FIRST Solution Exchange Profiles
SUPPLIER PROFILES
Solution Exchange suppliers share information on some of the products and services they will be featuring at IFT’s FIRST (Food Improved by Research, Science & Technology) digital experience. The Solution Exchange Platform will enable innovators and influencers to identify and meet with experts who can provide customized solutions to product development challenges. More information on the Solution Exchange is available here.
Ardent Mills
www.ardentmills.com
Contact: Lindsay Routt, [email protected]
Specializes in: Grains, Pulses, Plant-based Options, Organic, and Sustainability
Ardent Mills’ in-house innovation, R&D, and insights teams are developing the next generation of ingredient solutions. Recently, the teams released ingredients that align with the interest in plant-based foods, organic, specialty grains and pulses, and gluten-free, such as the company’s Keto Certified Net Carb Flour Blend and the acquisition of substantially all the business operations of a leading player in the chickpea space, Hinrichs Trading Company.
Ardent Mills has developed a core set of insights, Drivers of Innovation, that enable the company to work with consumer interests, including owning your health, the wholesome story, eating for good, modern traditions, and convenience without compromise. With options that support sustainable foods, local farmers, and healthy dining choices, these insights influenced ingredient launches in the past year. Ardent Mills is also actively investing in sustainable solutions for the future of food and expanding projects in regenerative agriculture.
Cargill
www.cargill.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Sweeteners, Texturizers, Fats and Oils, Cocoa and Chocolate, and Salt and Sodium Reduction Ingredients
Cargill helps customers meet today’s challenges, leveraging its consumer insights, broad ingredient portfolio, state-of-the-art technologies, and deep expertise to solve problems and support innovation. In 2021, Cargill expanded its ingredient toolbox, with label-friendly solutions like SimPure tapioca starches.
Sustainability also remains a key focus. For North American brands with sustainability goals, Cargill offers segregated RSPO-certified palm oil, adding to its portfolio of fully traceable ingredients. The company is also bringing greater transparency to other supply chains.
Cargill continues to invest in other resources to support customer innovation, from proprietary research, like its ChocoLogic survey on consumer attitudes toward chocolate, to its expanded North American Pilot Development Center, which will allow its edible oils business to create custom oil blends and shortenings that are rapidly tested, delivered to customers, and added to the company portfolio.
Ciranda Inc.
www.ciranda.com
Contact: [email protected], 888.329.3577
Specializes in: Certified Organic, Non-GMO, and Fair Trade Ingredients; Tapioca and Rice Syrups; Gluten-free Flours and Starches; Cocoa and Chocolates; Coconut Products; RSPO-IP Sustainable Palm Oils; and Lecithin
Ciranda’s mission is to inspire change by supplying the highest quality certified organic, non-GM, and fair trade food ingredients. Products featured at IFT FIRST include organic cassava flour, a mild-flavored flour that has become the gold standard for gluten-free snack and breading manufacturers. Cassava flour is produced in Brazil using roots harvested from small farmers who benefit from free agronomy training, bulk seed assistance, and fair minimum pricing policies.
Organic pea flour will also be exhibited. Produced in Europe from the heirloom brown pea as part of a sustainable farming system, it contains native protein and starch and is available in a 15% or 50% protein variety. Pea flour improves the nutritional quality of bakery and snack products and has powerful emulsification properties for plant-based products.
Curion
www.curioninsights.com
Contact: Madeline Leuby, [email protected]
Specializes in: Brand/Product/Service Launch; Consumer, Legal, Package, Product, Market, Sensory, and International Research; Product Testing; Interviewing; Qualitative Services
Curion provides world-class quantitative and qualitative product insights. Applying proven industry-leading, innovative methods, Curion works with its clients to determine not only what products consumers like but why they are liked and how.
Curion’s Digital Solutions allow for rapid, iterative consumer research that is in-context. Solutions are designed to be used alone or in combination with other methodologies to provide deeper, more robust insights.
What makes Curion different?
Innovation: The company combines expertise and creativity in product research and consumer understanding.
Cost & Agility: Though world class, Curion is also realistic with budgets, applying creativity that comes from having deep capability and speed of implementation.
Talent: Curion’s scientific and marketing professionals teach, publish, and speak as experts in the field.
Database & Recruiting: API partnership allows for micro-recruiting and hard-to-fill quotas.
Edlong
www.edlong.com
Contact: [email protected], 847.631.6700
Specializes in: Dairy, Dairy-based, and Dairy-free Flavors
With Edlong, dairy flavors can provide a plant-based masking solution. As the only flavor house focused exclusively on replicating the authentic taste of dairy, Edlong is also among the first to innovate plant-based dairy solutions—long before they became the megatrend that they are today. Whether customers are looking to create authentic dairy taste, improve mouthfeel, or simply neutralize the off-notes that are intrinsic to plant-based applications, Edlong brings over a century of experience and expertise to provide the solution. The company’s global team of flavor and application experts is uniquely qualified to accelerate commercialization, match leading brands and regional profiles, and tackle even the most difficult product development challenges. Come see Everything Dairy Can Be for your masking needs by visiting www.Edlong.com or virtually at IFT FIRST.
Evonik Corporation
www.silica-specialist.com
Contact: Michael Phillips, [email protected]
Specializes in: Spices, Powdered Drinks, Free-flowing Powders, Powdered Milk, Non-dairy Creamers, and Carried Flavors
Caking and lumping can create serious problems for powdered food products during production, processing, storage, and customer use. Evonik Silica has solved these problems for many customer applications with its line-up of high-performing silica and silicate products.
Evonik’s ZEOFREE, ZEOLEX, and SIPERNAT silica and silicates provide consistent metering, increased production throughput, improved product quality and consistency, and increased satisfaction to customers’ powdered products.
ZEOFREE 600 LA is Evonik’s new high-performance anti-caking agent for the global food and nutrition industries. ZEOFREE 600 LA is a label-friendly calcium silicate designed to protect products from moisture and solve the most difficult clumping problems due to its unique combination of high absorption capacity, small particle size, and micro-porosity.
Florida Food Products
www.FloridaFood.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Natural Food Protection and Performance Ingredients, Teas, Coffee, Botanicals, and Juice Concentrates
Florida Food Products’ (FFP) purpose is improving the food we eat and drink by producing real ingredients from nature. The company’s portfolio includes natural meat cures and phosphate alternatives, brewed teas, herbals, coffee, and high-quality vegetable juice concentrates and powders, all made in facilities in Florida and Georgia. FFP takes pride in careful sourcing and respect for raw ingredients during processing.
Please join the FFP team for a sponsored IFT FIRST educational session, “Understanding Tea—Varieties from Around the World.” Learn about the varieties of teas and herbals, where they are grown, and how they are produced. From green and black tea to yerba mate, each tea and herbal offers a unique taste profile and appearance while delivering diverse functionality.
FFP, in every action, is committed to Real, Simple and Better.
GELITA
www.gelita.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Collagen Protein Ingredients: Gelatin and Collagen Peptides
Collagen proteins are the hottest ingredient in the market. GELITA will present the advantages of formulating with gelatin and collagen peptides in an on-demand education session. Formulators of protein bars will want to learn about PEPTIPLUS, developed to enable superior protein bar texture and to lift the protein content of bars over 60%.
GELITA added IMMUPEPT to its Bioactive Collagen Peptides. IMMUPEPT features optimized peptide profiles for stimulation of the collagen-rich connective tissues involved in the immune response. Other specialized collagens include VERISOL for beauty from within, FORTIBONE for bone health, FORTIGEL for mobility of joints, TENDOFORTE for tendons and ligaments, and BODYBALANCE for body toning.
GELITA’s Fast Forward Process technology offers a special gelatin, enabling a starch-free production method, creating a cleaner working environment, accelerating production from two days to less than two hours, and facilitating fortification in the gummy production process.
Genus
www.genusplc.com
Contact: GenusR&[email protected]
Specializes in: Breeding, Innovations, Technology, Genetics, DNA, Reproductive Biology, and Protein
Genus is a world-leading animal genetics company that has been supporting farmers around the globe for almost 100 years. Genus breeds pigs and cattle with desirable genetic traits and also supplies genetics that help farmers of all sizes produce meat and milk more efficiently and sustainably to help feed the growing global demand for protein. Genus is at the forefront of applying new ideas by using gene editing, advanced reproductive biology, and other breakthrough breeding technologies to help the global food system continue to be healthy and sustainable. The R&D team of nearly 400 employees is passionate about creating healthier animals, more affordable proteins, and ultimately, a sustainable food system.
Hanna Instruments
www.hannainst.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Analytical and Scientific Instruments
Hanna Instruments USA is excited to announce the promotion of Shayla Franks to food and beverage segment leader. With her customer-first mindset and passion for food quality and safety, she will play a critical role in driving Hanna’s growth and success in the food and beverage market segment.
Franks brings 10+ years of industry expertise, six of which were with Hanna Instruments USA. Her strong sales and applications background, as well as her comprehensive technical knowledge of Hanna’s product line, make her the perfect fit for this position.
Prior to joining Hanna, Franks worked as a bench chemist and metals analyst at an environmental testing lab. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2011 with her Bachelor of Science in biological science and environmental horticulture.
Hazelnut Growers of Oregon
www.hazelnut.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Hazelnuts
As the country’s premier hazelnut processer, Hazelnut Growers of Oregon (HGO) can satisfy manufacturers’ requirements for hazelnut products, including, but not limited to, whole kernels, diced, sliced, meal, butter, and paste. HGO can meet specific customer requirements with regard to pasteurization, size, and roasting levels.
HGO is uniquely positioned to provide high-quality, low-cost products due to the vertical integration from farm to table. The company’s customers support American family farms and future generations with every purchase of hazelnuts.
HGO recently developed a line of chocolate-coated hazelnuts with flavors including Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Marionberry Chocolate, and Skinny Chocolate. In addition, HGO has a line of seasoned hazelnuts including Sweet & Spicy BBQ, Southwest Chili Pepper, Cinnamon Sugar, Rosemary, and Himalayan Salt.
HGO focuses on providing high-quality products and food safety. It is the only hazelnut processor in North America that has achieved SQF Level 3 certification.
Hormel Ingredient Solutions
www.hormelingredientsolutions.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Fully Cooked Meats, Stocks & Broths, Savory Fats, Puddings, Gelatins, and Peanut Butter
Hormel Ingredient Solutions is dedicated to helping prepared-food manufacturers turn their concepts into winning creations. With a broad portfolio of high-quality protein ingredients and a team of industry experts, Hormel Ingredient Solutions can help customers give their products a competitive edge. Whether it’s breakfasts, entrees, desserts, or snacks, Hormel Ingredient Solutions has the resources and innovative ideas needed to make products stand out in today’s marketplace.
IFPC
www.ifpc.com
Contact: Renee Famula, 314-771-2100 ext. 1295, [email protected]
Specializes in: Specialty Ingredients, Custom Ingredient Blends, and Core Commodity Ingredients
International Food Products Corporation (IFPC) released LegacySWEET, a complete assortment of sweetener ingredient blends, including sucralose, sugar replacers, and sugar reducers. IFPC’s R&D team identified the benefits of a variety of sweeteners. Blending at appropriate ratios to create harmony and eliminate off-notes, IFPC’s scientists work with flavors, maskers, and texturizers to modify the taste. The sweetener systems use technology that makes products more appealing to the end consumer. The ingredients in the LegacySWEET brand are designed to help manufacturers get new products to shelf faster, with greater ease, and are easily converted to a custom blend. Email [email protected] for more information.
Ingredion Incorporated
www.ingredion.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Plant-based Proteins; Clean and Simple Ingredients; Sugar Reduction and Specialty Sweeteners; Starch-based Texturizers, Food Systems, and Hydrocolloids; and Fruit and Vegetable Concentrates and Purees
Ingredion offers agile collaboration, deep formulation expertise, and a broad portfolio of in-demand ingredients, as well as market research and consumer insights. Ingredion collaborates with customers to drive growth and bring visions to life, efficiently and effectively—constantly reimagining how to help customers realize the next big opportunities. Customers can look to the future with confidence, whether taking on a new food or beverage formulation or reformulating a current offering. Rely on Ingredion’s formulation, technical, and scale-up expertise at every step. The Ingredion team is here as an indispensable partner.
Jungbunzlauer
www.jungbunzlauer.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Citrics, Gluconates, Lactics, Special Salts, Sweeteners, Biogums, and Citrate Salts and Esters
Bake the right way, with healthy and sustainable ingredients from Jungbunzlauer. The company offers fermentation-based ingredients that help overcome hurdles in the development of clean label, reduced sugar, and plant-based snacks and baked goods. Jungbunzlauer ingredients make it easy to create better-for-you snacks that meet consumer expectations.
Jungbunzlauer’s innovative recipes target free-from bakery formulation trends. Consumers pay closer attention to cleaner labels for healthy enjoyment without a guilty conscience. Natural and alternative preservation ingredients are in focus for baked goods. Growing health awareness and increased intolerances within the population are creating a demand for reformulation of many bakery products to provide healthier and tailored solutions.
Learn more about Jungbunzlauer’s sustainable, healthy offerings into the world of baked goods at IFT FIRST.
Nestlé Quality Assurance Center (NQAC) Dublin
NQACDublin.com
Contact: Amy Bethel, [email protected], 614.526.5200
Specializes in: Food Safety & Quality Assurance Services: Chemistry/Microbiology Testing, Nutritional Labeling, Chemical Contaminants, Pathogen Detection, Cooking Instructions Validation, and Shelf-life/Challenge Studies; Allergen Testing; and Foreign Body Investigations
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all set of instructions for every product or even similar ones; a small difference still requires validation. Validating cooking instructions is an essential part of ensuring the safety and quality of the food consumers eat. Different types of products require instructions specifically designed to ensure thorough heating. As part of the cooking instructions validation process at NQAC Dublin, if instructions fail, the team will trial different conditions and temperatures to suggest a way forward, all while keeping in mind the sensory attributes that are appealing to the customer. The Nestlé Quality Assurance Center can create a project to design instructions for a newly developed product. The company’s prepared food experience is vast and can meet needs throughout the product development process.
Nitta Gelatin NA, Inc.
www.nitta-gelatin.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Confectionary Gelatin, Collagen Peptides, Hydrolyzed Gelatin, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Replenwell Collagen Peptides, and XactSet Gelatin for Gummies
Founded in 1918, Nitta Gelatin continues its legacy as a trusted supplier of versatile, leading-edge gelatin and collagen ingredients. The company’s global Wellnex collagen peptide portfolio features a wide range of solutions for the food, pharmaceutical, and dietary supplement industries.
Wellnex introduces Replenwell, the company’s most advanced collagen peptide ingredients; they are clinically proven to support key health benefits, including youthful skin, flexible joints, and metabolic balance. Patented and performance-optimized using proprietary processes, Replenwell are highly functional ingredients containing up to 30 times more bioactive dipeptides proline-hydroxyproline “PO” and hydroxyproline-glycine “OG” than standard collagen peptides, and are designed specifically for use in nutraceutical and functional food and beverage applications. Replenwell ingredients offer significant clinical results with as little as 2.5 g daily for four weeks. Visit https://wellnex-collagen.com/replenwell/ to learn more.
Perkin Elmer
www.perkinelmer.com
Contact: Kevin Tyburski, [email protected]; 203-895-2609
Specializes in: Testing Equipment
Food companies and their suppliers work diligently to ensure the safety and quality of their products and brands. From detecting harmful levels of toxins, heavy metals, and pesticides, to ensuring accurate labeling and compliance with regulations around the globe, they rely on Perkin Elmer’s solutions.
Perkin Elmer provides reliable analysis solutions for evaluating the quality of raw materials prior to food processing as well as measuring for targeted nutritional content, maintaining standards for flavor and aroma, sustaining consistency, and understanding how packaging affects food.
The company offers the full range of systems and analysis for the accurate measurement of functional parameters in food and feed. Solutions range from the internationally standardized method for sprout damage detection, the Falling Number system, to the world standard for gluten quantity and quality determination, the Glutomatic system. Perkin Elmer provides texture analyzers, moisture meters, and a portfolio for functional testing in food.
PROVA
www.provaus.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Sweet Brown Extracts and Flavors
PROVA has been an innovator in “sweet brown flavors” for 75 years. As a global manufacturer of premium vanilla, cocoa, coffee, and caramel, the company offers extracts and flavors suitable for all types of food and beverages, including dairy, bakery and confectionery, and nutraceutical applications. PROVA’s fair trade, sustainable solutions range from masking, to sugar-free, to keto—all designed to meet the high demands of today’s consumers.
PROVA works collaboratively with customers to create new flavors, pursue ideas, and formulate groundbreaking products. The company is focused yet flexible, small but mighty. PROVA possesses the entrepreneurial can-do, team-playing spirit of a startup, and the resources of an extensive network that can be put to work. Since 1946, PROVA has remained proudly and humbly independent, small enough to care, large enough to offer the global support customers need.
Sunsweet Ingredients
www.sunsweetingredients.com
Contact: Kim Kennedy, [email protected]
Specializes in: Bakery, Confection Ingredients, Fat Replacers, Dietary Fiber, Flavor Enhancers, Fruits, Humectants, and Preservatives
Packed with antioxidants, fiber, desirable acids, and sorbitol, ingredients from Sunsweet Ingredients work in a range of applications. The company’s plum-based ingredients can help clean up labels, reduce sugar, and add moisture in everything from baked goods and new bar concepts to low-sugar sauces, marinades, and poultry and meat products. Sunsweet Ingredients also has had recent successes with plant-based proteins. Whether customers are looking to fix off colors and flavors, find alternatives to artificial ingredients, or boost flavor without additional sugar and sodium, Sunsweet Ingredients offers solutions.
Sweegen
www.sweegen.com
Customer Contact: Katharina Pueller, Sr. Director Business Development, North America
Specializes in: Product Formulation and Ingredient Innovations for Sugar Reduction
Reimagine a new world of wellness with products that are better for you because they have less sugar. Reducing sugar using taste modulation strategies can be an effective way to reduce sugar by up to 40%. Sweegen has a diverse, nature-based taste modulation portfolio of patented flavors that are non-GMO, clean label, and globally approved. Taste modulation flavors can be tailored to the customer’s application. The company’s portfolio enables precise control of sweetness, bitterness, linger, mouthfeel, and astringency.
Sweegen offers clients access to its regional Innovation Studios where customers can co-create and innovate on site with a proprietary toolkit of taste modulators, nature-based sweeteners, and innovative functional ingredients. State-of-the-art equipment and on-site sensory and consumer insight facilities help bring bold ideas to life.
Learn about Sweegen’s proprietary line of taste modulators and Signature Stevia portfolio, which offers zero calorie, nature-based sweetness solutions.
U.S. Soy
www.qualisoy.com
Contact: [email protected]
Specializes in: Fats, Oils, and Proteins
Companies looking to showcase their commitment to building a more sustainable future will value the recent launch of U.S. Soy’s Sustainable U.S. Soy Mark. The mark recognizes U.S. grown soy ingredients as sustainable inclusions for food production. By labeling products featuring soy ingredients with the Sustainable U.S. Soy Mark, companies are recognizing that the soybeans originated from a system of continuous environmental impact, showcasing supply chain transparency of ingredients to help the organization meet its sustainability goals.
U.S. Soy continues to be a resource for fats, oils, and plant-based protein needs. From top-performing high oleic soybean oil to a complete source of protein, U.S. soy provides companies with functional and sustainable ingredients grown by U.S. farmers for a wide variety of applications. Visit QUALISOY.com/sample to test a soy solution today.
Van Drunen Farms
www.vandrunen.com
Specializes in: Fruit, Vegetable, Herb, and Specialty Ingredients
As farmers since 1856 and food processors for over 50 years, Van Drunen Farms knows what it takes to produce the highest quality ingredients for product success. Van Drunen Farms develops premium fruit, vegetable, herb, and specialty ingredients customized to meet the specific needs of its customers. The company’s specialty processes include freeze-drying, drum-drying, and individually quick freezing of organic and conventional products.
Van Drunen Farms is vertically integrated from field to finished product, offering a complete and consultative approach. The company is focused on growing, manufacturing, and creating great-tasting whole food ingredients that provide value to applications, from food and beverage products to pet food and treats.
In-house processing limitations should not slow down business or limit products. Van Drunen Farms offers custom solutions so customers can focus on what they do best. Whether it is drying product, customizing a new formulation, or blending ingredients, Van Drunen Farms can help.
Wacker Chemical Corporation
www.wacker.com/food
Contact: Deborah Schulz, [email protected]
Specializes in: Amino Acids, Bakery Mixes, Dairy Ingredients, Products, Dietary Fiber and Prebiotics, Egg Replacers, Emulsifiers, Surfactants, Masking Flavors, Savory Flavors, Foaming Agents, Nutraceuticals, and Health-promoting Ingredients
Consumers are driving the “free-from” trend to protect their health, animals, and the environment. Wacker offers innovative food solutions to address these market requirements. With its emulsifying and structure-building properties, CAVAMAX W6 enables replacement of egg in bakery products and plant-based milks to become foamy barista toppings. Moreover, this multifunctional ingredient helps to create heat-stable icings without trans fat. Vegetarian savory flavors and efficient dough softening are possible with Wacker’s vegan L-cysteine.
Wixon
wixon.com
Contact: Lorie Tremble, [email protected]
Specializes in: Custom Seasoning Blends, Custom Flavors, Taste Modification, and Flavor Technology
Maintain flavor and aroma with Wixon’s newest flavor technology—FlavorFresh SR.
Taste is the most important factor for consumers in selecting food and beverages. That’s why FlavorFresh SR was designed to ensure consistent flavor and aroma delivery in even the most challenging processing conditions. Providing stable flavor and aroma is vital not only for consumer acceptance and loyalty, but also for sustaining product integrity and brand.
Available in both vanilla and maple flavors, FlavorFresh SR is a cost-effective solution, offering superior flavor and performance. The proprietary encapsulation of this free-flowing, water-soluble powder provides even distribution in blends and prevents flavor and aroma “hot” spots in finished applications.
Contact Wixon for more information or to request a sample.