FDBusiness.com

Tate & Lyle, the global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage and other industries, has signed an agreement with Nandi Proteins, a spin-out of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, to develop an early-stage protein ingredient technology for use in the food texturants space.

The agreement grants Tate & Lyle an exclusive worldwide licence for the technology for food and beverage use while Nandi Proteins retains the rights to develop the technology for other applications such as pharmaceutical. Tate & Lyle will be responsible for developing and in due course commercialising the technology including its manufacturing, applications development, sales and marketing.

Tate & Lyle’s partnership with Nandi Proteins was delivered through its Open Innovation team which is part of its Innovation and Commercial Development group. Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation team leverages its global network to develop partnerships with universities, research institutes and start-ups specialising in food science with the aim of commercialising their technologies and bringing new products to market.

John Stewart, Open Innovation Manager at Tate & Lyle, says:: “We look forward to further developing Nandi’s food ingredient technology which has the potential to be an excellent addition to our texturants offering. This agreement represents another example of Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation team successfully developing strong, mutually beneficial partnerships with early-stage companies.”

Mike Brennand, Executive Chairman of Nandi Proteins, remarks: “Our agreement with Tate & Lyle is a powerful validation of Nandi’s approach of developing partnerships with major food industry players. Tate & Lyle’s technical resources and global customer reach combined with our technology make this a ‘win-win’ partnership and we look forward to a long and successful partnership in the years to come.”