Services to the Food Industry
The School has had a long association with food production. We consistently focus on applied research with a gradual migration along the supply chain to involve:
- food processing,
- packaging,
- logistics, retail,
- and consumer science.
Cockle Park Farm is famous for its experiments with grassland management and has been responsible for field testing many new varieties of cereals and oilseeds.
Food processing involves many disciplines from agriculture, chemical engineering and food sciences, to microbiology and material sciences. These disciplinary interactions have at some time been developed to solve problems facing the Food and Drink Industry. They are divided as follows:
- Product distribution links engineering, material sciences, computing, nanotechnology, and geography.
- Retailing requires building science, psychology, and consumer behavioural sciences.
- Food consumption links food policy and anthropology with nutrition and health.
Newcastle University has a wide range of expertise actively engaged in research activities that will have a dramatic effect upon the Food and Drink Industry - regionally, nationally and internationally. The school works closely with the industry to solve problems that limit their development.
The North East region has a well developed network known as Knowledge House to act as a broker and share the knowledge in the five regional Universities with those entrepreneurs wishing to develop and grow their businesses. The North East Food and Drink Portal is a secure environment where this knowledge can be found and shared.