Mondelez unveils latest batch of budding snacking enteprises for its CoLab Tech accelerator scheme
The Mondelez stand at Sweets & Snacks expo. Pic: Neill.Barston
Some of the brightest budding international industry talents within the snacking category are being given a key opportunity, as Mondelēz International selects ten fresh companies for its second CoLab Tech accelerator initiative, writes Neill Barston.
As the company explained, this year’s cohort represents technologies that can help advance the future of snacking in areas such as cocoa processing solutions, wellbeing treats and ingredients, more sustainable packaging and manufacturing, and elevated sensory experiences.
The global snacking giant has made significant investment into meeting demand for better-for-you product categories, which is reflected in its latest choice of emerging enterprises that it is hoping to foster, and potentially support into the future.
Development of innovative technologies is important as consumers increasingly prioritize snacking. Mondelēz’s 2024 State of Snacking Report revealed that, over the last five years, six in 10 consumers increasingly prefer snacks to traditional meals. With demand for snacking anticipated to continue to grow, new and innovative technologies are important catalysts to help maintain and drive continued growth. CoLab Tech was created to help Mondelēz advance its “Vision 2030” growth agenda by identifying emerging technologies with new capabilities and helping accelerate and scale those technologies for possible future use by the company in its mission to lead the future of snacking.
“As one of the world’s largest snack companies, we are thinking creatively – including by seeking access to the newest technologies – to be ready and able to meet the opportunities we see coming in snacking,” said Ian Noble, Vice President for Global Ingredient Research & Development at Mondelēz International. “This year’s CoLab Tech cohort brings exciting, disruptive technologies across the entire value chain. We are very eager to work with and learn from them, while also providing the resources and expertise that can help enable them to grow and scale.”
This year’s CoLab Tech program received nearly 100 applications from all over the globe. The 10 companies selected include:
Bread Free: This Spain-based company developed technology in the gluten free category that essentially neutralizes the gluten in wheat flour to deliver the same eating experience as mainstream baked goods and snacks, but without gluten.
Enginzyme: This Sweden-based creator of enzyme-enabled biomanufacturing processes is developing a sustainable and cost-efficient method of making a prebiotic trisaccharide, or ‘gut-friendly sugar’ that can lower overall sugar content and calories without compromising the taste and texture of food products.
Enjay: This Sweden-based company is the first in the world to create a system that can recover and recycle waste heat generated by manufacturing facilities, restaurants and other exhaust sources, and then re-introduce it into the production cycle as a new energy/heating source that also lowers CO2 emissions.
hs-tumbler GmbH: This Germany-based company has created a ‘new age industrial mixer’ without stirrer that is a faster, gentler and highly efficient way of stirring, rolling and mixing ingredients. Utilizing ultrafast micro-batches it can be programmed to deliver personalized, consistent, smooth end products.
Kokomodo: This Israel-based company uses cell-cultured technology to navigate supply chain challenges by creating real, controlled, climate-resilient cocoa. This allows cocoa to be consistently produced year-round and anywhere in the world without relying on specific climates.
Luminescent: This Israel-based clean energy start-up has developed a thermodynamic cycle that uses liquid instead of gas to dramatically improve the efficiency and economics of heat-to-electricity and electricity-to-heat conversion. Luminescent’s suite of solutions includes a heat engine that converts heat into zero-emission electricity, a heat pump, and long-duration energy storage.
Outlander Materials: This Netherlands-based company has created a technology that upcycles food industry waste into a flexible, lightweight packaging alternative to single-use plastics. The company’s product, “Unplastic,” is compostable, toxin free and has a 70% lower carbon footprint than conventional films.
Savor: This United States-based company’s technology can produce fat and oil using 1,000 times less energy than commodity agricultural production, and at economic parity with the production of tropical oils such as coconut and palm. Savor’s process can deliver net-zero, deforestation-free fats.
Tasteomics: this Switzerland based company has created “Peakaroma” – a plant-based product with no inherent off-flavors that takes the Kokumi flavor and sensory experience to new, novel levels. Kokumi enhances the intensity and mouthfeel of basic tastes – and Peakaroma can take that beyond the current levels with the added potential of reducing MSG, fat and calories.
Yangi: This Sweden-based sustainable packaging start-up uses a proprietary technology called Cellera to convert cellulose pulp into 3D molded products. By using no added process water and less energy, Cellera can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 70% compared to traditional packaging solutions.
The cohort will participate in an 8-week curriculum that includes hands-on experiences, virtual sessions, 1:1 mentorship and access to Mondelēz International’s global network of partners and experts.
