Evolva and Cargill partner on new fermentation-derived ingredients project

19-Jan-2015 - Last updated on 20-Jan-2015 at 15:29 GMT

The companies have been tight-lipped about the details of the deal - but they say it underlines their confidence in fermentation for ingredient production

Swiss firm Evolva Holding and Cargill have signed an agreement to co-develop a “sustainable, customisable, and cost-effective fermentation production process” to produce new food and beverage ingredients.

Evolva and Cargill already have been working on a joint development programme for fermentation-derived steviol glycosides, the sweet components of the stevia leaf, since March 2013, and Evolva says the new ingredients would be unrelated to stevia.

The companies intend to share costs to employ five to seven researchers in the initial phase of the collaboration, which is imminent, according to investor relations officer Paul Verbraeken.

CEO of EvolvaNeil Goldsmith said in a statement: “Obviously, signing a second product collaboration agreement with Cargill—just under two years after starting our stevia collaboration with them—speaks to the confidence that both companies have about the fermentation route of production for a wide variety of functional ingredients. We are pleased that our relationship with Cargill continues to deepen.”

Verbraeken told FoodNavigator that Evolva could not give further details of the potential ingredients "due to competitive reasons".

He said that projects of this kind generally took three to five years from the initial phase to the introduction of new ingredients on the market.