How F&B multinationals foster innovation by being open to change From academic research and private investment, to startup entrepreneurship, open innovation drives the search for the foods of tomorrow. But how do multinationals balance research and innovation activities with their day to day business?
Dr Kavita Karnik is Vice President of Global Nutrition and Open Innovation at Tate & Lyle. She provides leadership in the Innovation and Commercial Development unit on nutrition science and is involved in new product development. She leads a strategic nutrition science research and education program which ensures scientific support for new and existing products and is also responsible for exploring strategically relevant open innovation opportunities in Europe for Tate & Lyle.
Dr Kavita Karnik, Vice President of Global Nutrition and Open Innovation at Tate & Lyle
“Innovation for us is a broad term! From the ‘renovation’ of an existing product portfolio (by introducing small but useful changes) to the introduction of ‘disruptive technologies’ anywhere in the life cycle of our ingredients (from new product development to production processes to logistics), we innovate daily.”4 An academic perspective The company looks for innovations both amongst startups as well as academia.
“We have research collaborations with a wide range of universities and organisations, which help us not only leverage their expertise for specific projects, but also develop relationships built on mutual trust which becomes instrumental in learning about the latest developments in the academic world.“4 “To give an example of such cooperation, Tate & Lyle acquired exclusive rights to manufacture and commercialise a new sodium reduction technology from Eminate, a subsidiary of The University of Nottingham in the UK. The ingredient, SodaLo, has won awards for innovative ingredient.”4
Disruptive Innovation: Reshaping the food systems of tomorrow | 9
