BATTLE CREEK, Mich.— Kellogg Co. has joined forces with Future Food-Tech to launch a start-up Innovation Challenge to tackle some of the biggest issues in the food industry today. Wellness is a major area of focus for Kellogg, and through this challenge, the company is seeking pitches on plant-based ideas that support digestive wellness.
D’Anne Hayman, vice president of global innovation and nutrition at Kellogg, will judge the finalist entries alongside Simon Burton, managing director of eighteen94 Capital in a live virtual pitch event in March. Kellogg established eighteen94 in 2016 to invest in companies pursuing next-generation food innovation, bolstering access to cutting-edge ideas and trends.
“Staying healthy is a priority for many of us now like it’s never been before. And we know that good health – whether our own health or the health of our planet – begins with the choices we make about food,” Hayman said. “As the original wellbeing company and one of the largest plant-based food companies, we’re excited to help make the best ideas out there a reality. No doubt, we’re stronger together than any of us is alone.”
The Kellogg Challenge: New Microbiome-Based Innovation for Gut Wellness
Research has provided a better understanding of the gut’s impact on our mental and physical wellbeing. New plant fibers, valorized fibers from waste streams, prebiotics, postbiotics, fermented ingredients and new non-spore food stable probiotics all have the potential to improve digestive wellness – and thus, mental and physical wellbeing. The challenge is to develop a new microbiome-based solution that improves gut wellness.
The Innovation Challenge will be hosted at the virtual Future Food-Tech summit (March 11-12, 2021), where innovators, global food brands, ingredient providers and investors will come together virtually with the intention of growing ideas from concept to reality.
“We have a passion for identifying and investing in great ideas,” Burton said. “We’re thrilled about the opportunity to seek out technologically-oriented, creative solutions for improving the health of the microbiome, and to help bring them to life.”
Through its plant-based foods, Kellogg said it is driving growth through purpose, addressing food security and creating Better Days for 3 billion people by the end of 2030.
