Tate & Lyle Signs Agreement on Early-Stage Protein Ingredient Technology

Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation team leverages its global network to develop partnerships with universities, research institutes and start-ups specialising in food science with the aim of commercialising their technologies and bringing new products to market.

12 Dec 2012 --- Tate & Lyle PLC has signed an agreement with Nandi Proteins Ltd, a spin-out of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, to develop an early-stage protein ingredient technology for use in the food texturants space.

The agreement grants Tate & Lyle an exclusive worldwide licence for the technology for food and beverage use while Nandi Proteins Ltd retains the rights to develop the technology for other applications such as pharmaceutical. Tate & Lyle will be responsible for developing and in due course commercialising the technology including its manufacturing, applications development, sales and marketing. The size of of the investment is not disclosed.

It is the third investment from Tate & Lyle in Open Innovation in the last 18 months, following on from Biovittoria (monk fruit) and Soda-Lo (a salt reduction technology). “We are looking to fund novel technology ideas and look to successfully commercialize great technology,” Mathew Wootton at Tate & Lyle told FoodIngredientsFirst. He explained that innovation projects at Tate & Lyle consist of 1. Internal Innovation, 2. Open Innovation (where the company is interested in technologies that are 1-2 years from commercialization) and 3. Tate & Lyle Ventures (where the company takes equity stakes in businesses fro technology that is 4-5 years from commercialization).

Tate & Lyle’s partnership with Nandi Proteins Ltd was delivered through its Open Innovation team which is part of its Innovation and Commercial Development group. Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation team leverages its global network to develop partnerships with universities, research institutes and start-ups specialising in food science with the aim of commercialising their technologies and bringing new products to market.

John Stewart, Open Innovation Manager at Tate & Lyle said: “We look forward to further developing Nandi’s food ingredient technology which has the potential to be an excellent addition to our texturants offering. This agreement represents another example of Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation team successfully developing strong, mutually beneficial partnerships with early-stage companies.”

Mike Brennand, Executive Chairman of Nandi Proteins Ltd said: “Our agreement with Tate & Lyle is a powerful validation of Nandi’s approach of developing partnerships with major food industry players. Tate & Lyle’s technical resources and global customer reach combined with our technology make this a ‘win-win’ partnership and we look forward to a long and successful partnership in the years to come”.