Added value
by
Elizabeth Archer
Everyone wants answers and they want them straight away.
For a select group of small to medium food industry enterprises, those answers are available courtesy of some groundbreaking work by a team from UniSA’s Centre for the Development of Entrepreneurs (CDE).
“The Food Innovation Pilot Program we’re undertaking with Food SA will help companies innovate in the areas of their methods, systems, processes, and products,” Program team leader Peter Balan said.
Using a model developed over two years by the CDE team, the participants will complete electronic diagnostic surveys during the sessions. These can very quickly be analysed, giving each participant comprehensive, specific data they can use immediately to improve their businesses.
The program has a strong planning and mentoring aspect with plenty of oneto- one support, particularly in the areas of global competition, functional food development, and value-adding.
“The beauty of this program is that it provides companies with valuable data immediately, and the mentoring will help companies use this data to improve their business. The program will also generate invaluable pilot research data for the CDE that will be used in undertaking a larger study,” Balan said.
After the initial meeting last month with stakeholders, recruitment of suitable participants occurs this month, with the program to start in February 2006.
Balan envisages one or two staff from up to 12 food industry players will participate. The program’s nine sessions are designed to help the businesses build their ability to innovate in all aspects of their business.
“As this is the pilot, we will be doing a lot of finetuning,” Balan said.