College hosts first-ever distillation conference

THE College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), in conjunction with Invest NI, recently welcomed 40 guests from the North’s distilleries to Loughry Campus for an inaugural one-day conference aimed at supporting innovation, growth and networking within this important local industry.

Delegates heard from the International Wine and Spirit Research’s (IWSR) Consulting Director, Luke Tegner who discussed global sales trends in the distilling industry and the opportunities and challenges facing the spirits market.

Invest NI outlined the support that they offer the Northern Ireland beverage industry. Funding opportunities include the ‘Innovation Voucher’ scheme (worth £5,000 to enable businesses to grow through innovation and product development).

Invest NI also highlighted the value of their ‘Consumer Insight’ clinics – used by businesses to establish the ‘Why behind the Buy’ – and reminded delegates that a ‘pop-up’ clinic is available at Loughry Campus each month.

Alex Taggart concluded by summarising Invest NI’s extensive support network for local businesses wishing to explore exporting their product to global markets.

CAFRE food technologists Milan Havlicek, Lyndon Beattie and Adele Dallas gave a flavour of the range of expertise and technical support available at Loughry Campus, including the use of pilot scale equipment for new product development, processing trials, and packaging and distribution testing.