Economic development agency collaborates with renowned Scottish manufacturer to bring innovative product to market
The process of bringing a new product to market is long and involved, and relies on the work of many people. When E&R Moffat launched the latest incarnation of the Vgen trolley range, it was the end result of a two year research and development process involving in-depth consultation with caterers to identify their requirements precisely. This was undertaken in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s economic development agency.
Scottish Enterprise were able to provide Moffat with support to help fund the research and development of the new product.
Sean Donald, Scottish Enterprise’s account manager, explains. “Supporting Scottish manufacturers is a key part of our economic strategy, we help them develop their businesses by encouraging investment in R&D and helping them effectively develop new markets, both domestically and abroad.
E&R Moffat had identified a gap in the market for a high quality food delivery trolley for the NHS and social care markets. The design of the Vgen trolley took its cue from the detailed market research, discovering what customers and end users needed in terms of performance and aesthetics.”
The new Vgen range was designed to meet both the current and future needs of caterers. The trolleys are compatible with cook-serve, cook-chill and cook-freeze systems. Stand-out features include a multi-zone oven that can hold different foods at different temperatures in one cabinet – typical of the trolley’s energy saving features is the fact that individual heated zones can be switched off if not required. Meanwhile the refrigeration units combine finless condenser technology, the latest high-performance insulation and eco-friendly, thermally efficient R290 refrigerant. Together they reduce energy consumption and running costs while minimising maintenance requirements.
“The market for innovative food trolleys is growing,” says Sean. “Moffat is ideally placed to capitalise on this, with its years of expertise. Being able to help this fantastic Scottish company with this project was very rewarding, both from a technical standpoint and in terms of sustaining and further growing its business.”
Part of the support Scottish Enterprise provided was aimed towards helping develop new markets, both domestically and abroad. “This was a technically challenging project to create a modern, environmentally sustainable dining trolley, which could be manufactured in the UK,” says Sean. “Moffat has established itself as a strong brand domestically, so helping the company to further capitalise on that and strengthen its reputation overseas was very rewarding.”
Donald Reid, E&R Moffat’s sales manager, is also happy with the results of the partnership. “Scottish Enterprise were great to work with,” he says. “The support they provided helped us develop the new trolley and ensured it met all the criteria we had identified, and we found their backing throughout the process incredibly valuable, not only from a financial standpoint but also the depth of experience they were able to bring to bear. The positive reaction of the market to the Vgen is probably the best proof we could offer of the effectiveness of the partnership!”