Kerry Group have announced the establishment of an industry-leading global technology and innovation centre in Ireland. Located on a 28 acre site in the Millennium Business Park, Naas, Kerry Group will invest €100m in the new campus, which will accommodate 800 people in 2015 and a further 100 positions when fully commissioned by mid-2016.

The new Kerry Global Technology & Innovation Centre will also include Kerry Ingredients & Flavours global and EMEA regional management, 1 Kerry Global Business Services and support functions.  

The new centre will serve as a key focal point for Kerry’s customer engagement activities providing strategic customers with access to the Group’s complete breadth and depth of technologies, scientific research, innovation and applications expertise across food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets.

The new investment will be part-funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has also had an involvement. Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD regards today’s announcement as “perhaps the most significant investment ever in the Irish Agri Food industry” and “proof that the agri food sector can be central to rebuilding the Irish economy”. He added: “This investment is a statement of confidence in the Irish economy and in the quality of Irish food science graduates to deliver food innovation in the most modern facility of its type on the planet. The agri food and food innovation sector will continue to provide positivity and optimism in the Irish economy. The leadership that Kerry have shown with this project is testament to their commitment to this country”.