Ingredients company, Tate & Lyle, has partnered with botanical synthesis pioneers, BioHarvest Sciences to develop the next-generation of proprietary plant-based molecules, aiming to address increasing consumer desire for affordable, nutritious and more sustainable plant-derived food and beverage ingredients.
The new partnership between Tate & Lyle and BioHarvest will focus on developing the next generation of sweeteners – botanical sweetening ingredients using plant-derived molecules.
Tate & Lyle’s chief science and innovation officer, Victoria Spadaro-Grant, said: “BioHarvest provides the first and only fully validated industrial scale plant cell technology platform for production of plant metabolites.”
“Initial exploration will focus on our sweetener platform, but our partnership also provides for expansion into other areas.”
BioHarvest’s Botanical Synthesis platform produces non-GMO plant-derived ingredients in a more sustainable and economically viable way, helping to scale up the production of highly beneficial botanical ingredients.
This proprietary process delivers patentable molecules by growing targeted plant cells which can mirror and magnify the phyto-nutrients contained in specific plants, delivering all the benefits of the plant, without having to grow the plant.
BioHarvest Sciences CEO, Ilan Sobel, said the company aspires to improve human wellness with its plant derived molecules, and Tate & Lyle represents an ideal partner.
“Tate & Lyle is a global powerhouse in food ingredient innovation, and we expect that its regulatory and nutrition expertise, industry knowledge and complementary research initiatives will help expedite and commercialise the next generation of plant-based molecules developed through our Botanical Synthesis platform,” said Sobel.
Tate & Lyle brings its portfolio of sugar reduction solutions and ingredient research to the partnership, as well as its applications, nutrition and regulatory expertise, and access to global customers.
The sweetener aims to meet consumer desire for a sugar-like taste – with no after-taste – and enable a wider population to have more choice when it comes to accessing ingredients that help make products healthier.
The ingredient solutions will be more affordable to the food and beverage industry while using a fraction of the land and water required in traditional extraction and land-based growing practices.
Tate & Lyle CEO, Nick Hampton, said the company is always looking to provide its customers with the latest innovation, and the partnership with BioHarvest will let them do that.
“Our open innovation programme is all about creating cutting-edge solutions for the food and beverage industry. By partnering with entrepreneurial innovators like BioHarvest, we aim to disrupt the future of food for the better,” said Hampton.
