Agri-Food Investment Initiative
The Agri-Food Investment Initiative (AFII) aims to enhance the economic performance and competitiveness of Northern Ireland’s agri-food sector through financial assistance for transformative capital investment in several key areas.
This support is available to Invest Northern Ireland clients, which are manufacturing and/or tradeable services businesses with the potential to both:
- achieve at least 25% of sales external to Northern Ireland (or at least £250,000 external sales, whichever is lower)
- employ at least ten staff, within five years
If you can demonstrate that your business meets these criteria, you may be eligible to apply to become an Invest NI client.
You must be operating within one or more of the following food and drink processing sectors:
- meat processing (beef, sheep, pig, and poultry)
- dairy, milk, and milk products
- potatoes
- cereals/arable crops, fruit and vegetables
- bakery, snacks, and convenience
- drinks and beverages
- animal feed
- cold stores (industrially de-rated only)
Due to State Aid restrictions, businesses involved in the following activities should contact their Invest NI Client Executive or foodenquiries@investni.com before completing an online eligibility check or applying:
- bakery (only applications from SMEs are eligible)
- drinks and beverages (only applications from SMEs are eligible)
- cold stores (only applications from SMEs are eligible)
- egg processing
The main aims of the initiative are to:
- support enterprises to increase their efficiency and improve their productivity
- improve the competitiveness of Northern Ireland’s Agri-food sector
- support capacity building, growth, innovation and new product development
Small businesses: The maximum aid intensity that can be granted is 35 per cent of the eligible investment costs. Minimum project size is £300,000.
Medium businesses: The maximum aid intensity that can be granted is 25 per cent of the eligible investment costs. Minimum project size is £500,000.
Large businesses: The maximum aid intensity is 20 per cent of the eligible investment costs, however, the aid intensity for any individual project will be limited to the minimum support required to implement the project, compared to the counterfactual scenario in the absence of aid. Minimum project size is £1,000,000.
The maximum eligible costs per individual investment project under this scheme will be no more than €25 million. The maximum assistance available under this scheme will be around £5 million.
- Invest Northern Ireland