University News & Events

AGRICO UK is working with Glasgow Caledonian University on a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is Europe’s leading programme, helping business to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base.

With the help of Glasgow Caledonian University’s food science experts in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Agrico aims to introduce laboratory techniques to support the development of novel potato genotypes with specific nutritional properties.

Agrico UK is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agrico Holland, a Dutch farmer cooperative producing in excess of 310,000 tonnes of seed potatoes per year.

Agrico places great importance on the need to work closely with growers and is guided by the Scottish Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SSPCS), DEFRA and 'Safe Haven' technical requirements for the production of seed crops.

Executive Director Archie Gibson says: “Working with GCU offers us the opportunity to develop our understanding and knowledge of our varieties in a number of complimentary ways. Early assessment of seedlings within the research and development programme to ensure the most promising varieties progress to commercial production. Understanding the compositional characteristics of our varieties will better enable us to inform our customers and consumers of their attributes. We are delighted to have been successful in our bid to secure KTP support for this initiative and look forward to forging a close partnership with GCU.”

Supervised by Professor Richard Tester of the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences in GCU’s School of Life Sciences, the KTP associate will develop nutritional and food-related understanding of Agrico potato genotypes and compare them with competitor products. Along with developing testing techniques, the KTP will help the company develop marketing strategies and new business practices.

Glasgow Caledonian is the only university in the UK to have a United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited food laboratory.  The University’s food analysis services are used by many blue chip companies which rely on effective and efficient sampling and analysis. In addition to consultancy work, the department provides professional courses in food safety for companies leading to certification from the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS). The department is also working on several Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) with companies in the food and drinks sector.

Research topics in the department include fungi and microbial toxins in food, food fermentations, food-borne pathogens, structure and functionality of carbohydrates, environmental effects on carbohydrate biosynthesis, and food and pharmaceutical applications of carbohydrates.

For more information on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, call the Applied Knowledge Exchange on 0141 331 3189.

Professor Richard Tester,
Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences,
School of Life Sciences
T: 0141 331 8514  E: r.f.tester@gcu.ac.uk