Foods Connected have been recognised for their contribution to tech innovation in Northern Ireland at the North West Business awards.
Chief Technology Officer, Gary Tyre, and his team were awarded the Innovation and Technology Award for their pioneering cloud-based software solutions. They drive progress by unlocking the data food and drink manufacturers, retailers, food service providers and other food businesses need to ensure a complete 360-view of their supply chain.
The Foods Connected platform covers seven solution areas: food safety and quality, sustainability, product lifecycle management, protein optimise, procurement, supplier compliance and traceability.
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It delivers tech solutions to hundreds of companies around the globe, including 10 of the world’s top grocery retailers; and has taken on 40 new team members and increased its annual turnover by 20 per cent in the last year.
Founded in Northern Ireland’s North West, the digital software solution provider has been celebrated for its groundbreaking achievements and transformative approach to food industry supply chain management at the North West Business Awards.
Gary Tyre, CTO at Foods Connected, says: “It’s a real honour to be recognised for the work we are doing in the digital food safety space. The arrival of EU Deforestation Regulation and the recent E. coli outbreak in the UK really drives home why innovative tech is needed to ensure the food industry has a fully traceable secure supply chain.
"Our software - the only digital supply chain solution on the market offering tracking, control and reporting across all key E2E areas within the food industry, from one central hub - is designed specifically to help keep consumers safe and businesses food safety compliant.”
Digital food safety and quality management has become an area of increasing concern for food businesses globally, with non-compliance and food recalls posing a potentially catastrophic risk. That’s why Tyre thinks it is critical that businesses have the tools they need to ensure they receive safe and authentic raw materials from suppliers, to deliver consumer products that meet the intended specification.
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The Foods Connected system has been built entirely in Northern Ireland and is used globally within the factories of key players in the food industry throughout Europe and beyond, as far as Australia and the US. Today, Foods Connected are Innovate UK funded, have a proactive CSR policy, employing over 120 people across three continents – with 40 joining in the last year.
Gary Tyre, CTO at Foods Connected, says: “Foods Connected are dedicated to making a significant, positive and global impact not just in Northern Ireland but across the globe. The success of our tech solutions has aided Foods Connected in experiencing impressive growth over the last year, evidenced by our annual turnover which increased by 20 per cent in 2023.
“We feel very privileged to not only be able to implement innovation projects within our own business, but also, quite uniquely, to be able to create change in other businesses through our software. To then be recognised for these achievements with the Innovation and Technology Award is a great boost for the team.”
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