Food and drink businesses in Kent & Medway get access to research funding

10-Aug-2022 - Last updated on 10-Aug-2022 at 12:06 GMT

The research is available to businesses in Kent & Medway.

A voucher scheme, offering food and drink businesses 75% funding towards projects worth up to £20,000 with leading research organisations, has been launched by Growing Kent & Medway.

The Business Innovation Vouchers are designed to open the doors to three new research centres in the Kent and Medway region. The scheme will make technical support more accessible for start-ups, micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

There are over 40 vouchers each worth up to £15,000 available to plant-based food and drink companies and businesses related to horticulture across the supply chain in the region. Research projects funded by the vouchers can help with challenges in the areas of crop production, food processing, packaging, producing high-value compounds from plants and agri-tech solutions.

Research facilities

Sophie Packer, innovation growth manager for Growing Kent & Medway and University of Kent, said: “Growing Kent & Medway has invested in three new state-of-the-art research facilities. This means we now have modern facilities to match the world-leading expertise and capabilities in our region and are able to deliver a wide-range of technical projects for the horticulture, food and drink sectors.

“We hope these vouchers encourage people who may not have worked with a research organisation before, to get in touch and find out how our technical teams can help grow their business through innovation.”

Robert Saville, innovation growth manager for Growing Kent & Medway and NIAB, said: “Whether you would like to test new products in a food laboratory, or trial new technology in horticultural production systems, we have specialists on hand who are able to help.

Expertise

He said: “We will work with businesses to explore the types of research support that could benefit them and connect them to the right facilities and expertise to help drive their business forward.”

The vouchers can be used to work with research organisations including GreenTech Hub for Advanced Horticulture and NIAB, Medway Food Innovation Centre and University of Greenwich and the Biotechnology Hub for Sustainable Food and Drink and University of Kent

Applications close on 3 October 2022.