CARIRI launches Food Processing Facility geared towards supporting Food entrepreneurs
You’ve successfully started a small food business. You’re selling your delicious products to friends, family, and a growing group of happy customers. But, you can no longer keep up with the demand. It’s impossible to continue making the food at home or in the small shared kitchen space you started out in.
In other words: you need to scale up the production of your food.
The failure to scale up can often be linked to a lack of know-how and a lack of resources. Factors such as risk aversion and technical limitations result in micro-enterprises not taking that step toward growth. The lower-term impact is that the enterprises fail to realize their full potential. When scaling up food production, MSMEs will need to acquire raw materials, manpower, equipment, and space.
CARIRI has long recognized the need to provide additional support to micro-enterprises to assist them in reaching their full potential. These activities were initially conducted in our UWI Campus Pilot Plant Processing Area. However, as a part of the Centre for Enterprise Development (CED), established in 2014, CARIRI also established a series of Technology Bays to complement the work of the Pilot Plan Processing Area. These Bays, catering primarily but not only to the food and beverage sector, provided a facility where micro-enterprises could access support to scale up their activities.
On Monday 30th January 2023, the Caribean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) through a partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under the Bridging the Gap to Commercial Application of Innovation launched our Food Processing Facility located at the Centre for Enterprise Development, Freeport.
CARIRI’s Food Processing Centre will allow us to proactively work with players throughout the food chain, assisting them in improving their practices so that they provide safer foods to consumers. This aligns perfectly with our mission to develop a region sensitized to food safety and improve the implementation of good food safety practices, thereby improving our quality of life, food security, and competitiveness.
The key features of the Food Processing Centre include
- Physical facility with small-scale food processing equipment as well as quality control equipment to accommodate semi-automated production activities for food and beverage products.
- On-hand technical support and troubleshooting for users of the facility. This includes chemical engineers, food technologists, and other professional and technical support
- Users are allowed to use their own workers in the facility.
- Production is done under the supervision of a CARIRI representative.
- The facility could be used (on a fee basis) for periods as low as one-half of a day. The fee is highly subsidized.
The availability of such a facility provides several benefits to micro-enterprises:
- They could scale up their operations without incurring capital costs.
- It is cost-effective to operate for short periods or on a seasonal basis.
- They have an opportunity to test the market before making any decision on investing in a scaled-up activity. They are able to conduct trials and determine the equipment that is best suited for their product and process.
- When approaching financial institutions they have data to support their request for funding.
- Use of the facility provides a training opportunity for entrepreneurs and their workers.
- Introduction to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) including recordkeeping and documentation which allows for traceability and investigations.
- Increased output and efficiency through semi-automated production
- Improved product quality and consistency as a result of the inclusion of food safety controls in the production process
Access to Food Processing Centre
To access the facility, the client must:
- Undergo CARIRI’s HSE Orientation
- Attend CARIRI’s Introduction to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Awareness Session
- Have valid food badges for all personnel
- Have a standardized product and process
- Conduct a scale-up and equipment trial*
The objectives of the trial are to:
- Adapt the standardized process using the available equipment at CARIRI’s facilities
- Determine maximum production capacity and batch sizes
- Develop a batch sheet to determine the personnel required (CARIRI staff and Client staff)
Users are responsible for supplying all raw materials, including packaging, and labour for the production activities.
Whilst users are allowed to use their own workers in the Food Processing Centre, Production/Processing is done under the supervision of a CARIRI representative.
Based on the needs, CARIRI can assist in ensuring formulation is followed, process and product food safety protocols are observed, and operating equipment.
For more information on CARIRI’s Processing Centre please contact the Food Technology department using our Customer Enquiry form here:
