The new portal, which can be found at www.tateandlyleopeninnovation.com, is designed to encourage universities, start-ups and companies specialising in food science to submit proposals which are aligned with Tate & Lyle’s innovation priorities of sweeteners, texturants and health and wellness.
Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation team, which forms part of the Innovation and Commercial Development group, leverages its global network to develop partnerships with entities specialising in food science with the aim of successfully and rapidly commercialising new speciality food ingredient products and technologies. A number of deals have already been announced since the Open Innovation team was formed in 2010 and some strong partnerships developed. These include with BioVittoria Ltd for PUREFRUIT monk fruit extract; Eminate Ltd for SODA-LO salt reduction technology; Verenium Corporation for a proprietary enzyme product; and most recently with Nandi Protein Ltd for an early-stage texturant technology.
John Stewart, Open Innovation Manager at Tate & Lyle said: “We value our partnerships enormously but also understand that approaching large corporations with a new innovation can be daunting. This is why Tate & Lyle has a small, dedicated team to help with the process. Our new website enables potential partners to submit ideas quickly and easily and for innovators to work with us to create long-term ‘win-win’ relationships.”
Karl Kramer, President of Innovation and Commercial Development at Tate & Lyle said: “With our Open Innovation team we can put all the expertise and commercial resources of Tate & Lyle behind the brilliant ideas of academics, inventors or business partners. With this new web portal we are making it even easier for potential partners to connect with our Open Innovation team, and we encourage them to approach us with their ideas.”
