The food industry has been warned that it will be 'outpaced and outstripped' by rivals elsewhere unless more money is invested in research and investment.
The warning came from the Minister for Agriculture & Food Mary Coughlan, who said that a culture of R&D, innovation and risk-taking needed to be stimulated in the food industry sector.
Speaking at Moorepark in County Cork at the opening of a €6m biotechnology centre for Teagasc, Mary Coughlan said the food industry was entering a more demanding era following the recent fundamental changes to farmer subsidies.
She said that now, more than ever, the food industry needed to acquire new skills, knowledge and techniques to remain competitive.
Minister Coughlan said that significantly more Government funding would be needed for research and development, but the industry itself would also have to come up with more money.
The Minister said that as a food exporting country, the industry needed to focus not just on products consumed today, but those which would be demanded in a few years time. Ms Coughlan said the main challenge was the production of quality and innovative products for the international consumer at competitive prices.
