is integrated into the dairy processing sites in Ballyragget, and it brings GI’s R&D team under the one roof for the first time, including food scientists, nutritionists, process engineers, a development chef, an analytical team and others.

On his visit, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, said: “An investment such as this by Glanbia Ireland adds significant value to milk and grain. Innovation here is assisting Irish agriculture to adapt to the numerous challenges facing farm family suppliers and agriculture in general. As we face into a decade of change for our great sector, the cornerstone of our development will be cutting edge research, development and innovation.”

Glanbia Ireland CEO, Jim Bergin, said the investment marks an important milestone in Glanbia Ireland’s strategic and sustainability journey. “Our Innovation Centre is home to a team of experts who are passionately researching the worlds of dairy and plant. They include scientists, nutritionists, sensory gurus, development chefs and process technology experts. “The facility will allow for faster new product development and prototyping at a higher standard. It will significantly improve our ability for engagement and co-development of products with our customers, who we can now welcome to design prototypes and taste tests.”