The official launch of the Boyne Valley Food Hub in Navan has taken place, revealing a flagship food development project in the heart of one of Ireland’s richest farmland areas. Meath Enterprise has conceptualized and now operates the project, which comprises of almost 800 square meters of light industrial space. This space has been transformed into nine commercial food grade incubation units, a food research and development lab, and a sensory testing training facility. An additional co-working hub has also been opened in the Navan center to support food startups and SMEs.
The Navan center is expected to become the cornerstone of Meath Enterprise’s ambitious Boyne Valley Food Innovation District. The district aims to create a food cluster that will foster the growth of food startups and SMEs, enabling them to plug into global market opportunities. Enterprise Ireland’s Divisional Manager, Regions and Local Enterprise, Carol Gibbons, expressed satisfaction in supporting the Boyne Valley Food Hub project. She stated that Meath and the Mid-East region have a long-standing tradition of excellence in food production and the new facility will support the next generation of food entrepreneurs to produce sustainable quality products.
Meath Enterprise is currently developing the Meath Enterprise Center in Navan, a 28,000 sq ft Digital Innovation & Smart Agri Hub. The facility will back the expansion of Irish food-tech and ag-tech start-ups and SMEs. According to Meath Enterprise CEO Gary O’Meara, the BVFID aims to find opportunities in global and emerging markets and match them with indigenous food startups and SMEs that have the capability and ambition to go global. The desire is to create a regional cluster that becomes the Silicon Valley of food. This regional cluster will then be able to engage with business owners to act as a gateway to the market opportunities that they need in order to grow and expand.
To champion the development of the new food hub, the enterprise development company has already appointed a food innovation and training specialist with a strong background in new product development. Meath Enterprise believes that the new facility will serve as a creative space for food entrepreneurship in the region where ideas can be brought to life. However, developing new products to meet changing consumer demands has been a constant challenge for small food start-ups and artisan producers hamstrung by a lack of suitable high-quality, food grade spaces that are essential in bringing new products to the market.
Gary O’Meara further added that the organization has lots of expertise in food technology to support entrepreneurs who will be based in the hub or anyone looking for advice, guidance, or training. The Meath Enterprise Center, the largest rural hub of its kind in Ireland, has undergone a major refurbishment, both externally and internally, to better facilitate the movement of traffic around the site and future-proof it for further expansion. The center aims to provide the necessary facilities and infrastructure that will enable small businesses to grow and compete in global markets.
