Fi Innovation Awards spotlight sensorial creations, plant-based specialties and new processing techniques

07 Dec 2022 --- A cohort of new food technologies, highly functional health ingredients, emergent sensory sciences and unique manufacturing processes are taking center stage at the Fi Innovation Awards, hosted in Paris, France this week, as part of the ongoing Fi Europe 2022 (FiE) expo.

FoodIngredientsFirst is reporting live from the show floor and speaking to the winners at this year’s ceremony.

Sensory Innovation Award
Based on years of R&D work, sensory data and insights, Cargill’s new brand of Gerkens Sweety cocoa powders were awarded the Sensory Innovation Award.

“We are able to reduce sugar with 30% in the final application, which is cocoa beverages, in a natural way using our specialty cocoa powders,” Ellie Nikolova, commercial marketing manager at Gerkens, tells us.

Based on years of R&D work, sensory data and insights, Gerkens’ new Sweety cocoa powders were awarded the Sensory Innovation Award (Credit: Gerkens).The Sweety Range consists of two Gerkens cocoa powders that are low in bitterness, while still maintaining a “strong well-balanced chocolatey taste” with a strong sweet perception by consumers, hence less sugar is needed in the final application. 

Other finalists in this category include Senson Umami Liquid Bean – based on gut-friendly, neutral tasting germinated fava beans – which offer a “significant amount” of soluble simple amino acids, delivering full bodied meat-like flavors and boosting flavors of the other ingredients. It is naturally brewed using only germinated fava beans and water.

The category also featured MycoTechnology’s ClearIQ Flavor, a clean-label bitter-blocker and flavor-clarifier based on a natural extract from the liquid fermentation of the Cordyceps sinensis mushroom. Also featured was Savour Flex, a toolbox designed to elevate low-fat snacks by modifying the sensations attributed to fat and oils in the mouth, triggering specific receptors and providing a full-bodied taste.

Another runner up is ADM’s proprietary PearlEdge White Color Solutions, which are derived from natural sources, including native corn starch. The titanium dioxide alternative delivers brilliant, stable and uniform white coloring for a variety of food and beverage applications, the supplier highlights.

Plant-Based Innovation
In the category of Plant-Based Innovation, Bunge was recognized for its PurePro pea and faba proteins, which are proprietarily produced and designed to taste authentic, slice efficiently and deliver melt, mouthfeel and gooeyness properties in a grilled cheese application.

“At 2 g per serving, our ingredient is designed for its ability to enhance melt and texture to create a beautiful vegan cheese,” Mark Stavro, senior director global marketing and product management at Bunge, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Relative to dairy cheese, vegan cheeses have very low protein (0 g per serving versus 6 g per serving), poor melt and poor performance in grilled cheese (croque madame) applications, the company says.

Other finalists in this category include Chondrus150 S, a mixture of a native starch and a wild alga (Chondrus crispus) with nutritional (supply of fibers, iodine and trace elements) and functional (texturizing power) properties. It is recommended for savory or sweet vegetable preparations.

The category also recognized Plantéria, a group of GRAS-certified organic compounds derived from berries and citrus that provides a multi-hurdle antimicrobial and antioxidant protection in a variety of prepared plant-based foods.

Foodiq’s Fabea+ tasteless protein powder-form ingredient was also in the spotlight for its versatility in taking any shape or flavor desired. Fabea’s protein and fiber comes from Finnish fava beans that are put through a fermentation process.

Another runner up in the category is Limagrain Ingredients’ Pep’s Balls, which are clean label, ball-shaped protein pieces designed to boost the nutritional profile of products such as bread, pastries, cereal bars and meat replacement products.

Food Tech Innovation Award
Meanwhile, stevia specialist Sweegen nabbed the Food Tech Innovation Award for its novel bioconversion process for the production of Bestevia Rebaudioside M (Reb M).Sweegen on the show floor at FiE 2022.

Making low and zero sugar products and securing an ideal taste and consumer experience has been a major challenge for the European market. In July 2021, Sweegen’s Bestevia Reb M produced via a proprietary bioconversion process became the first new stevia ingredient from a new production technology to be approved for use in the European market by the European Food Safety Authority.

“Our innovation is for the novel production process of Bestevia Reb M for the bioconversion [of stevia],” Sally Aaron, head of global marketing at Sweegen, tells us.

“What’s beautiful about this award is that it’s hitting on key trends, such as naturality and sugar reduction. It’s taking into consideration what our clients and consumers need, and it’s looking at how to make sugar reduction scalable and global.

“Sugar reduction is a huge need that is driven by consumers and governments. F&B manufacturers need all the tools that they can get. We need them both in Europe and globally.”

Bestevia Reb M has significant taste advantages over current stevia ingredients like Reb A, Sweegen highlights. Earlier this year, the company won a patent lawsuit involving Reb M against PureCircle by Ingredion.

In other company highlights, Sweegen entered into a strategic alliance with Sumitomo – a current shareholder – to commit one of its manufacturing factories in Asia to a joint venture between the two companies. Sumitomo will assist in quality assurance and quality control at both the Asian facility and Sweegen’s manufacturing site in Europe. 

Health Innovation Award
Limagrain Ingredients took home the Health Innovation Award for its nutritional wheat, designed to be rich in resistant starch, called Lifywheat. LifyWheat flour is positioned as “ten times richer in fibers and 80% of these fibers are resistant starch.”

“This is the acknowledgement of 20 years of research,” Anne Lionnet, business developer, tells us. “We are launching in Europe a wheat that is high in fiber, which is resistant starch that will help address societal diseases such as diabetes. This helps reduce glycemia and has a prebiotic effect on the microbiota, which actively participates in intestinal health.”

LifyWheat is marketed as a multipurpose ingredient. The flour can be used in a variety of products including bread, pasta and biscuits.

Limagrain Ingredients took home the Health Innovation Award for its nutritional wheat, designed to be rich in resistant starch, called Lifywheat.The runner up in this category is Sonnin Pro. Dubbed a “revolution in fast food,” the frying oil solution that is designed to reduce up to 25% oil uptake in fried products while saving up to 10% oil usage cost. A natural extract replaces current chemical solutions in the frying oil without any change in other performance aspects, making it a “plug-and-play” solution.

Sustainability Innovation
Olam food ingredients (ofi) was awarded Cocoa Compass, which focalizes transparency along the cocoa supply chain. The initiative spans child labor monitoring across all ofi’s sustainability programs in nine countries to deliver 100% traceability of cocoa sourced directly from the farm, farmer group or cooperative.

“Cocoa Compass is one of our several product strategies, but it is the one we launched for an individual product. Our team has worked incredibly hard to get the data and metrics, which we share with our customers,” Nicky Barber, global head of communications at ofi, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“There is a huge team in our origin countries who are working with farmers, helping them to increase their livelihoods, protecting the environment and helping communities to thrive with education and help.”

Other runners up in this category include DSM’s canola protein ingredient, CanolaPRO, which is upcycled from the byproducts of its patented, solvent-free rapeseed oil extraction process. The protein solution is marketed as highly nutritious, containing all nine essential amino acids. 

Euroserum was also acknowledged in this category for its new dairy ingredient, SICALAC 90 EC, which is a 90% demineralized whey specifically developed with the environment, animal welfare and social commitments in mind.

By Benjamin Ferrer, with reporting from Gaynor Selby at FiE 2022