Glanbia Ireland Innovation Centre

S ES CC SU R FO S N O TI LU O |S N IO IT TR U N & D O O |F D SE BA TN A PL & Y IR A D

GLANBIA IRELAND

INNOVATION CENTRE Powered by Co-Creation

Welcome

to a world of possibilities

When it comes to proven excellence in dairy science and a long history of exceptional product development, there’s no doubt that Glanbia Ireland has earned its reputation as a world-class, ambitious and integrated nutrition and agri-food business.

However, we recognise that with the ever-changing needs of consumers, we can’t stand still. We need to keep pushing the boundaries to improve our knowledge and to better nurture our customers, as well as to strengthen our co-op ethos for a more sustainable future. We’re dedicated to driving dairy and plant-based innovation even further to offer an evolving portfolio of products and solutions positioned for the global market.

The Glanbia Ireland Innovation Centre (GIIC) will be a cornerstone of our continued success as it brings together all facets of our expertise to enable innovation and co-creation. This significant €15 million investment, integrated into Ballyragget, one of our key processing sites in rural County Kilkenny, offers a suite of facilities including a state-of-the-art pilot plant, prototyping facilities, application and development labs and a modern visitor engagement experience.

Dedicated farming families are at the heart of Glanbia Ireland’s high quality milk and grain production, and it’s our job at the Glanbia Ireland Innovation Centre to nurture and enhance these unique natural resources, and to share proven value-add benefits with our customers. With support from an extensive external eco-system, our team of highly qualified scientists deliver superiority from farm to consumer.

Working together, we can witness magic in the making.

FRANÇOIS MORGAN Chief Innovation & Sustainability Officer

Grow

with Our Team of Experts

Collaboration is the engine of innovation, and that starts with our cross-functional teams.

Our Innovation Centre is home to a team of experts who passionately research the worlds of dairy and plant-based. They include scientists, nutritionists, sensory gurus, development chefs and process technology experts. Through engagement with Glanbia Ireland’s Commercial team, we are jointly committed to designing and developing quality ingredients, products and solutions that deliver both nutritional and functional benefits for our customers.

Glanbia Ireland’s Commercial teams are structured by product category in order to promote a culture of multi-disciplinary solution design. Our Product, Marketing, Sales, Market Research and Innovation professionals work hand-in-hand to support customers of all scales and at all stages – from nurturing concepts to improving existing recipes for greater performance.

customer € product

market intelligence

sales

commercial team market research & Insights

new product development

applications

marketing

r&D team

sensory

processing

nutrition

functionality

collaborate

to Innovate

Our doors are open and we’re happy to meet you.

The GIIC has been designed as a hub for co-creation and collaboration. It may be the home of our innovation professionals but it excels when curious minds, both internal and external, join forces. We thrive on interacting with our customers, and our hybrid working model allows us to take you on a journey of discovery both in-person and virtually.

Our spacious, bright and inviting foyer includes a viewing window into our extensive beverage and cream processing unit. Upstairs, visitors and customers are welcomed into an open-plan social area with panoramic views of the Kilkenny countryside.

There’s a coffee dock and ample room for informal meetings and engagements.

We have the ability to facilitate virtual and hybrid meetings with state-of-the-art video conferencing technology.

explore

with us

Collaborating with our customers is fundamental to delivering their needs.

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Product Development Chefs and Food Technologists: Gain insight through co-creation sessions and practical demonstrations in our culinary development kitchens and application labs.

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Analytical Experts: Use advanced scientific techniques, such as microscopy, rheology and chromatography, to build in-depth knowledge.

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We examine composition, structure and taste over shelf-life to ensure that our products, ingredients and solutions deliver on expectations and optimise your product.

BARS, SNACKS & CONFECTIONERY

ICE CREAM & FROZEN DESSERTS

YOGHURT & CULTURED PRODUCTS

BAKERY

SPECIALISED NUTRITION, SPORTS & LIFESTYLE NUTRITION AND COFFEE/BARISTA

CHEESE & PLANT-BASED CHEESE ALTERNATIVES

BREAKFAST CEREALS: PORRIDGE, MUESLI, GRANOLA

Where Concepts Become Reality Applications and Development Lab Our multi-functional Applications and Development Laboratory is where we showcase our applications and development capabilities.

We’ve invested in an unrivalled range of world-class analytical and application equipment for Bakery, Confectionery, Beverages, Processed Cheese, Yoghurt and Ice Cream including product characterisation and functionality analysis. Here is where our team validates the proof points of our solutions in customers’ applications to ensure their own recipes are optimised.

Analytical Laboratory Our Analytical Laboratory is a custom-built space and features a host of analytical equipment used in the development of new solutions that support customers to drive their businesses further.

Capabilties: •

Determine heat stability

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Characterise powders

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Analyse viscosity

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Determine particle size

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Assess emulsion stability

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Perform compositional analysis

Using this equipment, our scientists have the ability to produce tangible data to illustrate to customers how our solutions can contribute to increasing the functionality of their products.

Sensory Suite Our purpose-built Sensory Suite assists us to garner a deep understanding of the sensory attributes that enable the design of products and solutions that carry the optimal characteristics requested by our customers.

In the Sensory Suite, we can undertake various sensory techniques (e.g. preference, triangle and descriptive tests) as well as facilitate focus groups.

Key pieces of Equipment: •

Sensory testing booths (ISO 8589 standard) with adjustable lighting (colours to be incl) and controlled ventilations

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Sensory and food preparation areas adjoining the sensory booths

Development Kitchen Our extensive Development Kitchen allows for bench scale recipe and prototype development and testing.

Our spacious, industry-standard kitchen is designed to facilitate optimum customer collaboration, tastings and competitor analysis.

CHEESE LAB We’ve been at the forefront of cheddar cheese technology for more than 60 years.

In addition to award-winning natural cheddars, we have crafted a multi-functional range of cheese solutions designed to deliver a number of key benefits to enhance customers’ recipes for global market sectors.

Our Cheese Lab is a space where we can showcase this expertise, develop prototypes and demonstrate end-user applications. Here, we convert bulk cheese into smaller units such as grated and shredded on a lab scale, heat test, process and taste product.

PILOT PLANT Our pilot plant facilities are state-of-the-art and maintained to the highest quality and standards.

Our key facilities include: •

A Beverage and Cream Processing Area – equipped with a UHT plant with capabilities to complete pasteurisation and UHT treatment using plate heat or tubular heat exchangers, direct steam injection and infusion, combined with a high pressure homogeniser.

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A Plug and Play Area – a versatile processing area supporting production of various dairy, plant-based and hybrid products. The modular set up enables evaluation of processing technologies such as membrane filtration units.

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Evaporation and Drying Area – a 2-stage evaporator and dehumidified multi-stage dryer enabling us to concentrate and dry a wide range of products for clinical nutrition, infant formula, fat-filled milk powder, protein concentrates and isolates.

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A Pilot Plant Lab – facilitates preparation for trials, customer interaction and training.

It is home to the CEM Sprint, CEM Smart 6 and CEM Oracle facilitating at line analysis.

Providing

superior nutrition

Our ‘good for you, good for the planet’ ingredient portfolio enables our customers to meet the nutritional and ethical needs of their consumers.

We understand the vital role nutrition plays when it comes to health, well-being and the desire of consumers to embrace the concept of a sustainable diet. At Glanbia Ireland, the foundations of nutrition are built on our high quality dairy and plant resources.

Within our “good for you, good for the planet” portfolio, we offer solutions for clinical, infant, affordable and lifestyle nutrition as well as plant-based, cheese and essential dairy.

Your partner in nutrition

Expertise in nutritional profiling

We leverage technology to process raw ingredient materials into nutritional solutions with added functionality.

We have control and visibility at each stage of the supply chain, enabling full traceability and the assurance of optimal quality to our customers. Through our team of nutritionists and scientists, we can support and enable our customers to incorporate these ingredients into their product offering, thereby empowering consumers to embrace a sustainable and nutritional diet as part of their lifestyle.

To evaluate and improve the nutritional value of our products, we use nutritional profiling. This process involves categorising foods based on their nutritional composition with the aim to promote health. Nutrient profiling considers which nutrients to limit in a food and which to encourage. Nutrient profiling allows us to drive innovation through nutrition to provide a range of various solutions to our customers.

leading

the way in process and technology

Glanbia Ireland is at the cutting edge of technology and process innovation.

With extensive knowledge and expertise in process-product interactions, we can functionalise and develop ingredients and processes while maintaining nutritional integrity. Our expertise in microbial inactivation will ensure a safe product with adequate shelf life. Our flexible, end-to-end food grade pilot plant, applications and analytical facilities can support all aspects of ingredient and process development.

Pioneering manufacturing capabilities Our unit operations include membrane filtration (UF, NF and MF), homogenisation, heat treatment, filling, evaporation, spray drying, milling, bioconversion and purification capabilities for the development of ingredients and final products. We are pioneers in membrane processing and separation enabling mild and efficient separation, and concentration of products of high nutritional quality.

Our expert spray-drying capability supports new product development, ingredient functionalization, and enhances drying efficiencies.

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INNOVATION CENTRE

GLANBIA IRELAND

Powered by Co-Creation

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