News

Meet the finalists of the Fi Europe Innovation Awards 2026

Which companies made the shortlist of the Fi Europe Innovation Awards 2026? Read on to find out who will be competing to win first prize in each category in November.

Open to exhibiting companies and organisations at Fi Europe, the Fi Europe Innovation Awards are an opportunity for the food and beverage ingredient industry to celebrate R&D breakthroughs, sustainability initiatives, game-changing ingredient launches, and more.

Winners are selected by a jury panel and will be announced at a ceremony during Fi Europe in Frankfurt on Tuesday, 17 November 2026.

The jury panel for the Fi Europe Innovation Awards is composed of renowned industry experts who meet every year to examine the merits of each entry before picking a winner.

The 2026 jury panel is composed of: Professor Colin Dennis, chair of the board of trustees, IFIS; Barbara Bray, food safety and nutrition consultant, Alo Solutions; Efi Leontopoulou, manager of scientific and regulatory affairs, EAS Strategies; Ian Healey, editorial director, Dr Harnisch Publications; João Brites, director of growth and innovation, HowGood; Nick Henson, freelance food product development consultant; Dr Philip Spratt, product and ingredient development team lead, Campden BRI; Sandra Einerhand, nutrition science consultant, Einerhand Science & Innovation; and Dr V Krishnakumar, president, Giract.

Read on to learn more about the finalists of the Fi Europe Innovation Awards 2026.

Alternative Protein Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company that has developed the best alternative protein ingredient (eg from a plant, fungal, algal, microbial, insect source), or an application based on an alternative protein ingredient, with respect to sensory and functional quality, bioavailability, and/or application costs.

Bunge for PurePro® Soy Protein Concentrate, a breakthrough alternative protein that the company claims solves three of the biggest challenges with plant proteins today: off-flavours, dull colour, and high cost. Analytical testing showed meaningful reductions in key compounds linked to undesirable flavours, while trained sensory panels confirmed a superior clean-tasting profile vs conventional soy protein concentrates. By delivering an ultra-clean taste and very light appearance while maintaining the nutritional benefits of soy protein, PurePro® helps manufacturers create better-tasting, more affordable high-protein products.

dsm-firmenich for Vertis™ TVPs with ModulaSENSE®, innovative texturised pea proteins with advanced, natural, receptor-based taste modulation integrated directly during extrusion. Combining texture and taste innovation in a single ingredient, Vertis™ TVPs with ModulaSENSE® address key industry barriers to growth: delivering the taste and texture consumers genuinely enjoy and want to come back for. By reducing characteristic beany and bitter off-notes at the source, they provide a cleaner taste canvas for formulators to create more desirable flavour profiles in plant-based and hybrid meat products.

Lallemand Bio-Ingredients for Engevita® HiPRO Beyond, which enables high-protein hybrid foods, desserts, and specialised nutrition products with unprecedented sensory freedom. Its neutral flavour, nutritional quality, and ease of use help formulators achieve protein levels beyond market standards while maintaining authentic taste and desirable texture. Proven in delicate applications such as hybrid dairy panna cotta, it delivers over 14g of protein per serving without disrupting texture formation or flavour release, and creates entirely new opportunities for protein enrichment in categories previously considered challenging for traditional protein ingredients.

Dairy Alternative Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company that has developed the best plant-based dairy alternative ingredient, or application based on a plant-based dairy alternative ingredient, in terms of sensory and physical properties or application costs.

KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA for the KWS Proteomex® Platform, with pea genetics specifically tailored for dairy alternative applications, addressing key challenges such as off-flavours, colour, and functionality. By integrating plant breeding, genomics, food science, and sensory analytics, desirable product attributes are built directly into the raw material from locally sourced German peas. This product combines excellent sensory performance with regional sourcing, organic production, and reduced supply chain complexity, demonstrating tangible value from seed to shelf.

Nourish Ingredients for Creamilux®, a breakthrough plant-based dairy alternative ingredient designed to deliver the taste, mouthfeel, and functionality of full-cream dairy without the animal. Creamilux® replicates the distinctive properties of dairy fat in a simple drop-in format. Validated applications show Creamilux® can simplify formulations, reduce saturated fat, and remove dairy-derived ingredients while maintaining an authentic full-cream experience.

Food Manufacturing Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company that has developed innovative food manufacturing or packaging equipment that improves manufacturing efficiency, reduces waste, and/or enhances product safety.

GOPACK for the Flexivent Block Bottom Bag, which features a special ventilation system that allows excess air to escape after sealing, without any product loss. As a result, the package volume is optimised and product quality is maintained during transport and storage. The packaging is fully customisable to customer specifications and made of 100% polyethylene (PE), making it recyclable.

Spectral Blue Technologies for the Multi-Wavelength, High-Intensity (MWHI®) antimicrobial blue light (aBL), which provides touch-free, chemical-free, UV-free, and non-thermal microbial reduction in meat and fish processing environments. It delivers continuous protection for slicing machines, conveyor systems, and whole rooms where moisture and food residues can promote microbial growth.

Future Foodtech Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company that has developed an innovative processing or bioprocessing technology solution or service, including the application of artificial intelligence, 3D printing, or robotics, which has the potential to improve the production, the functionality, sensory properties, and/or cost of food ingredients.

Arborea for the BioSolar™ Leaf, the world’s first “breathing cultivation” system. The system uses CO2 from any industrial source and sunlight as unlimited feedstocks to grow microalgae, which enables the large-scale cultivation of any nutrient-rich microalgae on non-fertile land, with minimal freshwater use. The result is a scalable, climate-resilient technology that delivers valuable ingredients while avoiding deforestation and biodiversity loss.

dsm-firmenich for Maxiren®EVO, a breakthrough coagulant enzyme designed to transform cheese production. Maxiren®EVO is engineered with cutting-edge fermentation technology and targets alpha s-1 (αs1) casein via a highly specific mode of action to deliver better texture and flavor development, improved yields, and increased processing flexibility. Maxiren®EVO helps cheesemakers tackle modern-day hurdles with one solution.

Ferm Labs for its Precision AI-guided Bioprocessing platform, which directs natural multi-stage fermentation with precise process control. Kokumesan is the platform’s flagship ingredient launch: an all-natural kokumi flavour builder that enables food manufacturers to reduce raw cheese inclusion from 20% to under 1% while delivering full aged-cheese profile, rich mouthfeel, and an unprecedented 75% reduction in cost-in-use.

MOA Foodtech for transforming underutilised agricultural byproducts into high-value functional ingredients through a proprietary biomass fermentation platform. By converting low-value side-streams into sustainable, protein-rich, and functional ingredients for food, feed, and pet food applications, MOA helps reduce waste, lower environmental impact and strengthen food system resilience. The technology delivers scalable, non-GMO, and non-novel food solutions.

Health Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company for the development of the best ingredient, application, and/or service in terms of proven contribution to gut, immune, cognitive, emotional, or physical health.

Botanic Healthcare Pvt for CornFit™, a patented, plant-derived functional ingredient developed from Stigma maydis (corn silk), an underutilised agricultural byproduct, to support physical health through improvements in body composition and metabolic health. Scientifically validated through preclinical and clinical research, CornFit™ has demonstrated significant benefits in humans across key physical health, weight management, and metabolic health parameters, including a 47.5% increase in GLP-1 levels.

FrieslandCampina Ingredients for Social Protein, which combines 10g of whey with 5g of prebiotic GOS in a tasty, refreshingly light, alcohol-free drink, creating a brand-new category for functional beverages. Designed to help healthy habits extend into social occasions, this concept puts the fun into functionality combining nutrition with refreshment, taste and connection.

Wecare Probiotics Co for Weizmannia (Bacillus) coagulans BC99, a carefully selected, human-origin, spore-forming probiotic strain with a highly competitive combination of clinical substantiation, processing resilience and formulation versatility. Supported by more than 20 clinical studies and 30 SCI-indexed publications, Weizmannia (Bacillus) coagulans BC99 has been studied across digestive, metabolic, immune, emotional and physical health. By combining broad health potential with reliable performance in diverse food matrices, Weizmannia (Bacillus) coagulans BC99 expands consumers’ opportunities to obtain viable probiotics through familiar everyday foods.

Pet Food & Nutrition Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company that has developed the best ingredient or application specifically for the pet food and nutrition category in terms of sensory and physical properties or application costs.

ADM for its PRIOME® Oral Care (OC) postbiotic, which is advancing pet oral care through a novel, microbiome-focused approach. Featuring the heat-treated strain Lactiplantibacillus plantarum CECT 9161, PRIOME® OC was specifically selected for its ability to help reduce dental plaque formation, support healthy teeth, and aid in balancing the oral microbiota.

Bene Meat Technologies for Coolty Meat, which transforms cultivated protein from an experimental ingredient into a complete commercial wet dog food. Developed by FORZA10, part of Nasta Pet Food, with BeneMeat as technology partner and ingredient supplier, its monoprotein formulation contains 26% cultivated meat and is designed particularly for dogs with food intolerances.

BENEO for its faba protein concentrate, BeneoFeed FB P60 (P60), which offers a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to animal blood plasma (ABP) in wet pet food. Trials in wet pet food loaves demonstrated that P60 can partially or fully replace ABP, without significantly affecting product appearance or texture, while providing stronger binding properties than pea protein concentrate.

Plant-Based Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company that has developed the best plant-based ingredient, or application based on a plant-based ingredient, in terms of sensory and physical properties or application costs.

Botanic Healthcare Pvt for Guarsol™, a patented, 100% water-soluble dietary fibre derived from guar beans, offering a neutral taste and no colour for versatile use in food and beverage applications. Through the patented Dietary Fibre Stabilized (DFS™) Technology, Guarsol™ has been innovatively applied in liposomal formulations, where its incorporation during manufacturing supports liposome formation and enhances particle size, dispersibility, and stability.

GNT Group for GNT’s patented stabilisation technology, which unlocks the industrial potential of spirulina to deliver natural blue shades in beverages. Spirulina is the best-established natural blue worldwide, but its phycocyanin pigment rapidly denatures, aggregates, and precipitates under typical beverage processing and storage conditions. Through controlled complexation with λ-carrageenan, GNT’s technology enables the spirulina to withstand acidification, pasteurisation, and extended storage.

Roquette for a product to be announced shortly.

Zentis Fruchtwelt & Co for its first bake-stable popping bobas for bakery applications. These liquid-filled pearls are mixed directly into muffin or cupcake doughs and remain fully intact through baking, delivering a surprising burst of flavour in the finished baked good, and enabling savoury highlights inside sweet products. Thanks to their fully plant-based formulation, the bobas integrate seamlessly into vegan and plant-based bakery recipes.

Sustainability Innovation Award

This award recognises an organisation or company for a measurable supply system that demonstrates environmental, economic, and/or socially sustainable practices in the food and beverage industry.

Beyond Oil for its patented food-grade technology transforming how frying oil is managed in foodservice. By targeting and reducing degradation compounds generated during repeated frying, Beyond Oil helps operators maintain better oil quality and frying performance while reducing oil consumption and waste. The solution requires no new equipment, capital investment, or changes to existing kitchen workflows.

LÍPIDOS SANTIGA for its Sustainable Coconut Oil Project, which transforms responsible sourcing into impact at origin. Working with local partners and coconut-growing communities, LIPSA combines end-to-end traceability, international sustainability standards, farmer development, human rights and inclusion, regenerative agriculture, and climate action. Since 2023, the initiative has progressively strengthened its supply chain, culminating in LIPSA becoming the first company certified under the Sustainable Coconut Charter Supply Chain Standard in January 2026.

Roquette for turning transport into a measurable climate lever for the food industry. Its innovation lies in combining six years of decarbonisation action – carrier tenders and partnerships driving modal shift, load optimisation, and alternative fuels (HVO100, B100, SAF, electricity) – with SBTi and FRET21 commitments, now reinforced by ISO 14083 verification. Since August 2026, this internationally recognised methodology delivers transparent, auditable scope 3 transport data via customer carbon scorecards.

Tereos for Cultivate Net Zero®, a low-carbon and regenerative agriculture ingredients offer, helping food and beverage manufacturers reduce their ingredients’ carbon footprint, advance SBTi targets, and strengthen the resilience of European farmers and supply chains. Combining regenerative agriculture in sugar beet, wheat, and corn with industrial decarbonisation, this programme delivers measurable greenhouse gas reductions and ISO 14067-certified Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) for sugar, alcohol, gluten, and glucose sorbitol.