Fresh produce supplier AB Produce is among ten East Midlands companies working in the food and drink sector to have been given support worth £37,500 by the Food and Drink iNet (Innovation Network) to encourage investment in innovation.

The money, which the firms have match funded, is being used for a range of projects including new product development and improvements in production processes.

Potato and vegetable supplier AB Produce Ltd, based at Measham in Derbyshire, has been awarded £1,900 to work with the University of Nottingham to reduce the number of additives in the firm’s production process.

Food and Drink iNet director Richard Worrall said: “It is crucial that companies continue to think and work innovatively, both for their own futures and to ensure that the food and drink sector in the East Midlands continues to develop and thrive. I am very pleased that the Food and Drink iNet has been able to support these ten forward-thinking firms, and wish them well with their projects.”

Lindhurst Engineering, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, has been awarded £10,000 to develop further a compact design waste baler suitable for the food and drink sector, which crushes paper, plastic and cardboard, and uses less energy than existing models.

Design, development and application engineering company Intelligent Distributed Controls (IDC), Derby, has been awarded £2,550 to help develop software for a hardware pouring system.

The Food and Drink iNet, which is funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), aims to encourage innovation in the region’s food and drink sector through new ways of working, new product development and the introduction of new processes.

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