BÜHLER AND PARTNERS OPEN TROPICAL FOOD INNOVATION LAB IN BRAZIL

Bühler, Cargill, Givaudan, the Institute of Food Technology (Ital), and the FoodTech HUB Latam jointly announced the opening of the Tropical Food Innovation Lab, an innovation ecosystem for the development of sustainable food and beverages focused on promoting Brazilian biodiversity. Equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure, the innovation centre is in a 1,300 square meter area within Ital’s premises in Campinas, São Paulo. The Tropical Innovation Lab is the result of a consortium formed by the three founding companies with the FoodTech HUB Latam and Ital, one of the leading public research institutes in Brazil.

The hub's infrastructure includes small-scale processing lines in the pilot plant, equipped with state-of-the-art wet and dry extrusion systems for plant-based proteins, application and analysis laboratories, and a cutting-edge experimental and demonstration kitchen. In the interaction areas, there is a coworking space for creative workshops and pitching. With that, companies, food engineers, nutritionists, chefs, mixologists, and other professionals can come together and push innovation. In the second phase, a beverage processing unit will add complementary resources to Ital's existing facilities.

With more than 20% of the planet's plant biodiversity, spread across six major biomes, and a food industry that historically accounts for 10% of GDP, Brazil is among the largest global producers and exporters of grains and protein. “This innovation ecosystem, not by chance located in Campinas, a reference city for technology in Brazil, brings together the intellectual, technological, scientific, and creative power to establish the best connections and solutions for the food chain. It also contributes to Brazil's prominence, which is already a global exponent," emphasizes Paulo Silveira, the visionary and manager behind Tropical, as well as the founder and CEO of FoodTech HUB Latam.