CHALLENGE:
Nortera Foods is a large fruit and vegetable processing company. When processing sweetcorn, a liquid biproduct known as silage juice, is produced. This juice is currently spray-irrigated onto agricultural land that has resulted in previous environmental challenges. Market research is needed to understand if there is potential to divert this juice from the land into a marketable product, whether in business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) operations.
The project results may find that there is no other application, but global research and academic articles will be sourced to see if any other applications can be explored.
SOLUTION:
The project outcome identified six possible alternative product-use cases for silage juice.
The Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre (BCIC) team focused on an academic exploration of the potential of each product, looking into studies showing benefits, risks, and potentials. The recommendation was to explore testing of silage juice for the fermentation process. It was also suggested to consider business partnerships for the distribution of the alternative projects.
The BCIC team also highlighted six solutions – two products that operate in one industry, and four that are independent products that would need new branding, product development, and a distribution process. A SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis to support further decision making for the industry partner were also provided.
