This Group session of the Channel Clusters Programme took place on Wednesday June 9th 2010 in Teagasc Ashtown.

The Head of the Food Market Research Unit, Maeve Henchion, gave the participants an overview of the Food Research Programme and the industry support available in Ashtown. Carol Griffin from Teagasc, followed Maeve and gave everyone an insight into the Teagasc industry supports for companies and the food processing facilities.  The delegation was then given an in depth tour of the site by Paddy Ward who has spent many years in meat research and product development support for meat sector food businesses.

After this tour, one to one consultations between a Teagasc representative and each participant took place and covered such areas as product development, food safety, quality standards and market research.

After lunch, Elisabeth Nagel from Greenbusiness.ie advised the participants on ways in which their companies could reduce their carbon emissions through better resource management.

All companies participating on the programme were invited to attend this event. The meeting started at 10am and finished at 2.00pm.

This project was made possible through a financial contribution from the European Regional Development Fund Ireland Wales (INTERREG 4A) Programe 2007-2013. This project was also part funded by Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland.

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The next Food and Drink Council meeting will take place on Wednesday 11th August, in the Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre, Dublin 15 at 11am.

The list of speakers will be finalised shortly.

If you wish to attend or would like more information about the Council, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it