Bühler and Givaudan, a global leader in flavors and fragrances, have partnered to accelerate market access for food start-ups in Switzerland. The aim is to support start-ups which offer solutions that deliver safe, affordable, nutritious and delicious food that, if scaled globally, will contribute to feeding 10 billion people by 2050.

Through this new partnership, Givaudan and Bühler aim to intensify access to knowledge, capabilities and global platforms for food start-ups, by hosting and mentoring entrepreneurs at their respective, newly-opened world class innovation centers in Switzerland. By offering their expertise in complementary areas, Givaudan and Bühler hope to provide all the support a start-up needs to scale-up and commercialize new solutions.

Of particular interest, are solutions in the fields of alternative proteins, sustainable animal feed, food safety, food fraud, authenticity, natural ingredients for food applications (colors, preservatives), flavors, nutrition (particularly fiber, sugar, fat and salt reduction), ingredients with proven health and nutrition benefits, and gentle processing.

Bühler’s Chief Technology Officer, Ian Roberts, said that the Búhler’s recently inaugurated innovation campus, the CUBIC, complements the new Givaudan’s Zurich Innovation Center. “With our global presence, sales networks, digital platforms and brand strength we are convinced that, together, we can offer an unrivalled scale up partnership for start-ups. We consider that Switzerland can be a global leader in the food and agricultural space and we see this latest collaboration as an example of how we can achieve this.”

This is the latest in a series of collaborations between the two Swiss companies. Givaudan and Bühler are also both founding members of MassChallenge Switzerland, the successful start-up accelerator in Renens, partners in the EIT Food Accelerator Network and, with EPFL, ETHZ and Nestlé, partners in the Future Food Initiative.