3pm SGT - Idea to Commercialisation: Product Development, Innovation and Format Opportunities 

Introduction from our Chair of the Digital Summit, Gary Scattergood, Editor-in-Chief, NutraIngredients-Asia

The final day of the Probiota Asia digital summit begins with a presentation from Dr. Pietro Antonio Tataranni, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Senior Vice President, Life Sciences at PepsiCo

Antonio will present on: Probiotics and PepsiCo: Innovation, Science, and Market Opportunity  
In this presentation, Antonio will discuss how one of the world's leading global food and beverage companies is leaning into functional food and beverage offerings with various benefits like probiotics. The research, scientific, compliance and marketing protocols inherent to the category will be explored and discussed. Finally, he will explore on how the impact of Covid on supply chains, strategic partnerships, and consumer behavior have created a unique set of opportunities and challenges for companies keen to play in this exciting, but still relatively nascent, space.

Antonio's presentation will be followed by a short Q&A session with Gary Scattergood

We continue this session with a presentations by Yosuke Muto, Sales Development Manager at Morinaga Milk Industry on Navigating into the future of functional foods .
The importance of health and wellness has grown dramatically in past years. This focus will continue to grow voraciously in the endemic era with heightened awareness on immune health. Apart from health supplements, general foods with health and wellness efficacies will be the key to addressing this voracious appetite of consumers. However, applying functional and clinical-effective ingredients into general foods can be a major challenge due to several factors. In this webinar, we will share our story and successful experiences in probiotics applications including probiotic chocolate and paraprobiotic beverages etc. We will walk you through the practical solutions to problems/challenges in product development and provide insights for successful navigation into the future of functional foods in the new world.

Key Takeaways:

  • How Morinaga can offer the practical solutions to problems/challenges in product development in wider range of applications with significant cost-to-functional-value return to users and provide insights for successful navigation into the future of functional foods in the new world.

Next continue this session with a presentation by Dr Anders Henriksson, Regional Application and Technical Support Leader, Health AP at IFF and covered Formulating with Probiotics for Food, Beverage and Dietary Supplements .

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of probiotics and the role of the gut microbiome on human health. With this awareness comes an interest in new and innovative delivery formats and product formulations. However, products that are composed of a greater number of probiotic strains and other active ingredients come with a range of challenges.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ensuring that the content of probiotics meet label claim at the end of a products shelf life
  • The unique challenges of formulating for different delivery vehicles and formats – selecting the right probiotic strain and viable count
  • Opportunities and challenges in development of products combining probiotics with other actives, including herbal extracts, phosphatidyl serine and other plant-based ingredients

The next session of the day we will focusing on the topic of The Functional Food Innovators Platform

We will begin this session with a presentation by Prof William Chen, Director of Food Science and Technology at Nanyang Technological University

William will present on: Probiotic Ice – A cool way to gut health
Gut health influences the workings of our essential bodily systems including our cardiovascular and, so relevantly now, our immune system. Probiotics can come in several forms to maintain and improve our gut health and encourage the growth of beneficial microbes. A surprisingly easy and cost-effective way to get our probiotic microbes through ice cubes has been developed from a collaboration between Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore’s leading ice supplier, Iceman. This has enabled us provide consumers with the generic benefits of probiotic microbes, including improved digestion, enhanced immunity, cholesterol management – even better oral health – but in an easy-to-take form with a long shelf-life. It’s an example of science and commerce working together for the benefit of consumers.

Next continue this session with a presentation by Ass Prof Liu Shao Quan, Faculty Member, Food Science and Technology at National University of Singapore on: Probiotic Tea and Coffee . Coffee and tea are popular beverages, attributed not only to their appealing aroma but also to health benefits such as antioxidant capacity. Functional coffee and tea fortified with probiotic bacillus spores (unfermented) are already on the market. However, functional coffee and tea fermented with probiotics that keep viable at high cell counts (≥106 CFU/mL) for at least three months remain elusive.

Key Takeaways:

  • How probiotic-fermented coffee and tea contain beneficial metabolites (postbiotics)
  • The latest findings about probiotic fermentation of coffee and tea as well as metabolomics will be shared
  • How probiotic-fermented coffee and tea would be novel formats to deliver probiotics and postbiotics to consumers

This session then continues with Daniel Kitay, Founder of FunDay on Commercialisation of Ideas in the COVID Era.
The demand for low sugar, natural, premium, convenient and functional ingredients such as prebiotics have seen an explosion of interest, particularly in the confectionery category. Daniel will share insights regarding his experiences from what it takes to go from an idea through to R&D stages, and the technical challenges he faced in the process. He will also share opportunities and trends in the better-for-you confectionery space, highlighting the strong consumer demand in functional foods.

Key Takeaways:

  • The link between gut health and food
  • Market demand for premium better-for-you confectionery
  • Overcoming technical challenges in healthy confectionery

The final presentation of this session is by Zhang Guangming, Founder and CEO of ffit8 and covered What will young people eat in the future - Opportunities for protein and probiotics.
The diet structure of the young generation in China is undergoing dramatic changes. Guangming will discuss the opportunities and challenges for probiotics and protein powder, as well as the market demand for these products.

Key Takeaways:

  • Market status of probiotics and protein powder in China
  • Dietary patterns among young people
  • The R&D concept and innovative application of ffit8 probiotic protein powder

Day closed with a final panel discussion with live Q&A chaired by Gary Scattergood on Idea to Idea to Commercialisation: Product Development, Innovation and Format Opportunities .

Panellists:

5pm SGT - Networking - the opportunity to chat to other delegates, schedule one-on-one meetings, visit our sponsor hubs.