Europe is at the forefront of the second edition of Mondelēz International's CoLab Tech accelerator programme, representing seven of the ten selected companies.
Companies selected for this year's programme represent technologies that can help advance the future of snacking in areas such as cocoa processing solutions, well-being snacks and ingredients, more sustainable packaging and manufacturing, and elevated sensory experiences, the company noted.
Ian Noble, vice president for global ingredient research and development at Mondelēz International, stated, “As one of the world’s largest snack companies, we are thinking creatively – including by seeking access to the newest technologies – to be ready and able to meet the opportunities we see coming in snacking.
“This year’s CoLab Tech cohort brings exciting, disruptive technologies across the entire value chain.”
European Participants
Among the seven European companies, three are from Sweden, and one each from Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany.
The three Swedish companies include Enginzyme, a maker of ‘gut-friendly sugar’ that lowers overall sugar content and calories without compromising the taste and texture of food products; Enjay, specialising in recovering and recycling waste heat generated by manufacturing facilities, restaurants and other exhaust sources; and Yangi, a sustainable packaging startup.
Other companies include Spain's Bread Free, which has developed a technology that neutralises gluten in wheat flour to deliver the same experience as mainstream baked goods and snacks; and Netherlands' Outlander Materials which has developed a technology that upcycles food industry waste into a flexible, lightweight packaging alternative to single-use plastics.
Also selected is Germany's hs-tumbler GmbH, the creator of a ‘new age industrial mixer’ that offers a faster, gentler and highly efficient way of stirring, rolling and mixing ingredients without a stirrer; and Switzerland's Tasteomics, the maker of 'Peakaroma' – a plant-based product with no inherent off-flavours that takes the Kokumi flavour and sensory experience to new levels.
Non-European Companies
The accelerator programme will also include US-based Savor, which has developed a technology capable of producing fat and oil using 1,000 times less energy than commodity agricultural production to deliver net-zero, deforestation-free fats.
Rounding of the ten companies are two from Israel: Kokomondo, which uses cell-cultured technology to navigate supply chain challenges by creating real, controlled, climate-resilient cocoa; and Luminescent, a clean energy start-up has developed a thermodynamic cycle that uses liquid instead of gas to improve the efficiency and economics of heat-to-electricity and electricity-to-heat conversion.
