According to the NCUB's Food 4.0 report, the industry contributes £103bn to the UK economy, and employs over 3.7 million people.

Achieving better collaboration between this vital sector and our leading universities is therefore crucially important. A good example of what can be achieved comes via a recent partnership between Fresh-Pak Chilled Foods Ltd and Leicester University.

The South Yorkshire based company are a leading supplier of food products to supermarkets, food service providers and b2b companies. They have 20 years worth of highly specialised food manucaturing experience, and hope to build on this through the partnership with Leicester University.

The partnership aims to boost the production process at the company and increase yields and product quality. An Analytical Chemist has been recruited by the company, with the university providing academic mentoring to that person to ensure they have the latest expertise in the field, with this support being led by the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Mathematics.

NCUB are working on a new hub for the food industry that aims to make it easier to collaborate with the UK's leading academics in the field. To learn more, contact Jonathan Khongwir.