The Dutch bakery major has entered into an exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement with the Irish ‘food innovator’ to lead the way in the development of food ‘that is good for both people and the planet'.
According to Zeelandia, almost 40% of consumers around the globe believe a gluten-free diet is better for health. While only 1% of the world's population suffers hypersensitivity to the protein gluten (coeliac disease), one in 10 today claim to follow this diet, driven by people aged between 26 and 35 years.
Zeelandia already gives bakers tools to deal with such health trends – having developed gluten-free ingredients since 2008. The company’s Zero Problem range enables both the artisanal and industrial sectors to meet steadily growing demand, especially as the quality of gluten-free continues to ramp up.
Valuable addition
Its partnership with InnoV underscores this expertise, and also adds a new envelope of knowledge and technology to the mix, which will strengthen its position in the gluten-free market globally.
“As an important supplier of ingredients, Zeelandia knows everything there is to know about the production process in bakeries,” said Leo Kruit, Industry Support, Royal Zeelandia Group.
“Thanks to this collaboration with InnoV, we now also have all knowledge inhouse in the field of developments, innovation and new technology with regard to a gluten-free range.”
Added Rutger van Rooijen, corporate director, M&A and Business Development, “InnoV is for us a valuable addition to our knowledge centre: its expertise strengthens that of Zeelandia – and vice versa. We are therefore very happy with this exclusive and far-reaching collaboration.”
The partners are kicking off their collaborative capabilities at the upcoming Free From Functional Food Expo, to be held in Barcelona, Spain, on 7-8 June. They will be demonstrating a gluten-free croissant, which they claim, boasts a quality that is superior to products currently found on the market. Joining the croissant at the booth will be a gluten-free variant of the typical Spanish caña (a small draft beer, around 200ml).
Serving bakers better
“Zeelandia already has so much expertise in-house when it comes to product development for the bakery sector. With InnoV we are bringing in even more expertise that perfectly matches our ambitions to lead the way in the development of food that is good for consumers and good for the world around us,” said Kris Dierckx, global product leader, Bread, Zeelandia.
“We do not only do this by selecting ingredients that fit a healthier and tasty diet. We also continuously offer both small and large bakeries inspiration and innovative solutions, including in the field of gluten-free. By combining InnoV's knowledge with ours, we can now serve bakers even better.”