SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. — Danone North America, a leader in plant-based food and beverages with iconic brands like Silk® and So Delicious Dairy Free®, and Brightseed, a biosciences company and developer of the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) that maps novel plant nutrients to human health, today announced a new partnership. Leveraging its unique AI-powered approach, Brightseed will profile key plant sources for Danone North America to reveal previously unknown health and nutrition benefits.
The partnership is multi-phased and will pioneer scientific discovery of the health benefits in key plant-based ingredients, beginning with soy. As a versatile and nutrient-rich whole food ingredient, the soybean is one of the richest sources of high-quality proteins in the plant-based world. Brightseed is identifying potential new molecular connections between certain compounds present in Danone’s raw soy and newfound health benefits previously unlinked to soy. Brightseed’s insights will illuminate the health benefits that may exist in one of the world’s most popular plants and enable Danone North America to accelerate nutrition innovation across their family of brands.
“Brightseed’s artificial intelligence technology gives us deep insight into the plant kingdom, finds nutrients that we know are important for promoting health, and accelerates the validation of these findings,” said Takoua Debeche, SVP Research & Innovation at Danone North America. “As a leader in plant-based food and beverages, Danone North America values external partnerships that can help us improve and optimize the taste, texture and nutritional aspects of our products, and contribute to our biodiversity vision.”
This partnership comes at a moment when health and wellness are at the forefront of the consumer mindset, and the demand for plant-based food is skyrocketing. Additionally, consumer preferences have evolved as more flexitarians and dairy lovers are including more plant-based options into their daily routines. Incorporating a variety of plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes into a balanced diet can contribute a multitude of health benefits. These foods are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and valuable phytonutrients that companies like Brightseed are uncovering in plant sources.
“At Brightseed we believe that we’re at the tipping point of significantly activating food for health and wellness. We analyze plants at the molecular level in order to understand the specific roles that nutrients play in the proper functioning of our bodies,” said Sofia Elizondo, Cofounder and COO of Brightseed. “We’re thrilled to be working with Danone North America as they are equally committed to bringing health through food. Danone North America also believes in the important role that high quality, nutrient-rich diets play in supporting human health, while delivering across brands and products that consumers trust and love.”
Brightseed is indexing the world’s edible plants and their phytonutrients, i.e., the small molecules produced by plants that can positively impact the optimal functioning of the human body. Less than one percent of existing phytonutrients have been identified or studied, despite their prevalence in diets and traditional usage worldwide. Brightseed’s AI maps phytonutrients to specific human health targets, and the Brightseed team validates new findings with biological and clinical trials.
ABOUT BRIGHTSEED
Brightseed is on a mission to unlock the intelligence of the natural world to empower human health and wellness. Despite centuries of wisdom proving the nutritional role that plants play in our diets, the vast majority of phytonutrients in the plant kingdom remain unexplored. Brightseed’s proprietary AI identifies nutrients and the team validates their impact so they can be used to support the body’s natural defenses. World-leading companies are partnering with Brightseed to commercialize proprietary discoveries, and the company is on track to become an indispensable innovation engine across agriculture, food and health. Organizations interested in Brightseed can connect with the company by reaching out to info@brightseedbio.com.
ABOUT DANONE NORTH AMERICA
Danone North America is a purpose-driven company with a portfolio of dairy and plant-based foods. As the world’s largest Certified B Corporation®, Danone North America is committed to the creation of both economic and social value, while nurturing natural ecosystems through sustainable agriculture. Our portfolio of brands includes: Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, Good Plants™, Horizon Organic®, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK®, Two Good®, Vega®, Wallaby® Organic and YoCrunch®. With more than 6,000 employees and 12 production locations across the U.S., Danone North America’s mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible. For more information, visit www.danonenorthamerica.com. For more information on Danone North America’s B Corp™ status, visit: https://bcorporation.net/directory/danone-north-america.
