PetFood PRO 4/2024

MARKETING

Meet the Finalists of the 2024

Fi Europe Innovation Awards

by Niamh Michail, Head of Publishing, Informa Markets

Fi Europe has announced the finalists of this year’s Innovation Awards. Find out which companies and

organizations made the cut thanks to their efforts to make food and drink products healthier, more

sustainable, and more delicious.

The Fi Europe Innovation Awards celebrate

the people, companies, and organizations

breaking new ground in the food and drink

industry and are a chance for the winners

to receive the recognition they deserve

for their achievements. The finalists across

the nine categories highlight the diversity

of the food industry itself, ranging from

large multinationals to small startups and

contract research organizations.

The panel of judges, composed of

esteemed industry professionals, will

rigorously assess each nomination in

the nine categories behind closed doors

during Fi Europe and winners will be

announced at the prestigious Innovation

Awards ceremony on 19 November in

Frankfurt during Fi Europe.

The judging panel, chaired by Prof. Colin

Dennis, Chair of the board of trustees at

IFIS and the British Nutrition Foundation

(BNF), comprises Michael Adams, Head of

product innovation at Campden BRI; João

Brites, Director of growth and innovation

at HowGood; Nicolas Bordenave, Research

director at INRAE, Sandra Einerhand,

Nutrition science consultant at Einerhand

Science & Innovation; Ian Healey, Editorial

director at Dr. Harnisch Publications;

Nick Henson, Food product developer; V.

Krishnakumar, Managing director at Giract;

Efi Leontopoulou, Manager of scientific

and regulatory affairs at EAS Strategies;

and Rosemary Maguire, Managing director

at Essence.

The finalists of the Fi Europe 2024

Innovation Awards are listed below,

according to category:

Dairy Alternative Innovation

Award

This award recognizes an organization

or company that has developed the best

plant-based dairy alternative ingredient, or

application based on a plant-based dairy

alternative ingredient, in terms of sensory

and physical properties or application

costs.

ChickP Protein with its entry “ChickP

Cracked The Code for Dairy alternative

applications”, a protein that demonstrates

high solubility, great flavor, and

performance in non-dairy applications.

KMC with its entry “Unlocking stretch in

plant-based cheese with new ingredient

from KMC”, a potato starch-based solution

for plant-based cheese that offers a long,

thick stretch that stays stable across a wide

temperature range.

Bunge with its entry “Bunge’s Beleaf

Plantery: a sustainable, versatile, and

unique fat system to replace dairy fat”,

a plant-based ingredient designed to

replace anhydrous milk fat (AMF) partly or

fully based on shea, coconut, and rapeseed

oil, matching the melting behavior and

structuring properties of AMF.

Royal Avebe with its entry “The Plantbased

Yogurt: TEXTURE takes center stage

with PerfectaSOL D600”. PerfectaSOL

D600 is a texturizer derived from

sustainable potato protein and starch

that delivers a similar eating experience to

traditional yogurt, offering full mouthfeel

and creaminess.

Diversity & Inclusion Innovation

Award

This awards an organization or company

for creating a work environment that offers

equal opportunities for all employees,

irrespective of their gender, race, religious

background, sexual orientation, and

physical or mental ability. This award

is open to non-exhibiting companies,

organizations and associations, as well as

exhibiting companies.

Agronutris with its entry “Shared

governance, enabling diversity and

inclusion”, its organizational system

where governance is shared among all

employees. It has launched an emotional

intelligence training program for all and

it pays particular attention to gender

equality and pay equity. It has also set up

a hiring system which promotes diversity.

Roquette with its entry “Women@

Roquette”, its internal network for gender

diversity that plays a key role in promoting

diversity and inclusion at every step of the

employee journey, from recruitment and

onboarding to training and development,

leadership or career management.

Ingredion with its entry “Women of

Ingredion Network”, an inclusive network

that empowers BIPOC, white, LGBTQIA+

women, and women with disabilities,

along with their allies (including men and

non-binary individuals) to realize their full

potential.

Food Manufacturing Award

This award recognizes an organization or

company that has developed innovative

food manufacturing or packaging

equipment which improves the

manufacturing efficiency, reduces waste

and/or enhances product safety.

Nutris with its entry “Fava bean processing

in Nutris”. Based on licences for patented

mild processing of various crops into

high-value plant-based food ingredients,

it was developed at the University of

Copenhagen.

Planteneers with its entry “Steak 2.0:

Plant-Based Meat Alternatives With a

Layer of Fat and Marbling”, its functional

systems from the fiildMeat and fiildTex

series and Handtmann’s technology that

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Technology & Marketing