According to the new report launched today (24 July 2018), a strategic initiative designed to boost innovation and efficiency within the Welsh food and drink industry has delivered over £44m of impact in its first two years of operation, by helping businesses increase and retain sales, along with reducing waste and processing costs.
The Welsh Government and EU-funded Project HELIX is delivered by Food Innovation Wales, which is a partnership of three food centres based in Cardiff, Ceredigion and Anglesey.
The key objective of the project is to support, through knowledge transfer, food and drink producers so they can overcome barriers to growth. This is further facilitated by state of the art manufacturing facilities providing technical support and bespoke training that has helped develop hundreds of new products, drive increases in production and reduce waste in the supply chain.
Other headline outputs from Project HELIX to date include:
- 147 jobs created with a further 869 jobs safeguarded
- 172 businesses assisted
- 173 training days given for 217 participants
- 92 new businesses supported
- 77 new markets accessed
- 203 new products developed