Givaudan, Bühler and Cargill to build food innovation centre in Brazilian tech hub of Campinas
Givaudan, Bühler and Cargill have announced plans to develop and build a new food innovation hub in the Brazilian city of Campinas.
The Tropical Food Innovation Lab will be a collaborative effort between the three companies, the FoodTech HUB Latam and the Brazilian Institute of Food Technology (ITAL).
Its mission will be focused on using Latin America’s biodiversity sustainably to secure affordable nutrition for consumers.
According to Givaudan, the Tropical Food Innovation Lab will be the “go-to place” in the region to connect and develop start-ups, investors, researchers and more.
Eduard Fontcuberta, Givaudan Regional Innovation Head, said: “The Tropical Food Innovation Lab brings a diverse and complementary group of strategic partners working together investigating market shifts, cross-fertilising ideas and nourishing concepts to deliver superior sustainable solutions to food and beverage clients.
“With an expanded portfolio of products across flavours, taste, sense, health and nutritional solutions and a deep knowledge of the food ecosystem, we are uniquely positioned to drive positive change within the food industry.”
The 1,300-square-metre space will feature a range of state-of-the-art equipment which start-ups and researchers can take advantage of.
This includes both wet and dry extrusion systems for plant-based proteins and beverages processing units, as well as fully equipped labs and a top of the range demo kitchen.
Rendering of the Tropical Food Innovation Lab in Campinas
Rendering of the Tropical Food Innovation Lab in Campinas
Brazil has some of the richest plant biodiversity on the planet, distributed across six major biomes. Though it is one of the world’s top producers of food, Givaudan says much of the country’s potential remains untapped – particularly regarding healthy and sustainable products, novel food, and food waste reduction.
Cargill Regional R&D Leader Carlos Prax suggested this “unique environment” will allow the company to fulfil its mission to “nourish the world”.
He said: “We will join our forces with distinguished partners in a very unique environment for co-creation and collaboration to accelerate sustainable innovations what matters to the regional agri-food value chain and beyond that, to support our customer strategy and demands.”
Slated to open in Q1 2023, the Tropical Food Innovation Lab will join a host of other newly opening centres which aim to catalyse advancements in the food industry. Such centres are being planned and launched across all corners of the world.
Cargill launched its latest ingredient innovation hub in Orhangazi, Turkey in March 2022, while the UK is expected to open its own food innovation centre in Norfolk later this year.
