The two companies aim to find new functional, plant-based ingredients that can bring innovation to bakery, patisserie and chocolate products. Priorities include improvements in sustainability and nutritional values while preserving the taste. With Puratos, Shiru will scale production and testing for the target functional proteins, accelerating the timeline for making these ingredients available in baked goods.
Shiru’s discovery platform Flourish™ uses bioinformatics and machine learning to search through hundreds of millions of naturally-occurring proteins to identify promising candidates that match a specific desired food function for baked goods. Using precision fermentation and high-throughput screening techniques, Shiru then produces these proteins in their lab and evaluates their performance as ingredients. The end result is an ingredient that can be produced sustainably at scale by Puratos to bring new functionalities or to replace an animal-based product.
“Puratos already offers a full range of plant-based solutions that enable the removal of dairy, eggs and butter with taste, texture and functionality as close as possible to the traditional counterpart. What is most important is that we have unequivocal evidence showing that these plant-based alternatives are significantly better for the planet. Life-cycle assessment of the environmental footprint of these products concludes that the impact of our plant-based egg-wash alternative, Sunset Glaze, on the planet is 59% lower than pasteurized eggs, while the impact of our plant-based butter alternative, Mimetic, is three times lower than dairy butter. Together with Shiru, we will be able to accelerate our plant-based product innovation pipeline for the benefit of our customers and consumers”, said Paul Baisier, Chief R&D Officer at Puratos.
“With the large market opportunity the baking industry presents us, partnering with Puratos was a natural fit in developing our functional protein ingredients,” said Jasmin Hume, Shiru CEO and founder. “Puratos is a global leader in the industry, and by working together, we have the chance to make a major impact towards a more sustainable food system.”
Photo: Valeria Boltneva, Pexels
