CSM GROUP WILL BE SUPPORTING PARTNER OF THE EUROPE’S LARGEST GATHERING OF CLIMATE AND FOOD INNOVATORS THROUGH ITS INCUBATOR PROGRAM “GENERATE”, WHICH HAS ALREADY STARTED SUPPORTING THE INNOVATIVE INGREDIENT STARTUPS INGREDIOME, DAIRYX AND POLOPO.
June 3rd, 2024 – CSM Group – a global player in research, innovation and production of food ingredients comprising of both CSM Ingredients and HIFOOD and part of the Ingredient-Tech Platform – will participate as supporting partner to the HackSummit, Europe’s largest gathering of climate and food Builders, Investors, and Limited Partners, which will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland, on June 13th and 14th.
The summit’s aim to “redefine our future” is perfectly aligned with CSM Group’s incubator of ingredient startups and food concepts, Generate. Recently launched, Generate aims to pave the way in promoting a more sustainable paradigm for startups in their early-stages, by offering R&D expertise, application opportunities, cutting-edge facilities and commercial support through 12-18 month programs customized for each startup based on their needs. “Generate is the cherry on the cake of the Open Innovation approach embraced by our whole Ingredient-Tech Platform, which combines internal capabilities with external knowhow to advance ingredients, safeguard human wellbeing, enhance sustainability and deliver great taste to consumers” – explained Aldo Uva, CSM Collective CEO.
By leveraging strategic partnerships with extremely innovative and young companies through Generate, CSM Group is indeed able to evolve even further its leading-edge capacity to develop solutions able not only to fulfill but also to anticipate customer needs, with the aim of enabling taste and nutrition for a new world.
"We are excited to be supporting partners of such a dynamic, unique event as the HackSummit, where we will be able to meet not only the most disruptive startups in the sustainable food ecosystem but also like-minded industries and forward-thinking investors." Explained Christian Sobolta, CSM Group Managing Director “We recently launched Generate, our incubator of ingredient startups and food concepts, because we believe startups have a pivotal role in driving innovation and pushing boundaries within the food value chain. Thus, we created this program specifically to support young innovators in validating proofs of concept, finding the perfect root to market and having actual access to the business networks”.
The Summit will be a great opportunity not only for CSM Group to meet new innovators and explore cutting-edge ingredient concepts, but also to present the first startups that have already joined the Generate program. The three startups - which were selected in collaboration with the Open Innovation Partner URIKA Partners based on a number of criteria, such as the level of innovative technology, the presence of synergies, and the impact of a potential support by CSM Group – are:
- Ingrediome, which creates animal proteins by leveraging the power of the fastest-growing photosynthetic microorganisms on the planet. Generate will support Ingrediome by deepening the technological potential of the solution and working on the conjoint development of next generation Plant Based Meat Alternatives, as well as providing commercial guidance in tackling the market and side by side assistance when it comes to regulatory and safety requirements.
- DairyX, which creates animal-free and clean-label dairy products using functional milk proteins made in yeast through precision fermentation. Generate will support DairyX in providing similar texture, taste and nutritional content to cow milk by leveraging CSM Group’s extensive expertise in the Dairy Alternatives segment, which covers Yoghurt applications, Non-dairy Creams, Ice Cream & Cheese alternatives.
- PoLoPo, which uses metabolic engineering and molecular farming in order to recreate egg protein (ovalbumin) from potato crop. Generate will support PoLoPo in exploring all of the possible properties this egg-free solution could have in baking, including foaming, gelation and water binding functions, as well as providing side by side assistance when it comes to process optimization, regulatory and safety requirements.
Representatives of these startups will also join the talk “Inspiring the Future of Ingredients: Leading the Sustainable Food Evolution through Generate, CSM Group’s Startup Program” which will be organized by CSM Group at the HackSummit on June 13th at 1.30PM in the Climate Lab. During this session, Christian Sobolta will discuss how young startups can be supported and why they are key for the future development of the F&B sector together with: Uri Weinheber, Manging Partner URIKA Partners; Ilanit Kabessa, Managing Partner URIKA Partners; Itai Cohen, CEO Gavan, Maya Sapir-Mi, CEO PoLoPo.
The Generate program is now open for applications to all ingredient startups via the dedicated page on the CSM Ingredients website: csmingredients.com/international/en_en/our-platform/generate
