There’s “Moore” where that came from
Hosted at Teagasc’s Moorepark campus, Moorepark Technology, Ltd. (MTL) provides start-ups, SMEs and emerging companies with crucial access to pilot-scale facilities for food and ingredient development.
The team at Moorepark Technology, Ltd. deliver a wide range of expertise across all aspects of food production Picture credit: O’Gorman Photography.
Ireland’s food, drink and horticulture exports now approach €19 billion annually, reflecting the scale and competitiveness of the country’s agri-food sector. Sustaining this performance depends not only on farms and factories, but also on pilot-scale facilities where ideas are tested, processes refined and technical risks reduced before commercial production.
One such facility is Moorepark Technology, Ltd (MTL). Established in 1993 as a joint venture between Teagasc and Irish dairy processors, MTL was created to provide industry with access to pilot-scale processing facilities and research-informed technical expertise. Its purpose was practical: translating scientific advances into commercial food production.
Today, MTL operates from a 5,000m² facility, housed on Teagasc’s Moorepark campus in Fermoy, Co. Cork, approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, ISO 22000-certified and officially recognised by the Global Food Safety initiative.
The centre supports companies working across dairy, plant nutrition and emerging food-tech sectors, serving both shareholder and non-shareholder clients.
“A key strength of MTL is its integration with the Teagasc Food Research Centre at Moorepark,” explains Rose Edwin, Teagasc Science Communication Officer.
“This integrated model allows companies to test processes, address technical challenges and validate products under commercially relevant conditions.”
Ingredient innovation
Between 2021 and 2025, MTL has continuously supported strong industry engagement, working with SMEs, start-ups, indigenous processors and multinational dairy and non-dairy food and beverage companies.
During this five-year period, MTL has worked with over 500 client companies and facilitated over 8,400 research and innovation trials. These activities have contributed to 272 product and ingredient innovations, with a client return rate of 44%, demonstrating continued industry engagement. The facility has generated €15.4 million in operational income and supported the production of ingredients valued at €60-80 million.
“For many smaller companies, access to pilot-scale infrastructure of this standard would otherwise be difficult to secure,” Rose adds.
“MTL helps reduce development risk and supports progression from concept to commercialisation.”
Export support
Ireland’s dairy exports reached €7.3 billion in 2025, with products shipped to approximately 142 markets worldwide. Over the years, MTL has supported the development of a wide range of innovations across the dairy and food sector, including export-oriented cheeses, high-protein snack foods, nutritional beverage formulations and specialised functional ingredients.
Projects undertaken at the facility have included the development of cheese formats tailored for international markets, optimisation of novel drying technologies for high-protein dairy snacks, and formulation of nutritional and functional dairy beverages.
Work has also extended to fermented dairy products such as milk kefir, as well as ingredients designed to improve shelf-life stability and nutritional functionality.
Together, these activities illustrate how pilot-scale infrastructure can support product diversification and the development of new market opportunities across Ireland’s food system.
While dairy remains central, MTL’s activities now also extend into plant-based beverages, bioactives, natural food colourings, fermentation technologies and targeted fermentation ingredients.
Recent investments have enhanced MTL’s capabilities in ingredient development, particularly in areas of concentration, drying and separation technologies. These additions, currently being commissioned, will enhance Ireland’s capacity to develop existing and alternative protein ingredients and next-generation food components in response to evolving market demand and sustainability considerations.
From its base at Teagasc Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Moorepark Technology, Ltd. provides crucial expertise and facilities to growing businesses. Photo credit: Andrew Downes.
Connecting research and industry
“MTL is a nationally accessible, neutral pilot-scale facility embedded within Teagasc’s Food Research Programme, while also directly accessible to industry,” explains Mark Fenelon, Teagasc’s Head of Food Programme.
“That co-location creates a clear research-to-scale pathway that multinational investors look for when choosing where to locate innovation activity. For SMEs or emerging companies who can’t justify building their own facilities, MTL gives them access to the necessary expertise and pilot-scale plants.”
MTL serves as a unique bridge connecting research and industry, supporting companies to scale innovative food products while enhancing Teagasc’s capability to deliver industry-relevant research, Mark concludes.
“In a competitive global food sector, the availability of domestic facilities for process validation and product development reduces technical risk and supports faster innovation.”
From its base at Moorepark, MTL continues to connect companies, researchers and markets across Ireland and internationally, reinforcing its role as an important component of Ireland’s food innovation infrastructure.
Bridging the gap
One example of MTL’s model in practice is Cybercolors, Ltd., a food ingredient technology company based within the National Food Innovation Hub at Moorepark. Working with Teagasc researchers and using MTL’s scale-up facilities, the company has developed and patented new processing technologies while scaling production within the same campus environment. “Facilities like MTL play a critical role in bridging the gap between research and commercial manufacturing,” says Cybercolors founder Noel Sexton.
“Working alongside Teagasc researchers while accessing scale-up processing allowed us to develop and validate new technologies much faster than would otherwise be possible. Since establishing ourselves in the National Food Innovation Hub, Cybercolors has launched 20 new products and secured 6 IP filings.”
Acknowledgements
Noel Sexton, Founder of Cybercolors, Ltd., and Kieran Downey, General Manager of MTL, are acknowledged for their contributions to this article.
Contributors
Rose Edwin, Science Communication Officer, Teagasc Moorepark.
Contact: niranjanarose.edwin [at] teagasc.ie
Mark Fenelon, Head of Food Programme, Teagasc Moorepark.
Kieran Duggan, CEO, MTL, Teagasc Moorepark.
Muireann Egan, Operations Manager, Teagasc Climate Centre.
You can find out more about Moorepark Technology Ltd. at the link below: