We want to make sure that our research is not only done for scientific publications, but that it really helps companies.
The first step is to work together to establish research priorities based on dairy processor leadership. They are the ones who inform us of the problems that need answers from science. If we ask the right questions at the outset, we are likely to get the right answers.
Then, we ensure that research projects are followed up by processor committees to guide companies along the way. As Novalait's funds belong to everyone, we try to do feasibility demonstrations or to do the groundwork to get the necessary information.
Afterwards, the companies themselves will ensure the development of their research projects up to the creation of products or processes. The fact that they have renewed their funding every year for the past 25 years is the best proof that this works. If they had concluded that our projects were irrelevant or useless, it wouldn't have worked.
I can also confirm that we have trained more than 400 people, including master's and doctoral academics, who are working in our plants and organizations. The people who work there are important.