foresight4food Innovation Programme 

“One of the keys to a successful future for the Irish Food and Drink industry is innovation and bringing new differentiated products to market. Innovation is a topic now firmly on every corporate agenda”
Aidan Cotter, CEO, Bord Bia

Whether prompted by changes in the marketplace, competitive pressures or simply the desire to create something bigger and better, businesses are now constantly refining and redefining how they operate and what they produce.

Bord Bia’s foresight4food programme aims to support Irish food and drink manufacturers and offers services in three core consumer focused innovation areas – stimulation (Inspiration Expeditions), ideation (professionally facilitated workshops) and validation (consumer testing of new product concepts at varying levels of development). The programme aims to drive growth and innovation in the industry by organising these services, recognising that many companies have limited experience accessing them and need an incentive to incorporate them in their process.

• Minimizes the risk associated with NPD
• Provides a consumer perspective on new product concepts
• Covers all stages from idea screening right up to product launch
• The programme is a modular approach so food and drink companies can pick and choose the research that suits them

The programme encourages food manufacturers to test new product ideas with consumers and ensure that only those with proven potential are developed. Testing insights with the consumer is expensive and a trying challenge for many companies, however Bord Bia has designed this programme, enlisting an experienced pool of professional research agencies and by offering guidance at every stage, to afford Irish Food and Drink companies the opportunity to access quality research and recommendations at reduced rates.

The programme continues to develop and evolve reflecting the needs of food and horticulture manufacturers and over the last two years has helped over 60 Irish companies drive their product development processes.

View YouTube Video	Country Crest Concept Development New range of “From the Orient” takeout meals are now stocked in major multiples and have won design awards. Country Crest Case Study	View YouTube Video	Flahavans Concept Development New fruit porridge product and has achieved export listings. Flahavans Case Study
View YouTube Video	Irish Pride Idea Generation Consumer workshops and focus groups identified two important gaps in the market which led to the development of two new products. Irish Pride Case Study	View YouTube Video	Mi Wadi Product Testing A series of new variants were developed having identified the formulation strengths of existing products. Mi Wadi Case Study

New for 2011 and available for download are the foresight4food guidelines for both Agencies and Food Companies