Irish meat company invests in R&D

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the Republic of Ireland, Mr Micheál Martin, recently announced a major investment of €28m by Dawn Farm Foods Ltd. in Naas, Co. Kildare, with the support of Enterprise Ireland. The investment relates to the development of a state-of-the-art meat science innovation centre together with significant investment in research and development and additional capital investment.

The food manufacturing sector in Europe consists of 26,000 companies and a turnover of €600 billion. Furthermore, the €300 billion foodservice sector continues to grow and an extra 12.9 billion ‘out of home’ meals are expected to be consumed in Europe between now and 2009. Due to the high cost and shortage of skilled labour, foodservice operators will require high quality, ready-to-serve, fully cooked product solutions: enter Dawn Farm Foods.

Dawn Farm Foods – part of the Queally Group of Companies – specialises in the production of a range of individually quick frozen and chilled cooked meat ingredients which are used by ready meal manufacturers; frozen and chilled pizza manufacturers; the sandwich industry and also the foodservice sector. Eighty per cent of the company’s output is exported to customers in more than 30 countries in the EU, Middle East and Africa.

New Food spoke with Mr. Larry Murrin, Chief Executive of Dawn Farm Foods to find out what the investment means to him.

“Like all companies competing in international markets, we need to constantly invest in our competitiveness and, more so today, particularly invest in R&D and innovation. The investment program will allow us to combine modern, high tech production facilities with a new Meat Science Innovation Centre – a first for Ireland – giving us and our customers a recipe for success. This investment marks the next phase in our growth plan and anchors our growth in R&D, innovation and market knowledge.”

The company aims to increase its presence in continental European markets, but what are its short term aims? “We are targeting incremental sales of in excess of ?60 million over the next five years,” answers Murrin. “We have established a leadership position in cooked meat ingredients in Europe, based on product quality and value, safety, technical expertise and customer focus, and this investment marks the next phase in the growth of Dawn Farm Foods.”

With a little help

Enterprise Ireland is the national investment agency that is helping to fund the company’s ambitious plans. Larry Murrin explains the reasons: “The Enterprise Ireland strategy – ‘Transforming Irish Industry’ – has set ambitious targets to substantially increase the number of companies performing research and development (R&D) as a means to develop new high value added products and build competitiveness. Dawn Farms has a track record of delivering against our targets and we already have R&D at the heart of our business model. Enterprise Ireland recognise this in the support we are receiving for this major investment program.”

The investment represents a significant sum of money – €28 million – so the benefits to the company should be considerable to make it worth while. Strengthening their presence in Europe will obviously be a huge benefit and Murrin explains why: “Penetration into continental European markets – which today consists of 25 countries – means access to over 450 million consumers. We anticipate an increase in outsourcing of key components by manufacturers and we see demand for fully cooked, ready-to-serve product solutions in foodservice. We have established a leadership position in cooked meat ingredients, so this is a strong base to work from.”

Meat science R&D centre

A major portion of the investment is allocated to the construction of a brand new meat science R&D centre, which will be responsible for creating 100 new jobs by 2011. The number of dedicated R&D personnel in the company will double from 15 to 30.

“Planning work on the new centre has already commenced,” explains Murrin. “The centre will be committed to innovation in cooked meat protein and will be complemented by a program of continuous investment in research into emerging consumer trends in convenience, health and wellness and specialty meat products. The centre will serve as a resource for our customers and a pipeline of projects is already in place.”

Dawn Farms is clearly keen to initiate work as soon as possible and reap the rewards of investment, but this does not include taking advantage of the cheaper labour costs of manufacturing in Central Eastern Europe: “For the time being our manufacturing (as well as the manufacturing expertise that we have developed) will continue to be centered at our Food Campus in Naas, Co Kildare, south of Dublin.”

Well, if it ain’t broke…