Leicester partners with leading food manufacturer to drive innovation

A leading British food manufacturer is harnessing the expertise of Leicester scientists to bring innovation and academic insight into its production process to help boost yields and quality.

Fresh-Pak Chilled Foods Ltd has established a strategic partnership with the Department of Chemistry which will include academic consultancy, student projects and a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) worth in the region of £200,000 across the project duration.

The partnership includes the recruitment of an Analytical Chemist to the Fresh-Pak team, mentored by an academic and with access to the specialist expertise and facilities available at our University.

The academic input will be led by Professor Andy Abbot and Dr Alex Goddard from the Department of Chemistry with support from Professor Jeremy Levesley from the Department of Mathematics.

Based in South Yorkshire, Fresh-Pak is a leading supplier of food products to the major supermarkets, food service providers and business-to-business and is also the UK’s largest producer of boiled eggs (with over 5 million cooked every week).  Products made at the site include chilled sandwich fillers & accompaniments and the company's success is built on a 20-year history of specialist food manufacturing experience.