Page 15 - AWA Vol.37 No.4

FOOD PRODUCTS & PROCESSING EQUPMENT

Winning the battle in Ethiopia and Somalia, we are still
With these operations, the scale of not yet at the end of the upsurge,” says
the Desert Locust invasion has vast- Cyril Ferrand, FAO’s Resilience Team
ly diminished in Ethiopia, Kenya and Leader for Eastern Africa.
Somalia. In East Africa locust control “We are now in the middle of the
operations have prevented the loss rainy season and although rainfall has
of 4 million tonnes of cereal and 800 been below average, conditions are
million litres of milk production, while becoming more favourable for Desert
protecting the food security of 36.6 mil- Locusts to breed. It is paramount to
lion people and avoiding $1.56 billion maintain a high level of surveillance”
in cereal and milk losses. The threat has also diminished in
“While the situation has improved, Yemen, but small swarms have recent-
with few swarms remaining in Kenya ly appeared in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon
and less numerous and smaller swarms and Syria.
Circle 15 on enquiry card
GIVAUDAN AND BÜHLER OPEN PROTEIN

INNOVATION CENTRE IN SINGAPORE

Givaudan, a global leading company develop high-quality products suita- based foods more delicious, authentic,
in Taste and Wellbeing, and Bühler, ble for Asian culinary applications at and accessible to business and con-
global leader for food processing scale. The facility can produce up to sumers. We are excited to open our
solutions, today jointly announced 40 kilograms of plant proteins an hour Centre in Singapore, a country that is
the official opening of the APAC Pro- and features dry extrusion, as well as a hot bed for FoodTech Innovation.”
tein Innovation Centre. Located at the a newer wet extrusion technology that Ian Roberts, Chief Technology Of-
Givaudan Woodlands site in Singapore, delivers a fibrous structure more akin to ficer at Bühler, says: “Great tasting and
the Protein Innovation Centre is jointly muscle, and higher protein content as sustainable protein alternatives are an
run and supported by experts from both compared with dry extruded products. important contributor to feeding 10 bil-
companies and is connected to a vast Monila Kothari, APAC President, lion people sustainably by 2050. The
network of R&D innovation centers in Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing, says: changes that need to happen to our
Switzerland and key hubs across the “We are proud to be part of a partner- protein value chains prior to that are
region that enables agile plant-based ship that will contribute towards a sus- so deep, they can only be achieved if
product development on a global scale. tainable food future for Singapore and the various partners of the food eco-
The Protein Innovation Centre in the APAC region. Through the Protein system start working together today.
Singapore welcomes food processing Innovation Centre, we aim to create an The Protein Innovation Centre that we
companies, start-ups and university re- ecosystem that supports start-ups and open today with Givaudan at the core
searchers from across the Asia Pacific food businesses in an environment of of Southeast Asia’s vibrant food ecosys-
(APAC) region keen to co-create plant- co-creation. The Centre will provide tem, is a step towards achieving our vi-
based food experiences that do good them access to the expertise, networks sion of a collaborative and sustainable
and feel good. The Centre combines and technology required to create au- future of food. The Protein Innovation
the pilot technology of Bühler’s extru- thentic plant-based protein alternatives Centre will not only enable the devel-
sion and processing equipment with that meet consumer needs and expec- opment of more plant-based protein
Givaudan’s new culinary facilities and tations. By bringing flavor solutions that products across Asia, it will also ensure
its world-leading expertise in flavor, are vegetarian, vegan, plant-based and delicious products can be scaled to the
taste, ingredient, and product devel- natural, as well as technologies such production volumes required to create
opment. as wet extrusion to Singapore and the a positive environmental impact on our
Outfitted with a pilot scale wet and region, we are helping to make plant- food chains.”
dry extruder, a state-of-the-art product
development kitchen, storage facili-
ties, meeting amenities and a view-
ing area where visitors may tour the
400-square-meter facility and view live
demonstrations, the Protein Innovation
Centre is constructed with the end-to-
end process of plant-based protein pro-
duction in mind. Businesses will also
benefit from support throughout the
co-creation process, from raw mate-
rial selection to product development
and research, to application, flavor
science, extrusion, and consumer
testing. At the Centre, customers can
Circle 16 on enquiry card
Vol. 37 No. 4 13