Tetra Pak has opened its pilot New Food Technology Development Centre in Karlshamn, Sweden.
The center was established to support manufacturers of biomass- and precision fermentation-based food products with their technical processes and provide guidance from experts and manufacturers. It is available to companies of any size, from start-ups and scale-ups to mature companies seeking to investigate new food categories. The first customers have already signed up at the center.
Observing that investment in this industry is getting harder to find, Tetra Pak has leveraged its experience in equipment solutions and product development to make sure that the new centre will be able to help resolve problems with profitability.
Whether applying fermentation to design functional ingredients or designing for direct end-use, for example, meat and fish substitute food products, development experts at Tetra Pak New Food Technology Development Centre are able to assist food manufacturers in their development objectives.
Based on coherent market insights, the food and beverage processing equipment sector will expand at a 5.7% CAGR during 2025-2032. Market size is USD 72.13 Bn in 2025 and is expected to expand to about USD 106.39 Bn by 2032. Market size is based on increasing automation as well as technology-driven equipment development.
The official opening took place on 13 June, when the ribbon was formally cut by Tetra Pak's executive vice president for processing solutions and equipment, Charles Brand. He guided visitors through a tour of the plant, where the visitor was offered taste tests of products already on the drawing board.
Brand stated: "While others in the industry are retreating, we are advancing, and Tetra Pak New Food Technology Development Centre is our biggest investment to date in fermentation-derived foods. We recognize the imperative to create New Food sources to nourish a growing world, yet we know that expanding New Food products is a leap of faith.
The centre provides two programmes to food manufacturers. These are the Process Evaluation programme, for companies that are poised to transition from laboratory-scale production to demo scale or want more efficient processes for commercial-scale production.
The second programme, Productivity Validation, aims to assist established production process companies wanting validation and enhancement of their process performance.
The Technology Development Centre also enables food manufacturers to work with other Tetra Pak product development centers in Lund to attain desired food functions and properties, pilot test various end-product formulations, and build brand or product identity to formulate a successful go-to-market strategy. This close working together can accelerate time-to-market and enhance process efficiencies.
The brand went on to say: "We understand food. We understand equipment. Start-ups are having trouble with taking production to the food-scale, and we understand how to do it using our deep food production knowledge and development centre network to aid our customers in scaling from prototypes to manufacturing lines.
New Food innovation shouldn't be aspirational; it's about bringing practical solutions that can get food onto store shelves globally today."
Source:
Ecommerce PLatform: FOODBEV MEDIA Ltd.
Company: Tetra Pak
