companies & technology

ecoplus Clusters

Speaker: Simone Hagenauer

Date: 20 February 2014

Food Cluster

of Lower Austria

Striving for excellence

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Lower Austria / Niederösterreich

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Food Sector in Lower Austria

Traditionally very strong sector in the region

886 feed, food & beverage companies (Austria: ~ 4000)

Small structured: ~ 5% companies have more than 10 employees

16.605 employees

EUR 3,8 billion turnover

31,947 farms (Austria: 138,292)

Production value: EUR 2,8 billion (Austria: EUR 7,2 billion)

51% of Austrian organic farm land

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Food Cluster Lower AustriaFacts & Figures

Start: 2005

Cluster members: 93

Employees: 11.696

Turnover: EUR 2.975 Mio.  Target group all along the value chain

Innovative food processing industry and trade Agricultural production Supplying and buying companies Research and education institutions

Supported by Regional Government of Lower Austria Department for Economy Department for Agriculture

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Challenges Traditional sector

Small structured sector

High pricing and quality pressure

Agriculture and business,

Sub-sectors with specific needs: vegetable, meet, bread, etc.

Lack of resources

Innovation through Cooperation

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Owner: Region of Lower Austria

Existing since 1950ies

~100 employees

Cluster management experience since 2001

ecoplus. The Business Agency of Lower Austria

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ecoplus Clusters

Green Building Cluster of Lower Austria (* 2001)www.bauenergieumwelt.at

Food Cluster of Lower Austria (* 2009) www.lebensmittelcluster-noe.at

Plastics Cluster (* 2005) www.kunststoff-cluster.at

Mechatronics Cluster (* 2010) www.mechatronik-cluster.at

Logistics Cluster of Lower Austria (* 2008) www.logistikcluster.at

„e-mobility initiative of Lower Austria“ (* 2010)www.e-mobil-noe.at

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Smart Specialization through clusters

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Evaluation and monitoring of cluster initiatives (Balanced Scorecard)

Regional Innovation Strategy of Lower Austria

Measurable contribution of cluster initiatives:

Number of „lead“ projects (R&D, multi-annual, …) initiated

Number of big innovative companies involved

Number of product/service/system innovations initiated

Participation rate in qualification and productivity projects

Cooperation rate

and further indicators

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

QUALIFICATION

CO-OPERATION

INTERNATIONALIZATION

START UPS

SUSTAINABILITY

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Food securityProject example: Implementation of food quality management standards and food claims

International Food Standard (IFS) Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), etc.

Joint qualification

Strategy development, risk management

Shared costs for external experts

Exchange of experience among project partners

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Regional & organic food

Project example: Joint development of bakery products

Shared research results on the use of ingredients, additives and packaging

Individual testing and implementation in individual bakeries supported by research partners

Close collaboration between producers, suppliers and researchers

Continuation: research on frozen bakery

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Resource efficiencyProject example: International know-how transfer on biogas from food waste

Raise awareness for the enormous potential of the energetic use of organic waste in the food and beverage industry & initiate bio gas production projects

Increased renewable energy production of 35,000 t /a and hence, 183,000 t CO2/a saved

Events, information base, consulting, feasibility studies

International partners: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland

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Cross sector collaboration

Project example: Collaborative research Active and Intelligent Packaging

Shared international know-how on food packaging

Control of chemical or biological interaction of food and packaging,

Use of new bio-based materials

Test packaging properties on different kinds of food and beverages

Competence Platform

International partners: Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium

Close cooperation with Plastics-Cluster

www.activepackaging.eu

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European Cluster Management Excellence Label GOLD

Cluster Management Excellence

Selected feedback from the Assessors

Structure of the Cluster

Human Resources Available for the Cluster Management

Qualification of the Cluster Management Team

Life Long Learning Aspects for the Cluster Management Team

Direct Personal Contacts Between the Cluster Management Team and the Cluster Participants

Degree of Cooperation within the Cluster

Financing Cluster Management

Strategy Building Process

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ecoplus.The Business Agency of Lower Austria

ecoplus Clusters

Simone HagenauerProject Manager, IROs.hagenauer@ecoplus.at

Niederösterreichring 2, Haus AAustria3100 St. PöltenTel: +43 2742 9000-19650cluster@ecoplus.atwww.ecoplus.at