HI-FOOD, a company part of CSM Ingredients specialized in the research, development, and production of natural ingredients, and Alianza Team Europe, the European division of a multinational company with over seven decades of experience in the fats and vegetable oils industry, have announced a business relationship for Food Ingredients with the aim of developing innovative solutions in the added-value fats and oils sector.
United by the ambition to build a better and more sustainable future through cutting-edge ingredient solutions, the two companies have joined forces to develop high-value, clean-label protein emulsions to potentially improve the taste and texture of plant-based meat alternatives.
This business relationship is a great example of the open innovation approach which the whole Ingredient-tech Solutions Platform – that includes also HI-FOOD and CSM Ingredients – has embraced. This open innovation approach relies on collaborations with external partners not only to identify the most relevant trends worldwide but also to develop new, value-added fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and functional ingredients.
“This business relationship between HI-FOOD and Alianza Team Europe is a huge source of pride for us and a great cornerstone in the development of our innovation strategy, which focuses on developing new added-value solutions to meet customer demands especially when it comes to Health & Nutrition, Cleaner & Leaner, Sustainability, and Indulgence.” said Christian Sobolta, Chief Growth Officer of CSM Ingredients, who continued as follows: “I am sure that this is only the first step of an international collaboration which is bound to bring even greater advancements to the food industry as we work on creating additional synergies between the various companies of our Ingredient-tech Solutions Platform and Alianza Team.“
The collaboration between HI-FOOD and Alianza Team Europe stems from a shared vision regarding the future of food, but also from the desire to support the capacity of the industry to answer in a satisfactory manner the increasingly high demand for plant-based alternatives, developing cutting-edge solutions capable of making these products tastier, better looking and with cleaner labels, as emphasized by Jesus Jaimes, Vice President of Team Solutions (a business unit of Alianza Team): “Our business relationship between HI-FOOD and Alianza Team Europe is a significant milestone. Collaborations that leverage the combined expertise of two entities can bring about transformative change. In this instance, our shared vision was to address the challenges in the plant-based sector by developing cutting-edge solutions that enhance the taste, mouthfeel, applicability, and appearance of plant-based products while ensuring cleaner labels. This business relationship is the first step in what we see as a broader international collaboration set to revolutionize the food industry.”
The first, concrete result of this business relationship is a new, effective combination of the all-vegetable fat lipid-based solution “MirrorTissue” by Alianza Team with HI-FOOD’s plant proteins and fibers obtained from oil seeds.
The collaboration between the companies allowed to develop an advanced and highly-performing version of “MirrorTissue”, allergen free, clean label and without the use of tropical oils, promising for the plant-based meat industry as explained by Emanuele Pizzigalli, Chief R&I Officer and Co-founder of HI-FOOD: “I believe that this business relationship represents the perfect example of pragmatic innovation. When dynamic companies with a clear vision of the market and different skills come together, focusing on innovation and high-tech, the result is surprising and effective. Together with Alianza Team, we have laid a strong foundation for the development of one of the first next-generation specialty grease and oil products, employing cutting-edge proprietary technologies. I am certain that this collaboration will give even more momentum to the Plant-Based Meat sector, a market segment that is already characterized by strong enthusiasm and will increasingly stand out for its dynamism and innovation.”
This advanced development of “MirrorTissue” will be presented jointly by HI-FOOD and Alianza Team at Food Ingredients Europe, which will be held in Frankfurt from the 28th to the 30th of November. This advanced ingredient solution was recently selected as a finalist in the FI Europe Innovation Awards, one of the most prestigious international awards in the food ingredients industry.
