News

Firmenich sponsors marine symposium

13 May 2016

Building on what the company says is its focus to shape winning solutions for its customers, Firmenich was recently the sole sponsor of a symposium dedicated to sharing the latest science and research around the health benefits of marine proteins and peptides.

Building on what the company says is its focus to shape winning solutions for its customers, Firmenich was recently the sole sponsor and co-organiser of a symposium in Norway dedicated to sharing the latest science and research around the health benefits of marine proteins and peptides. Hosted by Legasea Biomarine Cluster, a consortium of Norwegian companies dedicated to biomarine science and technology, the event gathered more than 100 scientists in Ålesund, Norway, a centre for biomarine ingredient production.

“We have entered a new era in the world of food and beverages where innovation and foresight are required more than ever to meet the needs of our customers,” said Chris Millington, President of the Flavor Division. We are committed to putting our innovation to work so that sustainable sources of protein, including bio marine ingredients, can play an important role in helping our customers meet the growing demand for health and wellness products.”

Underpinning the importance of the event, the Crown Prince of Norway kicked-off the symposium with a speech on the need to provide quality nutrients, in particular biomarine ingredients, to meet the needs of a growing world population in a sustainable manner. Vinita Bali, Chair of the Board of Directors’ Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), discussed in her keynote the critical need to rethink the nutrition challenges and how fish can be at the centre of innovative food solutions, given the potential of fisheries to provide improved access to proteins and key micronutrients.

For decades, the Firmenich Seafood facility in Ålesund, Norway, has been processing approximately 10,000 tons of seafood raw materials annually to create seafood extracts and flavours for its food and beverage customers worldwide. Through what it describes as sophisticated biotechnological processes, Firmenich converts the raw material, which is largely side-streams from the seafood industry, creating a sustainable value chain for these flavours. In recent years, the company says it has been exploring ways to further extract value from this process, and in doing so, has developed natural food ingredients derived from marine protein, which the company plans to commercialise in the coming year.