iThrive event featuring Loyd Grossman organised by the Food and Drink iNet as part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival

Celebrity foodie Loyd Grossman OBE, former professional poker player Caspar Berry and serial entrepreneur Jonathan Hick will be the key ingredients of an event organised by the Food and Drink iNet for this year’s iFestival.

The three have been unveiled as speakers at the iThrive event being held at Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, on March 25th.

It is part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival taking place from 12th March to 23rd April, which is the largest annual celebration of innovation in the UK and features more than 150 activities across the region. The iFestival is being co-ordinated by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and East Midlands Innovation (the region’s innovation council).

Aimed at businesses connected to the food and drink industry in the East Midlands, the iThrive event will turn the spotlight on the latest innovations in the sector, review the contribution of branding and reputation to a successful business, explore the theory and science behind risk and its role in decision making, and provide inspiration for the future.

It will also celebrate the Food and Drink iNet Working Parties which have been running across the region over recent months to explore specific areas of the food and drink sector.

“The Food and Drink iNet iThrive event promises to be a very interesting and informative session, and will also give us the chance to review the insights which have been discovered by the working parties,” said Peter Maycock, Food and Drink iNet Director.

“It has all the ingredients for an inspirational and thought-provoking day, plus the chance for businesses to meet others in the sector.”

Television presenter Loyd Grossman, who has a range of sauces, soups and other products, will kick off the event by looking at branding and reputation. His speech will be followed by an interactive workshop led by Caspar Berry, a former professional poker player and co-founder of Twenty First Century Media.

Caspar will be using game playing to provide insights into risk, uncertainty and the science of decision making.

The event will culminate with a networking dinner to provide opportunities to discover more about the Food and Drink iNet and how the iNet can help businesses thrive and grow. Serial entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Jonathan Hick, who recently appeared on Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire, is to be guest speaker.

Running from 1.30pm to 9.30pm, tickets for the iThrive event are free by contacting enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk.

The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It’s also hoping to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham.

For further information about the iFestival and East Midlands Innovation please visit www.eminnovation.org.uk

iShowcase event organised by the Food and Drink iNet as part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival

A foretaste of future developments in the food and drink sector will be unveiled as part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival.

Details of nine research projects being undertaken by the region’s universities which have the potential to shape the future of the food and drink industry will be revealed.

The projects have received grant support of £445,000 for research and development through the Food and Drink iNet’s Higher Education Collaboration Fund.

The schemes will come under the spotlight at an iShowcase event on March 23rd at the Sir Colin Campbell Building, The University of Nottingham Innovation Park, Nottingham.

The event is part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival taking place from 12th March to 23rd April, which is the largest annual celebration of innovation in the UK and features more than 150 activities across the region. The iFestival is being co-ordinated by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and East Midlands Innovation (the region’s innovation council).

“For those involved in the food and drink industry, this event provides an insight into the science that sits behind the future innovations and technologies of the food and drink sector,” said Peter Maycock, Food and Drink iNet Director. “It’s also a fantastic opportunity to explore potential solutions to the challenges faced by food and drink sector businesses across the East Midlands.”

Among the projects being unveiled at the iShowcase event is a research project between De Montfort University and Loughborough University to reduce the problem of lumps in powdered food, known as caking, which has challenged food manufacturers for decades; a collaboration between The University of Lincoln, Nottingham Trent University and The University of Northampton to improve heat sealing for packaging to help reduce waste and provide higher levels of performance by getting it right first time; a research project by The University of Leicester and The University of Nottingham to measure the quality and ripeness of fruit without touching it using real time mass spectrometry; and a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and The University of Nottingham to study the most common cause of bacterial food-borne illness worldwide, campylobacter coli, in organic and free-range poultry.

Other projects include a collaboration between Loughborough University and The University of Nottingham to kill bugs using Cold Atmospheric Plasma; a project between The Food Packaging Research Laboratory at Nottingham Trent University and the University of Lincoln to develop a new food packaging material that destroys bugs and reduces waste; a study to look at food structure effects on body hydration being carried out by The University of Nottingham and Loughborough University; a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University, The University of Nottingham and Cosmos Biomedical Limited to assess the safety of powdered foods; and The Silica Joint Health Supplement Project to improve welfare by strengthening the legs of poultry, being undertaken by Nottingham Trent University in collaboration with The University of Nottingham.

Running from 9am to 4pm, tickets for the iShowcase event are free. Delegates can attend all or part of the day, but must pre-register. Visit www.eminnovation.org.uk or email enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk for more information.

The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It’s also hoping to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham.