companies & technology ecoplus Clusters Speaker: Simone Hagenauer Date: 20 February 2014 Food Cluster of Lower Austria Striving for excellence

2 Lower Austria / Niederösterreich

3 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  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

4 Food Cluster Lower Austria Facts & Figures  Start: 2005  Cluster members: 93  Employees:  Turnover: EUR 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

5 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

6 Owner: Region of Lower Austria Existing since 1950ies ~100 employees Cluster management experience since 2001 ecoplus. The Business Agency of Lower Austria

7 ecoplus Clusters Green Building Cluster of Lower Austria (* 2001) Food Cluster of Lower Austria (* 2009) Plastics Cluster (* 2005) Mechatronics Cluster (* 2010) Logistics Cluster of Lower Austria (* 2008) „e-mobility initiative of Lower Austria“ (* 2010)

8 Smart Specialization through clusters Ideas Contacts to business & academia Trend scouting / market studies Advisory board Projects Collaborative R&D Product/Service/System innovation Qualification Lead Initiatives Focussed topic Linked activities Regional value added Specialization

9 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

10 Food security Project 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

11 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

12 Resource efficiency Project 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

13 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 

14 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

15 ecoplus. The Business Agency of Lower Austria ecoplus Clusters Simone Hagenauer Project Manager, IRO Niederösterreichring 2, Haus A Austria 3100 St. Pölten Tel: