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AAK Launches Netherlands Innovation Center to Develop Better Plant-Based Foods

AKK, a global producer of value-adding vegetable oils known for its Making Better Happen slogan, announces the launch of its new “state-of-the-art” Netherlands Innovation Center of Excellence, created to accelerate the development of better plant-based foods. 

A celebration to mark the Innovation Center of Excellence opening will take place on 28 March. Invited customers, partners, and investors will have the opportunity to see the new center located close to AKK’s Zaandijk production facilities in the Netherlands.

“We believe successive incremental product improvements are key to the long-term success of the plant-based food categories”

Through R&D and collaborations, AAK’s team will work with customers from across the globe at the new center’s culinary, sensory, and pilot plant areas to create innovative plant-based food products and bring them more quickly to market. 

Niall Sands, president of commercial development and innovation at AKK said: “AAK is a Multi-oil Ingredient House, well positioned to cater to the increasing demand for healthier and more sustainable plant-based foods.”

Interior of AKK's innovation center
Image courtesy of AKK

Working with customers

In response to the increasing demand for healthier and plant-protein based foods, AKK, which already works with its customers to co-development products, is expanding its collaborations with plant-based producers.

Sands continued: “We have renovated a riverside warehouse to create a purpose-built facility where we can work with our customers, co-develop new ideas, and test them in our pilot plants and culinary kitchen, obtaining results and feedback quickly to support product development and iterative prototyping. We believe successive incremental product improvements are key to the long-term success of the plant-based food categories.”

“Work on a wide range of insight-driven projects and technologies is already underway in the center, relating to the taste, nutrition, sustainability, and functionality of plant-based foods and ingredients. We are excited by their potential to make a positive difference to our customers’ products and processes as we strive to make better happen from plant to brand,” he added.

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