The Israeli food tech startup Better Juice can now use its microorganisms to reduce the glucose, fructose, and sucrose of up to 250 million liters of fruit juice every year.
Better Juice uses natural enzymes to convert sugars in juice to non-digestible compounds, like dietary fibers. The technology can reduce up to 80 percent of the simple sugar content in fruit juices and fruit-based condiments without affecting the naturally occurring nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Its manufacturing plant, which is the first of its kind to place its patented enzymes in beverages, has now transitioned to full commercial production, and will be able to reduce the sugar in up to 250 million liters of fruit juices each year.
To read the full article from Ariel Grossman, visit nocamels.com .
The makers of plant-based functional supplement beverages are hoping to disrupt the functional shot category with the launch of their new line of powerful superfood decoctions.
Launched this spring, URBL is a line of premium plant-based functional supplement shots created by the startup Pebble Roots Inc. The release of their new beverage line comes at a time when functional drinks and shots are exploding within the health and wellness community.
Inspired by the principles of Ayurveda and Traditional Herbal Medicine (THM) and reinforced with evidence-based nutrition science, URBL shots are unique “superfood decoctions” created by extracting healing compounds from the stems, roots, bark, and other parts of botanical ingredients and formulating them into three unique products with different ingredients, different functionalities, and completely different flavour profiles – spicy, green, or a tad sweet.
The current line of products includes “URBL ROAR,” featuring ashwagandha, one of the most potent Ayurvedic adaptogens, to help consumers adapt to a variety of physical and psychological stressors; “URBL SHIELD,” a memory boosting and liver protecting shot with brahmi and milk thistle as the key botanicals; and “URBL GLOW,” a collagen booster made with amalaki and turmeric root, providing antioxidants and anti-inflammatory benefits.
“Unlike sugar-rich, high-fructose fruit juice shots with excessive amounts of ginger and pepper added only to overemphasize effectiveness, URBL is a botanical nutraceutical packed with 24 varying superfoods to boost your physical as well as mental health – a comprehensive immune support,” said Suhas Verma, the founder and CEO of URBL.
URBL is the first and only product of its kind to be licensed by Health Canada as a Natural Health Product (NHP). URBL products are manufactured in a state-of-the-art GMP and NSF certified manufacturing facility, with every production batch run through more than 15 types of contamination and allergen tests to ensure the supplement beverages are of the highest quality.
URBL is 100 percent non-GMO and gluten-free. It is naturally sweetened with honey and is free of preservatives, caffeine, added-sugar, stevia, allergens, and anything artificial.
URBL’s 2 ounce shots are also shelf-stable and can be easily stowed and consumed, making them perfect for an active, on-the-go lifestyle.
“Whether you’re a fitness buff, yogi, adventurer, corporate jet setter, or a busy mom, you’re going to fall in love with your URBL boost,” Verma said. “Let URBL fuel your daily adventures.”
ADM Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of ADM (NYSE: ADM), announced its investment in Seventure’s Health For Life Capital (HFLC) Fund II. HFLC, based in Paris, is a leading venture capital fund dedicated to health, nutrition, microbiota and digital health.
“We view Seventure as the premier investor in microbiome startups focused on human health and nutrition, and since 2018, ADM has worked closely with the Seventure team to identify opportunities with microbiome solutions that can ultimately help with dietary supplements and food and beverage applications to serve as functional or proactive solutions,” said Darren Streiler, managing director of ADM Ventures. “We believe Seventure can help meet the long-term demand we see as the result of the convergence of food and pharmaceuticals and consumers looking more towards bioactives and nutrition for wellness solutions.”
The microbiome consists of trillions of micro-organisms that reside on or inside the human body. ADM’s primary interest is the vast, complex bacterial ecosystem that lives within the digestive tract and constitutes the majority of every individual’s unique microbiome.
“With a better understanding of how the microbiome ecosystem works, we can develop functional ingredients for dietary supplements and food and beverage solutions targeted to help improve overall health,” Streiler said. “We are focused on looking at new, innovative solutions that can lead to a more balanced bacterial system in your digestive tract, otherwise known as a healthy gut, and can help lead to better health.”
ADM is committed to discovering and leveraging nutritional ingredients that can be used for preventative health, as well as for treating common ailments or even chronic diseases in both humans and animals. The company’s new probiotics production facility in Valencia, Spain – which will significantly increase its post- and prebiotic production capacity – is planned to be online in 2022.
ADM is an established market leader for microbiome solutions, with an award-winning portfolio of products and ingredients, including NutraIngredients’ 2020 ‘Probiotic Product of the Year’, ADM’s Bio-Kult Migréa®; 2020 Ingredient of the Year in the Weight Management category, ADM’s Bifidobacterium lactis BPL1; and the 2020 Editor’s Award winner for Functional Food Innovation, ADM’s Bacillus subtilis PXN®21®, a live microbial strain shown to reduce the aggregation of α-synuclein, paving the way for future research in Parkinson’s disease.
Better Juice plan to go full scale with industrial implementation of sugar-reduction tech within a year
Better Juice, Ltd., the first foodTech startup to develop innovative technology to reduce all types of sugars in orange juice, announces its patent-pending technology is now scaling up. The startup is installing a semi-industrial pilot plant that also will be available for future testing at global partners’ plants. The pilot plant features the company’s sugar reduction process in a continuous flow technology that ensures a consistent, safe, and effective enzymatic process.
Pilot plant (Photo: Better Juice)
Better Juice developed an enzymatic technology that uses all-natural ingredients to convert fructose, glucose, and sucrose into prebiotic dietary fibers and other non-digestible molecules. Better Juice’s new pilot plant system marks a significant milestone in the startup’s commercial scale-up timeline. It is able to reduce up to 80 % of simple sugar in orange juice at a rate of up to 50 liters/hour. Better Juice’s non-GMO technology is designed to target the specific sugar composition in the orange juice to naturally create a low calorie reduced-sugar product that has a delicate sweetness. It is accomplished without using sweeteners or other additives to replace the sugars in the juice.
“We’ve signed collaboration agreements with several global juice producers so far,” reveals Eran Blachinsky, PhD, founder and CEO of Better Juice. “Our goal is to attain full industrial scale and supply to the market within a year. Soon, you will be able to see natural juice beverages with more favorable Nutri-Scores.” Nutri-Score is a new food label system that converts the nutritional value of products into a clear letter and color code on the packaging in Europe.
“Juice and beverage manufacturers are increasingly aware of the need to reduce the sugar levels in their products before new labeling initiative goes into action,” adds Blachinsky. “By using Better Juice technology, this will be easy to achieve.”
Maintaining juice quality through scaleup
The fruit juice industry, like any other, is constantly seeking ways to improve profitability. Adding a new procedure to the juice manufacturing by definition add costs. Better Juice uses a continuous flow technology that will only slightly influence the incremental costs to the overall price.
One of the major hurdles in continuous flow reduction of sugars in natural juices is keeping the process contamination-free even through large-scale production, without damaging the enzymatic activity. Better Juice developed a new device crafted from stainless steel, with aseptic fittings and welding, together with a unique process that guarantees a continuous, safe flow for its enzymatic sugar-reduction process for weeks at a time without interrupting the sterilization stage.
“The scale-up pilot plant is designed for smooth implementation into the standard procedures deployed by the juice industry,” explains Gali Yarom, Partner, COO, and VP of Business Development for Better Juice.
“Better Juice’s new tech process is cost-effective by virtue of its ability to maintain the continuous flow stage,” adds Yarom. “This is a key factor for beverage manufacturers seeking to affordably reduce sugars naturally while maintaining the juice quality and clean label attributes — a real game changer for the juice industry.”
At this year’s Food ingredients Europe & Ni, trade show organiser Fi Global will highlight the most exciting new F&B startups in the Startup Innovation Challenge. Entrants to the competition are invited to apply now, with the winners receiving business advice and coaching from top industry experts.
Innovation is the secret of success in the F&B industry, and nowhere is that more evident than at Fi Europe & Ni. Yet not all startups, no matter how good their offering, have the resources to make a significant impact on the market.
That’s why the Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge aims to provide budding entrepreneurs with a springboard to success by showcasing their innovations, bringing them to the attention of ingredient professionals and potential investors.
Fi Europe & Ni 2019 will welcome more than 30,000 visitors and over 1,700 exhibitors, making it a must-attend trade event for sourcing food ingredients.
All shortlisted young enterprises will have access to a Startup Lounge, situated in the heart of the exhibition. This will give them the chance to network and demonstrate their offering. They will also be invited to pitch their innovation live on 2 December to the expert jury and on 3 December to Fi Europe visitors at Fi Europe’s Industry Insights Theatre.
Top prizes include a fully equipped stand at Fi Europe 2020, a marketing campaign within “Ingredients Network” or access to the “Conciergerie” innovation platform from Startup Challenge Partner Presans.
Startups wishing to enter the competition should be less than 5 years old, have a solid business plan and innovations targeting the food and drink sector, with a focus on ingredients or additives that improve taste, texture, appearance and/or nutritional value, or technologies and/or services that support the sector.
This year’s categories (competitors can enter more than one) are:
Most Innovative Food or Beverage Ingredient
Most Innovative Plant- or Cereal-based Food or Beverage Ingredient
Most Innovative Alternative Food or Beverage Ingredient
Most Innovative Process, Technology or Service Supporting F&B
The judging panel will be comprised of industry experts, investors and company representatives from the food ingredients industry.
Fermented drinks continue to gain traction in the beverages market driven by growing disposable incomes, rapidly evolving lifestyles and health conscience millennial consumers looking for less sugary and low alcoholic beverages, says leading data and analytics company.
According to GlobalData’s ‘Consumer Beverages Influencer Analytics Platform’, beer, wines, sugary drinks and fermented drinks emerged as the most popular trending topics over the last *90 days.
Vaibhav Mathur, Influencer Research Head at GlobalData, says “As calorific soft drinks lose their appeal with health-committed millennials, functional ingredients such as probiotics, vitamins and protein provide opportunities for fermented drinks new product development. Kombucha a fermented tea is rich in beneficial probiotics and is sold as a healthy alternative to carbonated sweetened soft drinks.’’
*last 90 days refers to a timeline from 1st Aug-31st Oct
Judges selected the most promising start-ups – Winners will be announced on 27 November at Hi Europe & Ni
For the third time, trade show organiser UBM is providing a platform for forward-looking industry startups. During Hi Europe & Ni, the Startup Innovation Challenge enables newcomers to present their solutions to a professional audience. If they win, they will receive comprehensive expert coaching and marketing support. This year’s 13 shortlisted companies have now been announced.
The companies will pitch live between 15.45 and 17.30 on Tuesday 27 November 2018, the first day of the show, at the Industry Insights Theatre. The winners of the three categories will receive their awards following the live pitches.
Shortlisted for the category “Most Innovative Healthy Food or Beverage Ingredient”:
FunGeneX/The Netherlands has developed a technology to produce egg white proteins based on sugar from sugar beet. These products fulfill the need for binding proteins that are neutral in colour, taste and smell for vegan applications, while contributing to reduced global warming and animal suffering.
GNUBiotics/Switzerland is a biotech startup active in R&D to reproduce the diversity and complexity of unique structures found in mothers’ milk. It is developing a novel platform for selective microbiota modulation via next generation Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) using up to 130 Microbiota Accessible Carbohydrates (MACs) structures.
Magellan Life Sciences/UK is a synthetic biology company creating novel platforms to produce plant-inspired molecules, such as a natural non-caloric protein sweetener called Brazzein that is inspired by the West African fruit Oubli.
Renewal Mill/USA is upcycling by-products from food manufacturing into high-quality ingredients and finished products. The pilot project is using okara, the soybean pulp generated during soymilk production to create an organic, non-GMO, low-carb flour.
Planetarians/USA makes high protein ingredients from upcycled by-products using patent-pending technology. They add value to overlooked ingredients such as defatted seeds by converting them into a high-protein, high-fibre ingredient, allowing manufacturers to fortify foods. The company’s first product is sunflower chips with more protein and fibre, and less fat than typical potato chips.
Shortlisted for “Most Innovative Plant-Based Finished Product”:
Green Banana Food/The Netherlandsproduces foodstuffs and ingredients from the native cooking green banana, such as a flour that can be used to create high nutrient, low carb, gluten free & high dietary fibre food solutions such as Gabanna pasta.
Jet-Eat Printed Food/Israel is currently developing an animal-free meat with the same appearance, texture, flavour and cooking properties of animal meat, from natural, sustainable and healthy ingredients. Based on 3D printing technology, the company creates meat products with 95 % less environmental impact compared to beef, with zero cholesterol and a lower cost.
Shileo/Germany is an online food start-up that sells konjac rice and pasta meals. These low-cal and low-carb alternatives to normal pasta and rice are suitable for vegans, high in soluble fibre and can help with weight loss.
Shortlisted for “Most Innovative Technology or Service Supporting F&B”:
Ambrosus/Switzerland is a blockchain-powered Internet of Things network for food and pharmaceutical enterprises, enabling secure and frictionless dialogue between sensors, ledgers and databases to optimise supply-chain visibility and quality assurance.
Aryballe/France develops and manufactures bio-inspired odour sensors which detect and identify odours in less than 15 seconds, allowing the food industry to quickly assess the olfactive qualities of materials.
Better Juice/Israel has created a solution for reducing natural sugars in fruit juices. The patent-pending technology harnesses the activity of non-GMO microorganisms to bio-convert sugars to dietary fibres and non-digestible natural molecules.
Embion/Switzerland produces new prebiotic solutions for human, animal and soil microbiome nutrition from agricultural and food processing side-streams. A novel processing technology targets and extracts natural prebiotic ingredients from biomass with lower production costs, higher yield and processing speed than usual.
Nucaps/Spain developed a new nanoencapsulation technology for nutraceutical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses. This encapsulation process, designed for oral delivery and controlled release of bioactives and microorganisms, is based on the use of food proteins such as casein, zein or soya.
Rahul Shinde, Director of Global Open Innovation at Naturex Ingenium, sponsor of the competition, is on the advisory board at the Startup Innovation Challenge. He says: “Through our partnerships we are hoping to provide additional support, guidance, access and resources that can enable these start-ups to succeed. But, ultimately, it’s their product and their vision that will prevail. We really value their time, commitment and desire to bring innovative solutions to the marketplace, and especially innovations focused on plant-based solutions.“
The three winners will get individual advice from one of the judges. In addition, the successful nominees can choose from various special prizes – from a fully equipped stand at Hi Europe or Fi Europe; a marketing campaign within the Ingredients Network; access to the “Conciergerie” innovation platform from Presans; or intensive consultation with Wageningen University & Research. In addition, one startup will be selected by Naturex Ingenium as their special prize winner. This startup will win €10,000 plus a three month business mentorship with the Naturex Ingenium Open Innovation team.
Now accepting submissions for the startup competition at Hi Europe & Ni 2018
As part of Hi Europe & Ni 2018, trade show organizer UBM will showcase some of the most promising startups involved in the F&B industry. Applications for the Startup Innovation Challenge are now being accepted and the most promising concepts will be presented live to a professional audience on the first day of the event. The three winners will receive extensive coaching from recognized industry experts.
Startups often exemplify creative pioneers and outstanding innovations, but young companies sometimes lack the budget and support to make an impact on the market. This is why UBM launched the Startup Innovation Challenge in 2016. It gives founders or small new enterprises the opportunity to reach a broad specialist audience and receive valuable advice. The nominees will present their idea or innovation to a jury of experts on 26 November and at Hi Europe & Ni’s Industry Insights Theatre in Frankfurt (Germany).
With more than 10,000 visitors and more than 500 exhibitors, the show is the central trade event for healthy functional ingredients for the food and beverage industry. All shortlisted startups will have access to a Startup Lounge, situated in the heart of the exhibition, for the duration of Hi Europe & Ni 2018. This provides a perfect opportunity to meet, network and demonstrate their products to this highly relevant and influential group.
Interested startups must enter one of the following categories before Friday 21st Septembers:
Most Innovative Healthy Food or Beverage Ingredient
Most Innovative Plant-Based Finished Product
Most Innovative Technology or Service Supporting F&B.
The three winners will get individual advice from one of the jury members. In addition, the successful nominees can choose from various special prizes — from a fully equipped stand at Hi Europe 2018 or Fi Europe 2019 to a marketing campaign within the Ingredients Network or access to the “Conciergerie” innovation platform from Presans to intensive consultation at Wageningen University & Research.
To apply, companies should be less than 5 years old and have a solid business plan. The submission must focus on an exceptional new product or service that promotes health and, ideally, already exists as a prototype or service model.
