SINGAPORE – Givaudan and Bühler announced the opening of the APAC Protein Innovation Centre in Singapore on April 26. The Protein Innovation Centre, located at the Givaudan Woodlands site, is jointly run by both companies with the goal of encouraging plant-based product development on a global scale. The Centre will combine the pilot technology of Bühler’s extrusion and processing equipment with Givaudan’s new culinary facilities. It will be open to food processing companies, start-ups and university researchers.

“We are proud to be part of a partnership that will contribute towards a sustainable food future for Singapore and the APAC region,” said Monila Kothari, APAC president, Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing. “Through the Protein Innovation Centre, we aim to create an eco-system that supports start-ups and food businesses in an environment of co-creation. The centre will provide them access to the expertise, networks and technology required to create authentic plant-based protein alternatives that meet consumer needs and expectations. By bringing flavour solutions that are vegetarian, vegan, plant-based and natural, as well as technologies such as wet extrusion to Singapore and the region, we are helping to make plant-based foods more delicious, authentic and accessible to business and consumers.”

The Innovation Centre will feature a pilot-scale wet and dry extruder, a state-of-the-art product development kitchen, storage facilities, meeting amenities and a viewing area where visitors may tour the 400-square-meter (4,300-square-foot) facility and view live demonstrations. The facility was constructed to showcase the end-to-end process of plant-based protein production. Businesses who utilize the center can develop plant-based products at scale.

“The Protein Innovation Centre that we open today with Givaudan at the core of Southeast Asia’s vibrant food ecosystem, is a step toward achieving our vision of a collaborative and sustainable future of food,” said Ian Roberts, chief technology officer at Bühler. “The Protein Innovation Centre will not only enable the development of more plant-based protein products across Asia, it will also ensure delicious products can be scaled to the production volumes required to create a positive environmental impact on our food chains.”

Businesses interested in learning about collaboration opportunities can learn more at www.givaudan.com/apac-pic.