Horticulture Innovation Partnership

Transcription

1 Horticulture Innovation Partnership Annual Report Executive Summary 1. The Horticulture Innovation Partnership Limited was launched in March 2013, with industry and ministerial support, to stimulate more activity in the applied strategic research space of relevance to the fresh produce and horticultural industries and their associated supply chains. 2. A Board of Directors and a Steering Group deliver guidance on strategic direction and ensure systems of good management and governance have been put in place. 3. Effective communications have been put in place under the guidance of a Communications Steering Group which has increased the industry awareness of the HIP and its aims. 4. The HIP Executive has engaged widely with a diverse group of stakeholders across the research providers, the industry supply chain and government related bodies. 5. The HIP has represented horticulture in new fora including All Party Parliamentary Groups, other industry Innovation Partnerships and the Knowledge Exchange Partnerships. 6. A Supply chain analysis has identified the key business groupings adding value post farm gate which need to be engaged to identify the industry challenges and are able to drive innovation for growth. Of particular importance are the Marketing Organisations. This analysis will guide the formation of a Supply Chain Group. 7. The supply chain delivering to consumers through the landscape industries are more complex than those delivering food through retailers or the food service sector, and will be analysed in more detail by the recently formed HIP Ornamentals Group. 8. A Research Funders Group has been established and has completed a preliminary analysis of the research and development funding landscape. Each funder has been assigned to technology readiness levels to enable comparisons and links between funders to be compared more readily. 9. The next steps required to generate information to assist funders to work in a more joined up way to deliver innovation from inspiration more rapidly have been identified. This may be assisted by effective deployment of supply chain co-funding. 10. The Research Providers Group is being extended beyond traditional horticultural interests to facilitate the requirement for more multidisciplinary research needed to deliver impact in the industry. 11. The industry was engaged through workshops to broker novel research consortia to address the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform (SAF-IP) call focussed on Engineering Solutions for the Agrifood Industry and to explore how industry might work together within a Centre for Agriculture Innovation focussed on fresh and prepared produce under the Agri-Tech Strategy. 12. The HIP has secured the contract from the BBSRC as Horticulture co-ordinators which increases the opportunity to engage new research providers and supply chain businesses through the Horticulture and Potatoes Initiative. In partnership with BBSRC, HIP has successfully fostered interest in the new round of this programme through a number of activities. 13. The Agri-Tech Strategy has been embraced by the HIP and considerable effort is being deployed to ensure the industry is prepared to take full advantage of emerging opportunities. 14. The financial support from industry has enabled the HIP to obtain matched funding from Defra to support the continuing development of the HIP

2 Introduction The overall aim of the Horticulture Innovation Partnership (HIP) is to stimulate world-class innovation for growth in production horticulture, including potatoes, in the UK to develop a sustainable, profitable and expanding sector and maximise the contribution the industry can make to the supply of product to UK consumers and for export. The primary focus is to stimulate more activity in the applied strategic research space of relevance to the fresh produce, potato and horticultural industries and their associated supply chains. The Public Launch of the HIP The public launch of the HIP was on 7 March 2013 at Defra. The programme included presentations from: Sir John Beddington (Government Chief Scientific Advisor) Lord de Mauley (Defra Minister) Mary Bosley (HIP Chairman) Presentations from an industry panel including large producers and retailers. The launch event was attended by 101 representatives from across the horticultural production and supply industry, research providers, research funders and policy makers. The Horticulture Innovation Partnership Limited is now registered at Companies House as a notfor profit business and has established a Board of Directors drawn from its principal industry supporters. The Board oversees the governance of the HIP. Steering Group Provides Guidance The overall direction of the HIP is guided by a Steering Group from across our stakeholder community, chaired by Mary Bosley (HIP Chairman). To date the approach to Steering Group membership has been to be as inclusive as possible, adding members as and when appropriate. Communicating Effectively A Communications Steering Group was established, now with an industry chair, Harriet Duncalfe, to drive forward HIP communications in a professional way. The HDC have provided considerable in-kind support to deliver the communications plan. The key outputs have been: A HIP Communications Plan, which is updated regularly. A brief to branding designers for the production of a professional logo and guidelines for its usage. Sainsbury s Supermarkets very generously provided access to their branding consultants for the design and development of the HIP logo. The HIP logo with guidelines for use on a range of communications media. A briefing note to be used by Steering Group members when engaging parties interested in the HIP. A briefing presentation which has been used by the HIP Chairman, Executive Director and members of the Steering Group to brief businesses, Government Departments, Research Councils, Grower and Business Associations and specialist meetings. Page 2 of 7

3 A leaflet setting out the vision of the HIP was prepared for the public launch of the HIP and has been distributed widely since. The initial HIP web site was available at the launch. A more sophisticated web site is about to go live which will provide greater functionality for communication with stakeholders. An list of interested supporters and parties to aid rapid communication. An automated system through MailChimp to facilitate communication with the HIP community. Press releases. A Newsletter highlighting key achievements during the nine months since the launch of the HIP. Communicating with Stakeholders Communication with our diverse group of stakeholders is an ongoing process and will continue to be refined while taking account of the time and resources available. The facility to communicate with the full diversity of groups has been achieved through e-briefings including: The Horticulture Innovation Partnership Newsletter Publicising Stakeholder Workshop HIP engagement with the UK Strategy for Agricultural Technologies HAPI second round Press releases have been issued to broadcast key achievements during the first year of operation of the HIP: Unlocking the potential for growth in UK Horticulture A meeting of minds speed dating for Agri-tech HIP takes a HAPI coordinating role Industry views Agri-Tech as the right catalyst for third agricultural revolution Presentations were made by the HIP Executive, research providers and supply chain representatives to diverse categories of stakeholders to raise awareness of the HIP and to engage in wider networks. An indication of some of these is as follows: Supply chain representation: o British Growers Association and individual crop associations o Chilled Foods Association Technical Committee o NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board and Horticulture Advisors o Horticultural Trades Association Ornamentals Committee Policy Makers: o Defra o o Anthea McIntyre MEP APPG All-Party Parliamentary Gardening and Horticulture Group and the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Research Funders: o Research Councils (BBSRC and NERC) o Government Departments BIS (TSB), Defra o Scottish Government o AHDB (HDC and PCL) Research Providers: o James Hutton Institute and Mylnefield Research Services o Warwick Crop Centre Wider reaching stakeholder groups o UK Water Research Innovation Partnership - HIP joined Agriculture Action Group o LEAF and Syngenta event UK Agricultural Technology Strategy: Working together to realise the full potential of the UK s farming & environmental sciences base Page 3 of 7

4 o Biosciences Knowledge Transfer Network Plant Sector Group. HIP joined the group. Communicating to stimulate innovation for growth. During there were many workshops facilitated by diverse organisations to identify opportunities and challenges within the industry. The HIP selected the appropriate opportunities and mechanisms to engage the supply chain to add value and avoid duplication. The HIP engaged with industry to set out opportunities and challenges in two contrasting fora as follows: Engineering Solutions for the Agrifood Industry The opportunity was taken to engage both new research providers and new businesses around a single clearly defined subject with the potential to deliver innovation to the horticulture industry through research. The Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform (SAF-IP) call focussed on Engineering Solutions for the Agrifood Industry was the target. A research brokering meeting was held in July Eighteen projects have been funded through this research call across the whole agrifood industry, ten of which were entirely or partly linked to the fresh produce and potato industries. It is difficult to determine the success of the HIP and ESKTN event in contributing to the high proportion of fresh produce and potatoes projects funded. However, we are aware of new research and development partnerships with industry arising from the event which did not exist before. Agri-tech Strategy The UK Agri-tech Strategy was launched in July 2013 which included the proposal to establish Centres of Agricultural Innovation. The HIP took the decision to facilitate the necessary thinking to develop a Centre based on an understanding of industry challenges rather than research provider s opportunities. A workshop, with representatives from across the supply chain including retailers, food and drink manufacturers, producer organisations, marketing groups and growers, was convened in January The objective was to explore what working together within an innovation centre focussed around fresh and prepared produce could mean for the industry. The broadly-based audience concluded that with public and industry funding working in unison, the industry could really be on the brink of an innovation-lead, third agricultural revolution. The broad framework established is now being refined. Initially the engagement has been with the horticulture supply chain to ensure the approach is industry driven. The next step is to include the research providers to work with the supply chain to determine together the innovations to be delivered and the mechanisms for delivery. BBSRC Horticulture and Potato Initiative The HIP supported BBSRC s consortium building workshop to encourage applicant networking for the second HAPI competition. HIP carried out a programme of outreach events and communication activities which successfully stimulated broad interest in the HAPI opportunity. Engaging the Whole Supply Chain Page 4 of 7

5 An analysis of the actors in the supply chain of horticultural products from farm business to end consumer has helped identify the people and organisations to be engaged in a HIP Supply Chain Group to understand the drivers and challenges faced by these sectors of the industry and hence the innovation required to drive the industry forward. The UK farm gate value of relevant production is of the order of 3.6bn. UK production is supplemented by imports to deliver wider product ranges and continuity of supply throughout the year. Additional value is added through the supply chain of marketing organisations and packers, wholesalers and food service suppliers, food processors, and independent and multiple retailers to supply products to consumers. The approximate retail value of products, including value into the food service and landscaping industries is 16.3bn. In addition there are a series of industries including agricultural suppliers, equipment and packaging suppliers and the transport industry with which the supply chain is closely integrated. The analysis has identified the need to bring together representatives from these diverse groupings of organisations in a Supply Chain Group to identify the challenges requiring innovation. The initial focus will be on the food sector of horticulture. Ornamentals Group The supply chain analysis crystallised the need for a separate HIP Ornamentals Group. This group has been formed and is refining the supply chain analysis for the amenity and landscaping industries alongside the rather different policy agenda faced by these industries. This will then address and identify the challenges faced by the sector which will then be presented to the research funders. Funding Innovation The Research Funders Group aims to achieve better co-ordination and connection between funders through the sharing of knowledge to deliver a more effective pipeline of relevant research for horticulture. Two primary approaches have firstly collated available knowledge of each funder and secondly attempted to place all the information in a common format using the concept of Technology Readiness Levels. The latter approach provides a visual representation of the whole pipeline of research funding. A one-page summary of the horticulture-relevant research supported by each funder was compiled. One-to-one interviews were held with representatives of the majority of research funders to gain a deeper knowledge of each funder. In particular efforts were made to understand better the requirements for access to R&D funds. The unifying format of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) was first developed by NASA as a systematic methodology allowing comparisons of the maturity of different technologies. The headline definitions for each TRL used by NASA were rewritten in the context of agricultural and horticultural research. Each research funder was then mapped on to the TRLs relevant to the nature of the research they were prepared to fund. Page 5 of 7

6 The summary information for each research funder has been collated as a separate report and will be available shortly. The remits of the funders are very varied. The superimposition of the funding space of each research funder onto the TRLs definitions has identified a number of challenges: The financial gap in the pipeline which translates innovations originating within the Research Councils, where there is substantial funding, to later technology levels. The Scottish Government is a notable exception with a joined up approach to funding to deliver impact in the relevant horticultural sectors. The gap identified in the bullet point above has been addressed recently to a small extent by the development of the Agri-Tech Catalyst Fund. There is no clear mechanism to pass the innovation baton from one funder to the next and so pass through the TRLs. This is dependent largely on the research provider and supply chain communities to do the joining up. Similarly funders do not appear to have a clear understanding of how the outputs from their funding streams may be taken up by those further along the TRL pipeline. The HIP will now address these challenges by: 1. Seeking greater clarity from research funders of their expectation of research outputs. 2. Working with research funders to articulate the outputs of their funding so it can be taken up more readily by research funder and supply chain stakeholders further along the funding pipeline. 3. Working with research funders to identify mechanisms to increase the speed with which novel science and technology can pass through the TRLs industry implementation. 4. Exploring the extent to which the Supply Chain funds research and development and the proportion of the funds which could be made available through co-funding programmes, particularly through the Agri-Tech Strategy. It is acknowledged a proportion of supply chain R&D funds will remain in-house for specific product development and commercial advantage for that business. Delivering World-Class Innovation Members of the Research Providers Group are the scientists and technologists with the primary responsible for doing research to support a consolidated, resilient, sustainable, adaptable, robustly profitable and expanding core UK horticulture industry. It is acknowledged the group needed to become increasingly multidisciplinary to address today s and tomorrow s industry challenges. The research providers group of approximately 20 institutions provides direct support for the HIP and is led by the Warwick Crop Centre and Harper Adams University. Preliminary analysis was done to identify the traditional skills available within this group and hence identify gaps. The UK Agri-Tech Strategy was launched in July 2013 which moved the emphasis from the scientific push of technologies to the industry pull of innovation. The HIP has focussed effort on understanding the challenges faced by the whole supply chain. Widening the Research Providers Community Two key activities have brought together a wider group of research providers around industryidentified challenges: Page 6 of 7

7 The TSB Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform (SAF-IP) call for proposals around Engineering solutions for the agrifood industry enabled the HIP to broker a meeting between those with industry challenges and the research provider community who may be able to help deliver solutions. The HIP won the contract to be Horticulture Co-ordinators for the BBSRC Horticulture and Potatoes Initiative with effect from October Part of this role involved identifying and increasing the research provider base relevant to the horticulture and potato industry. This has extended the research provider communication list from 20 to 33 institutions. Thank you for your Continuing Support The work of the HIP is only possible through the ongoing support of its diverse stakeholders. The HIP Executive, Mary Bosley and Mark Tatchell, are very grateful to our major supporters (AHDB (HDC and PCL), East Malling Trust, Horticulture Trades Association, Royal Horticultural Society, NFU, Society of Chemical Industries) and the 20 or so research providers for their ongoing financial support. Many involved with the HIP have given considerable time and effort to the HIP to make things happen. In particular the HDC, PCL, British Growers Association and Warwick Crop Centre. The additional work contracted with Defra and BBSRC has complemented the core HIP activities and has made it possible for the HIP to make significant progress in its first year. May 2014 Page 7 of 7