SWITZERLAND – Leading food technology company Buhler has joined forces with Givaudan to support food startups in commercialization as well as scaling up operations.

The companies will work to accelerate market access for food start-ups in Switzerland with an aim to bring forth disrupting solutions in the food and agricultural value chains.

By enhancing access to knowledge, capabilities and global platforms, Buhler and Givaudan are supporting food startups offering solutions that deliver safe, affordable, nutritious and delicious food.

Selected startups and entrepreneurs will be hosted and mentored at each of their newly opened innovation centres in Switzerland.

“As part of our strategy of collaborative innovation, we are delighted to partner with Bühler to help food start-ups succeed in bringing to market solutions that address our global food challenges,” said Fabio Campanile, Givaudan head of flavours science and technology.

“Our brand-new Zurich Innovation Centre provides the perfect environment for outstanding start-ups to collaborate and access Givaudan’s world-leading technology, expertise and capabilities.”

The program will focus on startups providing solutions in alternative proteins, sustainable animal feed, food safety, food fraud, authenticity, natural ingredients for food applications (colours, preservatives), flavours, nutrition (particularly fibre, sugar, fat and salt reduction), health and nutrition ingredients and gentle processing.

These efforts will be complemented by Givaudan’s newly opened flagship Innovation Centre in Kemptthal, Switzerland.

In May, Buhler opened its CUBIC innovation campus, featuring eight application centers at its headquarters in Uzwil, Switzerland.

“Our recently inaugurated innovation campus, the Cubic, with collaboration spaces, laboratories and technology and scale-up facilities complements the new Givaudan facility,” said Bühler chief technology officer Ian Roberts.

“With our global presence, sales networks, digital platforms and brand strength, we are convinced that, together, we can offer an unrivalled scale-up partnership for start-ups.

“We consider that Switzerland can be a global leader in the food and agricultural space, and we see this latest collaboration as an example of how we can achieve this.”

Both the companies are founding members of MassChallenge Switzerland, a startup accelerator with a goal to strengthen the global innovation ecosystem.