FDBusiness.com

Kerry Group, the global taste & nutrition and consumer foods group, has opened a new Global Technology & Innovation Centre to serve the group’s global and regional customers in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. The new Global Centre is strategically located on a 28 acre site, in the Millennium Business Park, Naas (adjacent to the M7 and M50 Dublin motorways).

Kerry Group has invested €100 million in the establishment of the new Technology & Innovation Centre which today accommodates 800 research, product commercialisation, business development and business support positions, and which will accommodate a further 100 positions by the end of 2016.

Stan McCarthy, chief executive of Kerry Group, comments: “Our new Global Technology & Innovation Centre will serve as a focal point for Kerry’s customer engagement activities providing key customers with access to the Group’s complete breadth and depth of technologies, scientific research, innovation and applications expertise, across food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets. In addition it will serve as the Group’s Global Centre of Excellence for Nutrition and will optimise product differentiation in the marketplace while providing unrivalled speed to market.”

He adds: “Today’s consumer markets, and changing food and beverage consumption trends, call for renewed vigour in product innovation and development of nutritious product solutions and menu offerings. Kerry’s approach to innovation capitalises on our total Taste & Nutrition technology offering and unique end-use-market applications capability.”

The new world-class Technology & Innovation Centre received support from the Irish Government, State Agencies and Kildare County Council. The Centre will support functional and business leadership development and scalable sustainable growth in Kerry well into the future.

Kerry Group has become a world leader in Taste & Nutrition serving the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries and a leading consumer foods processing and marketing organisation in selected EU markets. From the commissioning of its first manufacturing plant in Listowel, Ireland in 1972, the Kerry organisation has grown to become a highly successful public company, having achieved sustained profitable growth with current annualised sales in excess of €5.8 billion. Launched as a public company in 1986, the market capitalisation of the group has grown to a current level of approximately €12 billion. Kerry Group now employs over 24,000 people throughout its worldwide activities and operations.

CAPTION:

Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD (left), who officially opened the new Kerry Group Global Technology & Innovation Centre, with Stan McCarthy, chief executive of Kerry Group.