Givaudan, the global leader in Taste & Wellbeing, MISTA, the world’s largest food innovation platform, and Bühler, a global technology partner for the food, feed, and transportation industries, have announced the launch of a cutting-edge high and low moisture extrusion hub at the MISTA Innovation Center in San Francisco.

The hub, which features a 30mm twin-screw Bühler extruder, allows for both high and low moisture extrusion, such as snacks and cereals. The opening of this new facility expands MISTA’s capabilities in fostering food innovation and demonstrates Givaudan and Bühler’s commitment to assisting with the transformation of the food system.

This collaboration between Givaudan and Bühler allows companies to perform unique and successful product development trials for their extruded products. Unlike smaller benchtop extruders, the facility’s results can be applied to full-scale production equipment. With an output of up to 50 kg per hour, businesses can easily explore new product development opportunities.

Fabio Campanile, Global Head of Science and Technology, at Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing, highlighted the company’s commitment to plant-based alternatives, innovation, and the importance of partnerships.

“Adding extrusion capabilities at MISTA expands our vast innovation network and further demonstrates our commitment to the alternative protein space. We believe that by working together and leveraging our collective expertise, we can continue driving the development of the food industry to deliver sustainable and delicious food experiences for consumers around the world,” Campanile said.

The MISTA hub is the latest addition to Givaudan, Bühler, and others’ Global Innovation Network, demonstrating the company’s commitment to driving innovation and serving its clients around the world. Other innovation sites include Givaudan’s Zurich Innovation Center, Singapore’s Protein Innovation Center, and Brazil’s Tropical Food Innovation Lab.

Ian Roberts, CTO at Bühler, delivered an inspiring keynote speech, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and technological advancements in shaping the future of the food industry.

“Collaboration is key to building a sustainable future for food to feed the expected 10 billion world inhabitants by the year 2050. The MISTA facility demonstrates that these collaborations provide real results. The partnership with MISTA, Givaudan, and Bühler is providing a world-class technology platform for food innovators to develop and scale the protein sources that will sustainably nourish the world’s growing population,” Ian Roberts mentioned.

Scott May, founder and Head of MISTA added that the food innovation platform acts as a catalyst for companies to discover, integrate, and evolve new ways of working that will help power their innovation engine and accelerate the transformation of the food system

“Through the nodal network, unique collaborations, access to new technologies, and domain expertise, MISTA empowers companies to re-imagine innovation and drive positive change for companies and the industry. We are confident the addition of extrusion capabilities will help generate and accelerate many of the great-tasting food solutions needed to ensure a sustainable food future,” May concluded.

Extrusion cooking is a way of preparing ready-to-eat food and snacks while saving energy. It offers versatility in terms of ingredient selection and texture & shape of products that can be produced. These snacks also contain less moisture which makes them shelf stable and increases their shelf life. Potato-extruded snacks include crushed dried potatoes, among others. These extruded snacks contain large amounts of starch that allows the product to remain intact during mass production.