Canadian breakthrough for traceability company
Identigen, the Dublin-based developer of DNA meat traceability solutions, has created a new Canadian subsidiary, on the back of an increase in business there.
The announcement was made by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan during Enterprise Ireland’s trade mission to Canada.
It follows on from Identigen’s work with a number partners in the province of Alberta including the Alberta Ministry of Agriculture and Sturgeon Valley Pork to create a way to track meat from the farmgate to the retail outlet. Identigen has also entered into a new agreement with the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
The company will work with the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Livestock Genomics Technology, a new venture that plans to research livestock genomic technologies. Identigen co-founder Ronan Loftus, who is chief executive of its North American operations and commercial director of the parent company, said Canada presented some significant market opportunities for the company. ‘‘It is a major meat producer that is largely export-dependent.
A lot of their product was exported to the US, but that is being affected by country-of-origin labelling and exchange rate issues, so they are looking at other markets,” he said. Traceability was one selling point that Canadian meat could offer over competitors, said Loftus.
In terms of market size, Alberta alone was near Ireland in terms of pork produced, and far ahead in terms of beef.
In addition to this, he said, Canada had fared far better in the current economic downturn then many other countries.
Identigen already has operations in the US and Britain, in addition to its headquarters in Ireland, and now employs 50 people. Loftus declined to comment on what revenues the group was currently achieving, but said he was satisfied with its growth at present.
‘‘Like everyone else, we had a tough start to the year, and were forced to make a number of adjustments,” he said. However, he added that the company was profitable and confident about achieving further growth.
Identigen’s main backers include 4th Level Ventures and Paul Coulson’s Yeoman International, from which it raised €2 million in 2006. Loftus said the company was now self-financing and had no current plans to engage in further fund raising. However, if an appropriate opportunity arose, it may yet raise more money.
At present, he said, the company’s priority was to demonstrate the value of its products in the markets it was currently operating in, before utilising this experience to expand into other countries.
