During the Fi Europe Innovation Award Ceremony, which took place on the first day of the world's leading ingredients trade show Fi Europe, co-located with Hi Europe, in Frankfurt, six companies received a coveted award recognizing their achievements. The previous day, all 19 finalists presented their entries to the expert jury chaired by Prof. Colin Dennis. The Fi Europe Innovation Awards recognize outstanding achievements in the food and beverage industry. This year's winners address current consumer trends with their solutions - from gut and immune health, to naturalness and sustainability.
During the ceremony at the Innovation Hub, which was also streamed live online, Prof. Colin Dennis and Julien Bonvallet, Brand Director, Fi Europe, presented the Fi Europe Innovation Awards to the following winners:
Clean Label & Natural Innovation Award: Bunge Loders Croklaan (The Netherlands) for Karibon, a 100% shea-based cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) that combines all the processing benefits and versatility of leading CBEs with the nutritional and sustainability benefits of shea
Food Tech Innovation Award: Chr. Hansen A/S (Denmark) for its FreshQ® food cultures, enabling fermentation-based biological protection against yeast and molds without undesirable sensory effects and acidity development, thus helping producers to naturally prolong shelf-life and quality
Health Innovation Award: NutriLeads (The Netherlands) for BeniCaros™, a proprietary ingredient for immune health that has been clinically proven to support and optimize immune function, and response
Plant-based Innovation Award: DSM (The Netherlands) for Maxavor® Fish YE, a natural fish flavour derived from algal oil for producing authentic fish alternatives, including vegetarian fish nuggets and vegan fish sauce
Sensory Innovation Award: AAK (Sweden) for AkoBisc® GO!, a biscuit fat that is low in saturated fatty acids and free from tropical fats, offering a unique sensory biscuit quality with a crunchy bite, no fat bloom and no discoloration over time
Sustainability Innovation Award: Fonterra Cooperative Group/NZMP (New Zealand) for taking action on climate change by recently launching its first carbonzero™ certified ingredient – Organic Butter
