AUTOMATION & FEATURES
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY
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analyser for detecting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seafood, for zones around marine oil spills. These analysers are designed to produce results within one day of being delivered to the lab. APFI: Tell us mor e about your research and development plans. The core of our marketing and product development effort involves collaborating with global thought leaders in food science. T h e s e a re b e n c h - t o - b e n c h collaborations seeking to solve some of the food industry’s most difficult problems. As solutions emerge, the company is looking for opportunities to commercialise them. In addition to our traditional strength in the chemical analysis domain, we’re leveraging our expertise in biological analysis to develop useful tools like the seafood species ID system.
APFI: What are the trends that we can expect to sweep the food testing arena within the next five years? And how is the company meeting this demand? We s e e a d r a m a t i c increase in the testing of the biological aspects of food, such as rapid pathogen testing. On the chemical side, there will be increased emphasis in identifying ‘unsuspected’ contaminants. For example, there was no need to look for melamine until animals and people got sick. Then there was an all-out effort to identify the unknown toxin. Finally, there was the need for a fast, inexpensive assay for the routine testing of tonnes of milk products. APFI: What are the current challenges facing the company now? Agilent currently faces several challenges; one challenge in particular is some weakness in the traditional pharmaceutical segment.
APFI: How do you cope with these challenges? Balancing the weakness in the pharmaceutical segment is rapid growth in the bio-pharmaceutical market, and the company is well positioned to serve this segment. We offer a portfolio of life science tools, reagents and software, and we are technologically competent. APFI: What is the company’s forecast for 2011? Looking ahead, our business outlook remains strong. For example, at the end of a strong Q3, we raised guidance for the remainder of the fiscal year. We expect fiscal four th quar ter revenues of about US$1.52 billion, roughly 30 percent above last year. The scenario could be similar in FY 2011. For more information, ENTER No: 0881