MAMAY Technologies
Yuval Klein, founder of sugar reduction start-up BlueTree Technologies as well as MAMAY Technologies, an IT company that offers technology for the digitisation of taste, odour, and texture to food and beverage companies, says the food digitisation revolution is here – but still lacks a language for taste, odour and texture.
Machines will need to know what each individual’s taste preferences are and then match between the knowledge and food or beverage attributes. How do you teach a machine “very sweet, please”, “moderately spicy”, and “I’ll have mine super strong”? Through a universal language, it understands.
Klein has long been trying to recreate a beverage with the ‘right’ balance between bitterness and sweetness and says he has recently found more time to dedicate to this project.
Starting with the digitisation of sweetness, the start-up uses laboratory equipment to conduct physical and chemical testing on food or beverage products. The tests analyse these products’ molecules.
Understanding the impact of these molecules – and their impact on taste and smell when combined – allows MAMAY to objectively map their sweetness profile.
The company recently launched its first software as a service (SaaS) platform designed to provide an ‘objective simulator of product taste, odour, and feel’. The platform can quantify the impact of sweetness based on more than 70 eligible sweeteners in food and beverages, he recently explained to our sister title foodnavigator.com.
And sweetness is ‘just the beginning’, he explained. The startup has already partnered with businesses working in water, coffee, milk, and tea categories, which can use the platform to determine the taste of their own product, as well as that of their competitors.
His insights outside of the confectionery category will be of use to the next generation of innovators and it will be interesting to hear how Klein’s thoughts on how chocolate and candy companies can adopt new technology.
MycoTechnology
MycoTechnology says it is ‘standing on the brink of a sweet revolution’, having discovered a sweet protein derived from honey truffle. “Proteins are widely recognised as the future of sweeteners,” says MycoTechnology CEO Alan Hahn.
Fungi-based ingredients supplier MycoTechnology has already introduced a significant innovation to the natural sweetener market with the discovery of a sweet protein derived from honey truffle.
Hahn will inform our webinar subscribers how, by leveraging proprietary fermentation technology, the company believes it can produce the ‘clean’ high-intensity natural sweetener with an expected cost-in-use competitive with sugar.
“We are currently optimising and scaling up the manufacturing process while continuing to work on new food and beverage applications for our honey truffle sweetener,” he said.
Bellis Food Solutions
Michelle Schwenk, owner of Bellis Food Solutions, has been described as a ‘brilliant scientist’ by one of her peers in the industry and has extensive experience in ingredient research, product development, and candy chemistry. Michelle’s friends in the industry lovingly call her ‘Dr Sugar’ – and, with over 27 years of industry experience, there are few who can match her technical knowledge of carbohydrates, including hydrocolloids, starches, fibres and sweeteners.
Her experience goes well beyond confections and includes meat, dairy, bakery, extrusion and beverages. Her experience and education help her understand what is happening on a structure-function level, resulting in more accurate formulas and competent troubleshooting.
Michelle has worked in emerging markets of nutritional extracts, pre and probiotics, upping the level of nutrition and wellness in traditional foods. She is published and has several patents to her name.
Webinar when and where:
- Confectionery News’ Sweetest Innovation webinar will be broadcast live on:
- WEDNESDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER, 2023
- START TIME: 4:30 PM CEST (PARIS)
- DURATION:60 MINUTES
- Register for this free webinar today and listen in live or on demand after the event. For more information, please click here.