Symrise’s new digital immersion center in Singapore propels F&B innovation

26 Jul 2024 --- Symrise has unveiled a Digital Immersion Co-Creation Center in Singapore — a facility blending market, consumer and sensory insights with cutting-edge technology. The digitally enabled, purpose-built space marks the company’s next step in strengthening its taste, nutrition and health expertise in the Asia-Pacific region.

The digital hub is located within SPark Singapore, which Symrise launched last year to focus on developments in natural flavor craft, rescuing upcycled ingredients from waste side streams and biotransformation of food solutions through precision fermentation.

The German ingredient supplier views the new site as a step forward in “redefining the collaborative landscape in food and beverage development and innovation.” 

“It merges market, sensory and consumer insights with product development excellence in partnership with customers and collaborators,” highlights Symrise.

Facilitating prototype development
The open space in the innovation center includes floor-to-ceiling interactive touch screens along with customizable meeting and discussion spaces.

Additionally, teams working in the facility can access interactive capabilities for simultaneous collaboration. This includes Symvision AI, a tool that analyzes data and predicts taste trends across different regions and categories, along with social listening tools and predictive models for uncovering valuable insights. 

The center also has an immersive projection system that allows for a “multi-sensorial approach” to prototype development, evaluation and validation. 

Food Ingredients First was present as Symrise opened the facility on July 18 with the Singapore Economic Development Board, customers and research institutes.

Enhancing F&B 
Symrise is a global supplier of fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic active ingredients, raw materials, and functional ingredients. In the first quarter of 2024, the group increased sales by just under 11% compared with the first quarter of 2023 and aims for organic growth of 5-7% this year.

In March, the company unveiled trendscope 2024+, a comprehensive analysis designed to decode the current and future consumer trends shaping the market. The tool identified six global megatrends, including “digitalization,” “purposeful sustainability,” “natural goodness,” “healthy lifestyle,” “emotional discoveries” and “premium indulgence.”