Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOPT20240916010
- Term of Validity
- 16 September 2024 - 16 September 2025
- Company's Country
- Portugal
- Type of partnership
- Investment agreementResearch and development cooperation agreementCommercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
-
The PT SME is a private start-up with a pilot plant offering product development in partnership with R&D entities and pilot scale and small run production.
The company is interested in partners to:
- Test products for potential consumption
- Jointly develop new products
- Offer ingredient development know-how
- Interested in selling our products
- Plant/Spice/Encapsulating agent suppliers
The company is looking for commercial, investment and R&D cooperation agreements. - Full Description
-
The primary focus of the PT SME has been in the development of a salt reduction ingredient extracted from aromatic plants and spices, then encapsulated and spray-dried, offering a finished product in powder form that can be used to directly replace salt in a manufacturing process. Formulas have been developed over the past 3 years, moving from a laboratory environment to pilot production. Variables of these formulas have been tweaked to adjust release and facilitate solubility depending on application. Tests have indicated its ability to reduce sodium content from 30% to 50% depending on the application, whilst contributing to improve aroma, taste and natural preservation. The product has been tested in meat, fish, fish sausages and canned fish, sauces and biscuits with positive results. The encapsulated product makes it easy to dose, ensure uniformity, anti-oxidant capacity and improve shelf-life.
The company is currently adding new products designed to offer similar benefits when it comes to aromas.
Encapsulating agents have been researched and tested to offer best yields, encapsulation requirements such as temperature resistance and solubility in both water and oil-based mediums.
This product is available for demonstration and the company is looking for partners to take the product to the commercial stage, by commercial, investment and R&D cooperation agreements. Potential partners are:
-Food Manufacturers seeking to reduce sodium content, add aromas and functional characteristics
-Potential development partners
-Clean Label manufacturers. - Advantages and Innovations
- Approaches to salt reduction have generally been addressed by replacing part of the sodium chloride with minerals salts like lithium, potassium, or ammonium chloride. Others have added organic salts such as acetate, glutamate, or citrate. Non-mineral compounds have also been used, including amino acids and flavour enhancers like yeast extracts, aromatic plants and spices. There is no question that salt is key to flavour, texture, preservation and consumer appreciation. This approach is plant based, but rather than using them in their natural state, we extract natural flavours, oleoresins and essential oils which we encapsulate to ensure retaining maximum aroma, microbiological stability improving shelf-life and plant characteristics, whilst easing dosing, transport and storage.
- Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureGoal 3: Good Health and Well-being
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
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The company is looking for public or private partners for the following potential roles:
a) R&D: The company is open to hearing from potential R&D partners of any size or sphere that can contribute to the development of a product range that has synergies with their manufacturing processes. The company has no preconceived ideas of how this could be structured and moulded but would obviously seek a win-win solution.
b) Commercial: The company is interested in being contacted by potential partners that are interested in exploring the possibility of selling our products, just as they are interested in potential suppliers of raw materials.
c) Investment: R&D is capital intensive, just as launching new products can be and they appreciate that this could become a limiting factor and are obviously interested in pursuing discussions with anyone interested in investing in our space, as an investment or as a consequence of potential synergies and interests between their activity and the company activity. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME <=10Big companyUniversityR&D InstitutionSME 50 - 249SME 11-49
- Type of partnership
- Investment agreementResearch and development cooperation agreementCommercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 08002003 - Safe production methods
- Market keywords
- 07003002 - Health food
- Targeted countries
- All countries