Food Innovation Center: Gateway to the International Marketplace

FIC opens its doors, offers value-added food for thought as well as practical improvements for Oregon products by Bruce Pokarney Take the marketing expertise of the Agricultural Development and Marketing Division of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Add the academic and research excellence of Oregon State University. As an extra bonus, throw in ODA's regulatory laboratory. What do you get? A one-of-its-kind blend of talents that should signal a new era of success for Oregon food companies.

The seed was planted more than a decade ago when a group of ag visionaries in Oregon--including former ODA Director Bruce Andrews and Roy Arnold, then Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences--created the concept of a center of expertise that would essentially help food companies create a more marketable value-added product. That seed has sprouted the past couple of years with the construction of a building and a program. Now it is time to harvest the crop of ideas and results spawning from all the good work that will take place in the newly-dedicated Food Innovation Center (FIC).

"The professional bonding between OSU and ODA has already taken place as the building was being constructed," says Norma Corristan, administrator of ODA's Laboratory Services Division. "We spent the last year meeting once a month, sharing information and connections. Before the building went up, we got to know what each other did. Now we have the opportunity to do something more efficiently than has been done before."

Efficiency will be one of many buzz words used to describe the FIC operation. The team approach will be used to provide a gateway for small and medium-sized food companies interested in marketing a value-added product. This will be done by developing the product, putting it through a variety of vigorous tests, packaging it effectively, promoting it well, and hopefully finding a desirable export market.

It could be tweaking existing agricultural food products or creating entirely new ones. It is truly food innovation.

Can you hear the whistle blowing?

The Food Innovation Center is a 33,160 square-foot complex located along downtown Portland's waterfront across from Albers Mill--another complex that houses several ag-related organizations. (It is home to ODA's Export Service Center). Built on land that once carried railroad tracks and still adjacent to Union Station, it is not uncommon to be inside the FIC and hear train whistles blow next door.

Those whistles might be signaling the arrival of a new era of agricultural competitiveness in Oregon.

"Value-added food production is alive and well in Oregon and that is what this is all about," says ODA Director Phil Ward. "We believe the opportunity to co-locate two of our important programs with OSU and the other exciting functions of the Food Innovation Center not only makes a lot of sense, but will further strengthen the partnerships between ODA, OSU, and the food industry in general."

Among the unwritten but desired goals of the FIC is to help double the amount of value-added agriculture in Oregon, thus creating 21,000 new jobs to the state.

But it is only true value if it can be marketed to a demanding and discriminating consumer, whether domestic or international.

Pay no attention to that man behind the two-way mirror...

The terms appear to be in the lexicon of academia. But the end result should benefit everyone. "Value-Added Agricultural Marketing and Trade," "Consumer Sensory Analysis," and "Packaging Logistics Engineering" are the names of OSU's programs in the FIC. That translates into figuring out what consumers want, how they want it, and how it should be packaged so that it safely arrives in the marketplace.

In one room of the FIC, consumer behavior to food products will be monitored. A two-way mirror will allow OSU observers to see any facial expressions or other body language associated with the sampling of a specific food or its packaging. Focus groups will be brought in to taste and comment on various food samples, seated either in group settings or in individual sensory booths. OSU may segment the consumers. As an example, members of the Asian community may be brought in to taste a product designed for an Asian market.

Then there is the Distribution Challenge Lab. Products and packages become "transportation challenged" as a test to see how they might hold up in actual distribution. Special chambers and tables can simulate various conditions: temperature, humidity, vibration--even altitude. After all, food products destined for overseas markets will have to face a variety of conditions as they are air-freighted to the customer.

The FIC also includes the Analytical Support Laboratory--which is already working on intervening sprouted seeds in an effort to minimize the chance of food pathogens on sprouts--a Flexible Materials Testing Lab designed for packaging, and a commercial kitchen. Combined with an on-site OSU agricultural economist and complemented by the 30-year history of excellence provided by ODA's Agricultural Development and Marketing Division (ADMD), the FIC should go a long way in answering all the questions that need to be answered before a value-added food product hits the open market.

M'mm good. M'mm good.

Not exactly the Campbell's Soup approach Is the food too salty? Too sweet? Too coarse? Is it more presentable with a red label or a blue one? Does the package hold up as it is carried 30,000 feet above the ground? Is there an emerging market that may provide a ready demand for the product? Do consumers prefer a smaller or larger portion with each package? This is the kind of sophistication the FIC will hope to provide for companies that want to successfully market their product.

"Oregon doesn't have a lot of food processors the size of Campbell's Soup," says Dalton Hobbs, ADMD administrator. "But that doesn't mean that Oregon companies are less sophisticated. Many have moved well beyond the guy with a spoon sampling and saying that it tastes pretty good. Today, food product development is much more sophisticated than that. It has to be. The FIC brings a couple of excellent programs together in a one-of-a-kind public resource to bring buyer and seller together."

The proof will be in the pudding... and every other kind of food product that makes its way through the FIC.

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