Novel dairy foods, functional foods, sustainability and process improvements are some of the exciting areas that could be under development by the inaugural recipient of the 2009 Innovation in Dairy Manufacturing Award.

Sponsored by Dairy Australia the Award offers an innovation grant of $20,000 to people currently working in the dairy food manufacturing sector or in industry-related manufacturing, research or innovation are encouraged to apply.

Dairy Australia’s product innovation manager Dr Mani Iyer said that the award offered an opportunity to bring innovation to dairy manufacturing in both domestic and overseas markets.

The grant can be used to initiate or progress manufacturing research, or to travel overseas to study a specific product or process that presents an opportunity for progressing innovation in the Australian dairy industry.

Recipients of the award are expected to share outcomes and learnings with the wider industry on completion of the project.