Weekly Roundup: Brenntag expands distribution for oat and mushroom ingredients, ASR invests in Bonumose

19 Feb 2021 --- This week in industry news, Brenntag Food & Nutrition extended its distribution reach for its oat-based and mushroom ingredients in two separate agreements. ASR Group revealed a strategic venture in Bonumose to bring plant-based sugar alternatives to market. Meanwhile, Unovis Asset Management closed its investment in Indonesian start-up Green Butcher and the Eating Better Alliance, part of Sustain, launched a guide to sourcing “better” meat for British consumers.

In brief: Business moves
Brenntag Food & Nutrition has signed an agreement on distributing the high-quality oat products and added-value solutions of Fazer Mills Finland for the Nordic region. Fazer Mills Finland is part of the Fazer Group, The Food Experience Company, which focuses on fast-moving consumer goods and aims to grow in Northern Europe and beyond. Innovations are at the core of Fazer’s ambitious growth strategy, and Fazer wants to offer sustainable solutions to support consumers’ well-being. Fazer Mills focuses on developing and manufacturing high-quality milling ingredients and solutions made of wheat, rye and oats. The agreement between Brenntag Food & Nutrition and Fazer Mills Finland covers oat products, including oat beta-glucan and oat protein, as well as bread improvers and classic oat products.

Brenntag Food & Nutrition and Fazer Mills Finland’s agreement covers oat products, including ingredients like oat beta-glucan and oat protein.The Brenntag Food & Nutrition business unit in North America, part of the Brenntag Group, announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Monaghan Mushrooms Unlimited Company in the US and Canada. The deal covers the ingredients manufactured under the innovation arm of Monaghan Group, MBio. MBio has developed clean-label ingredients derived from mushrooms. The ingredient line includes a vitamin D mushroom powder, a vitamin B12 mushroom powder and a whole mushroom powder and can be used in food, beverage, nutraceutical and supplement industries.

American Sugar Refining, a member of ASR Group, made a strategic investment in Bonumose to produce and commercialize lower-cost, plant-based alternative sweeteners, tagatose and allulose. The Series B investment round in Bonumose, a start-up company pioneering plant-based food ingredients, was co-led by American Sugar Refining and The Hershey Company. Bonumose developed and patented a production process for high-purity rare sugars, including tagatose and allulose, from low-cost, abundant, plant-based starches. The products are said to have fewer calories than traditional sugars and a negligible glycemic index impact.

Unovis Asset Management has closed its investment in Indonesia-based start-up Green Butcher, a company developing plant-based alternatives to chicken and beef using natural, whole-food ingredients. The seed round funding will be used to support additional R&D hiring and help Green Butcher scale its production in anticipation of a launch into mainstream retailers in Q2 2021. Unovis made this investment through its New Crop Alternative Protein fund.

APC Microbiome Ireland (APC), SFI Research Centre at University College Cork and Teagasc and the National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food (NERCFF) at the University of Jiangnan in China have announced a new academic cooperation agreement to foster deeper research collaborations and exchanges between both research centers. Both Universities share a long tradition in food and microbiome science and represent the premier food teaching and research programs in their respective countries. In 2018, University College Cork in Ireland and Jiangnan University in China signed a “parent” Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate cooperation between both Universities, particularly at the level of undergraduate teaching.

MGP Ingredients plans to roll out Green Hat Gin to its distribution partners in the first half of 2021. Green Hat Gin is Washington, DC’s first licensed distillery since Prohibition. Crafted with a blend of botanicals in copper pot stills, Green Hat Gin is offered in four styles: Green Hat Original Batch Gin, Green Hat Navy Strength Gin, Green Hat Citrus Floral Gin and Summer Cup Cordial. Green Hat Gin is the latest addition to the portfolio of brands at MGP and their first proprietary gin brand. MGP acquired New Columbia Distillers in March 2020, encompassing the Green Hat Gin distillery, retail tasting room, bar and gin garden, all located in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC, US.

In brief: Other highlightsThe latest addition to MGP’s portfolio features Original Batch, Navy Strength, Citrus Floral and Summer Cup.
The Food Education Platform, which provides various learning modules, including taste lessons for 75 percent of Dutch primary schools, will continue to develop its food education program to keep up with the times. This partnership between the industry, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality as part of the Top Sectors policy has been extended for four years. The program focuses on eating, tasting, feeling, smelling and seeing food. Children learn where their food comes from and that healthy food can also be tasty.

According to Sustain, British consumers are in support of eating meat more responsibly, and a new resource from the Eating Better Alliance will help retail and foodservice businesses put “better” meat and dairy on shelves and menus. The impact of animal farming on our environment and human health differs greatly depending on where and how animals are raised, the feed they eat, and the antibiotics used and chemicals used on farms. The new guide from the Eating Better Alliance, Sourcing Better: A pathway to less and better meat and dairy, will help buyers navigate the complexities of different farming systems, labels and production standards to understand what constitutes “better” for animal welfare, antibiotic use, greenhouse gas emissions, land use, biodiversity, soil health, pollution and water scarcity.

By Elizabeth Green