Funding for Food Hub and SciTech
EU now biggest export destination
TWO Kerry bodies are set to share in funding of almost €1.3million under the latest round of grants under the Regional Enterprise Fund.
The bulk of the funding for Kerry will go to the Firies Business Hub, which will receive just over €1.15 million. This will go towards an expansion of the Kerry Food Hub.
Community-run Kerry Food Hub, which opened in March 2017, provides high-quality-grade self-contained production facilities for start ups, and small food businesses in four purpose-built units.
The majority of the funding will be used to construct six additional production units. A further portion of the funds will also be used to develop an online artisan food marketplace to link local suppliers with key hotel and restaurant buyers in the greater Killarney area.
Meanwhile the second tranche of funding for Kerry will go to the KerrySciTech enterprise cluster and promotional body. It is set to receive a grant of €120,000.
The Kerry recipients are among 26 successful applicants from around the country who had applied for grant aid under the Enterprise Ireland-operated fund.
Successful applicants were selected through a “rigorous” evaluation process based on criteria which included potential economic impacts and value for money; collaboration and participation; viability and sustainability; building regional strengths and significance for innovation.
“The Regional Enterprise Development Fund is an initiative that helps us to further drive growth in well-performing sectors in the South, particularly in the context of Britain’s impending exit from the European Union among other global trade challenges,” said Enterprise Ireland Regional Director Martin Corkery.
“The successful applicants of the fund’s third call represent a broad range of projects across a variety of sectors including food and technology,” Mr Corkery said.
WITH the UK now set to leave the EU within a matter of weeks, new trade figures suggest the Irish agri food sector is better-placed to survive the Brexit fallout than some analysts had suggested.
According to the data from Bord Bia, the European Union last year accounted for 35 per cent of all Irish food and drink exports, surpassing the UK for the first time ever.
Overall, exports reached €13 billion in 2019, up seven per cent on the prior year.
That also represents the highest level of exports in Bord Bia’s 25-year history.
Tara McCarthy, CEO of Bord Bia, said 2019 had been a “watershed year” for the industry, “not only in the total value of exports achieved but also in the make up of their destination”.
The UK accounted for 34 per cent of exports, down about one per cent on the 2018 figure, while the rest of the world accounted for 31 per cent, up two per cent on the previous year’s total.
While the overall picture is relatively positive, there are still reasons for concern, particularly for beef farmers. The figures show that, during the year, beef exports to the UK fell by seven per cent, with the UK beef market now worth an estimated €990m.
China, when combined with Hong Kong, now represents Ireland’s largest international market for beef, with a combined value of €58m across the two territories.