NEW YORK – DouxMatok (Israel/USA) and Hi-Food (Italy), two food-tech pioneers leading the development of innovative ingredients, announce a partnership to deliver a complete end-to-end nutritional solution for food manufacturers. DouxMatok’s first-of-its-kind sugar-based sugar reduction solution, Incredo® Sugar, alongside Hi-Food’s semi-solid fiber of natural origin, Meltec®, will allow food brands to address sugar reduction in food products without compromising on taste, texture, sweetness or nutrition.
Incredo Sugar, which officially launched last year and is now commercially available in the U.S., enables up to 50% sugar reduction in food products. The ingredient allows room for nutritional ingredients such as fibers and plant-based proteins, creating a natural fit for a joint effort with Hi-Food’s Meltec, an innovative semi-solid ingredient similar to syrup that is based on vegetable fibers of natural origin. In addition to enriched fiber content, Meltec improves structural properties in food products, is neutral in taste and does not alter odors or colors.
“In partnership with Hi-Food, we’ll be able to deliver more than just a specialty ingredient for great tasting sugar reduction solutions to food brands,” said DouxMatok’s Chief Technology Officer, David Tsivion. “We can provide a full nutritional platform that delivers the scalability and functionality needed for food developers and food production, and the sweetness and mouthfeel that consumers have come to expect.”
The collaborative effort between DouxMatok and Hi-Food addresses one of the most common challenges of existing solutions on the market — maintaining sweetness and other sugar functionalities while avoiding the aftertastes often associated with sugar substitute bulking solutions and addressing other missing sugar functionalities. Research and application development teams at both companies have been working together for over a year to test Incredo® Sugar and Meltec® in combination as pillars to full nutritional solutions in various applications.
“We’re really impressed with the collaborative work of our team and our partners at DouxMatok, and we’re confident in the ability of these combined ingredients to provide a solution that the market is lacking,” said Emanuele Pizzigalli, R&D Officer and co-founder at Hi-Food. “Sugar reduction is a key priority for food manufacturers across the globe, and we’re committed to helping them address this challenge through the use of our fibers with Incredo Sugar.”
The companies have developed product prototypes across a range of applications, including cakes, cookies, chocolate, candy, protein bars, energy bars, snacks, and more. The unique combination of these ingredients also provides an added sustainability value for the food industry as a whole, helping to reduce the environmental impact of overconsumption of sugar, and at the same time exploiting the use of high-quality raw materials from well controlled legumes and cereals supply chains. Products utilizing DouxMatok and Hi-Food’s full nutritional solution are expected to launch in early 2022.
To learn more about DouxMatok and Incredo® Sugar, please visit douxmatok.com or incredosugar.com, or follow along on LinkedIn. For more information about Hi-Food and Meltec®, please visit hifood.it, or follow along on LinkedIn. Organizations interested in working with DouxMatok and Hi-Foods can reach out to partnerships@douxmatok.com and info@hifood.it to learn more about product development opportunities.
About Incredo® Sugar
Recognized as a special mention in the ‘Best Inventions of 2020’ by TIME, Incredo® Sugar is the flagship product of DouxMatok, a global food-tech company pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor technologies and enabling tastier and healthier consumption of foods. Incredo® Sugar is a first-of-its-kind, sugar-based sugar reduction solution that improves the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Based on real cane sugar, this breakthrough, patented sugar reduction solution enables food manufacturers to develop delicious, better-for-you formulations that deliver great taste experiences and enhance nutritional values of sweet food products while reducing sugar. In April 2021, DouxMatok launched its first product, limited edition Incredo Spreads in two flavors via shop.incredosugar.com. For more information, please visit incredosugar.com, or follow along on Facebook and Instagram.
About DouxMatok
DouxMatok is pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor delivery technologies of food products. Patented through 24 granted patents, its sugar reduction solution, Incredo® Sugar, maximizes the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness, enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Independent consumer and expert sensory panel tests have confirmed that, when using Incredo® Sugar, it is possible to reduce 30%-50% of the sugar levels in a wide range of food and snack products while retaining consumer preferences. For more information, please visit douxmatok.com, or follow along on LinkedIn.
About Meltec®
Meltec® – award winning and patented – semi-solid innovative ingredient is rich in fiber and guarantees excellent texturing and bulking properties without sweetening. Produced in Italy, this ingredient made by ingredients of natural origin (corn and chickpeas) is neutral in taste and smell and has less than 1% of sugars. Apparently similar to honey or glucose syrup, Meltec® is suitable for all sugar-free / low-sugar applications, acts as a humectant, texturizing, thickening, filling, cryoprotectant agent and reducing freezing point in a wide range of foods: typical applications include bars, granolas, cakes, ice-creams, sauces and fillings. For more information, please visit hifood.it.
About Hi-Food
Hi-Food was founded in 2012 in Parma, at the heart of Italy’s “Food Valley,” by a group of entrepreneurs with a proven track record in the natural ingredients sector. Over the years, the Company has developed deep expertise and applications knowledge in producing and using natural products, such as new fibers, proteins, gluten-free nucleus, clean label and plant-based systems to create customized functional solutions for conventional and disruptive food industry (traditional bakery, gluten free, gastronomy, sauces, fillings, dessert, ice cream, beverage, new plant-based foods). The R&D team are on-hand to answer questions and solve issues about shelf-life, stability, sugar/salt/fat reduction, egg replacement, fiber/protein enrichment, structure improvement or many other needs which are suitable for its ingredients, and customer finished product. Hi-Food operates research and production facilities in Italy and is expanding its footprint with a state-of-the-art new production plant and R&D application center in Parma. For more information, please visit hifood.it or follow along on LinkedIn.
