BRAZIL – American global food corporation Cargill, Givaudan, and Bühler, have formed a consortium in collaboration with Food Tech Hub LATAM and Food Technology Institute, to build a tropical food innovation center in Brazil.
The “Tropical Food Innovation Lab” will be located at the Food Technology Institute, in a fully refurbished, 1,300-square-meter area.
The consortium positions the new site as a hub in Latin America to connect and develop sustainable future food and beverage products.
According to Cargill, the facility termed “Brazil’s tech powerhouse” will include the use of wet and dry extrusion systems for plant-based proteins.
It will also harbor beverage processing units, which will add extra capabilities to the existing facilities.
The hub, which is planned to open in the first quarter of 2023, will feature application labs and a demo kitchen, where professionals can work together to create sustainable new products.
The partnership is aimed at facilitating direct access to high-end technologies for rapid prototyping and plugging into the global food tech ecosystem to foster fast-paced innovation in the F&B sector.
Eduard Fontcuberta, regional innovation head at Givaudan, said: “The Tropical Food Innovation Lab brings a diverse and complementary group of strategic partners working together investigating market shifts.
They also bring onboard cross-fertilizing ideas and nourishing concepts to deliver superior sustainable solutions to food and beverage customers.”
Damien Chapelier, head of Bühler South America, commented that this new innovation lab is a great achievement for Bühler, and the company believes it will leverage significantly the food industry development in South America.
He added that only within a collaborative and innovative environment, is it possible to support customers to be successful in a dynamic market through the development of new products.
The consortium highlighted that they chose Brazil because of its rich plant biodiversity on the planet, distributed in six major biomes, and is one of the world’s main food producers.
Yet immense potential remains, with regards to healthy and sustainable products, novel food, and food waste reduction.
The new hub is another innovation center that has followed the recent investment in the construction of The Cultured Food Innovation Hub, located in Switzerland.
The hub was the aftermath of the partnership between Givaudan, Bühler, and Migros to create a new pilot facility for cellular agricultural products, as they look to expand their presence in this high-growth sector.
The Cultured Food Innovation Hub was revealed to serve as a self-sustainable company offering facilities and knowledge to support other organizations.
The support would be channeled to their cultured meat, fish, and seafood, and also precision fermentation progress.
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