Bühler and Givaudan partner to support start-ups in Switzerland

Bühler and Givaudan have joined forces to accelerate market access for food start-ups in Switzerland.

By offering knowledge in complementary areas, the Swiss companies hope to provide all the support a start-up needs to scale-up and commercialise disruptive new solutions.

Bühler and Givaudan aim to intensify access to knowledge, capabilities and global platforms for food start-ups by hosting and mentoring entrepreneurs at each of their newly opened innovation centres in Switzerland.

Of particular interest are solutions in the fields of alternative proteins, sustainable animal feed, food safety, food fraud, authenticity, natural ingredients for food applications (colours, preservatives), flavours, nutrition (particularly fibre, sugar, fat and salt reduction), ingredients with proven health and nutrition benefits, and gentle processing.

“As part of our strategy of collaborative innovation, we are delighted to partner with Bühler to help food start-ups succeed in bringing to market solutions that address our global food challenges,” said Fabio Campanile, Givaudan head of flavours science and technology.

“Our brand new Zurich Innovation Centre provides the perfect environment for outstanding start-ups to collaborate and access Givaudan’s world-leading technology, expertise and capabilities.”

Bühler chief technology officer Ian Roberts added: “Our recently inaugurated innovation campus, the Cubic, with collaboration spaces, laboratories and technology and scale-up facilities complements the new Givaudan facility.

“With our global presence, sales networks, digital platforms and brand strength, we are convinced that, together, we can offer an unrivalled scale-up partnership for start-ups. We consider that Switzerland can be a global leader in the food and agricultural space and we see this latest collaboration as an example of how we can achieve this.”

In May, Bühler inaugurated its Cubic innovation campus Uzwil, which houses eight application centres, including areas focused on chocolate, coffee, bakery, nutrition, grain and pasta.

Givaudan opened its flagship innovation centre in Kemptthal last month, which is used for accelerating innovation in flavour, taste and fragrance solutions.