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Private Company
Technologies enhancing sweetness and overall taste experience
  • Background
  • What we're looking for
  • What we can offer you
  • Q&A
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Get them answered by the team at the company.
Background

As a global organization operating in the specialty ingredients space, we recognize the growing consumer demand for lower-sugar foods and beverages that support wellbeing without compromising on taste. Reducing sugar intake has become a central priority for individuals and public health initiatives alike, yet many people still expect the familiar sweetness and sensory pleasure traditionally associated with higher-sugar products. 

 

Innovations such as sweet proteins, stevia extracts, and other natural high-intensity sweeteners have expanded the toolbox for formulators, enabling meaningful reductions in sugar across a wide range of applications. Still, many existing solutions face challenges around taste quality, dosage levels, or regulatory constraints, highlighting the need for the next generation of innovations, particularly from natural sources. 

 

Discovering novel tools and ingredients that help deliver the full taste experience traditionally associated with sugar, whether by enhancing sweetness, improving balance, or masking undesirable notes, could unlock new pathways for creating healthier products without compromising enjoyment.

What we're looking for

We are looking for innovative, low-inclusion solutions that help deliver the full, pleasurable taste experience typically provided by sugar. We are particularly interested in approaches that go beyond well-established options such as rare sugars and sweet proteins, unless they offer truly disruptive advantages.

Solutions of interest include:
  • Temporal modulators mimicking sugar’s particular onset/peak/finish pattern
  • Novel plant or botanical extracts with high sweetness-enhancing properties
  • Sweet taste receptor potentiators or modulators
  • Fermentation-derived compounds that enhance sweetness
  • Active compounds or aromatics associated with culturally familiar sweet cues
  • Trigeminal micro-modulators that elevate sweetness perception
  • Aroma systems that drive cross-modal sweetness enhancement
  • Novel bitterness and off-note masking systems for reduced-sugar products
  • Mouthfeel enhancers that support a rich, sugar-like experience
Our must-have requirements are:
  • Delivers a high-impact sweetness-enhancing effect at low inclusion levels
Our nice-to-have's are:
  • Enables meaningful sugar reduction in finished products, with potential for 40–50% reduction depending on matrix
  • No major off-notes at effective levels
  • Compatible with multiple applications such as beverages, sauces, condiments, confectionery, dairy, and chocolate
  • Derived from natural or nature-based materials, including botanicals, fermentation, or similar processes
  • Expected to face limited regulatory complexity across major global markets
What's out of scope:
  • Solutions with known safety concerns or clearly unsuitable for ingestion
  • Traditional sweeteners or rare sugars already widely commercialized
  • High-inclusion bulking agents or texturizers
Acceptable technology readiness levels (TRL):
Levels 3-9
What we can offer you
Eligible partnership models:
Sponsored researchCo-developmentSupply/purchaseLicensing
Benefits:
Sponsored Research
The level of funding will be consistent with ranges typical of those for postgraduate or post-doctoral research, and could be between 25000€ to 150000€ depending on the work plan.
Expertise
As a selected partner, you will work in connection with company experts in chemistry, sensory science, natural product discovery, and regulatory affairs. A dedicated project mentor will meet regularly to guide experimental design, assess progress, and support successful advancement.
Tools and Technologies
Partners may gain access to analytical tools such as GC-MS, LC-MS, and sensory evaluation panels. Access may be provided on-site or through sample submission, depending on project needs.
Compounds and Reagents
Partners may receive small quantities of reference materials or analytical standards to support screening and formulation work. Quantities and shipping availability will depend on compound type and regulatory constraints for each geography.
Data
Partners may access historical data relevant to sweetness perception as appropriate for benchmarking and experimental planning. Data sharing will follow internal policies and confidentiality agreements.
Facilities and Services
Partners may submit samples for on-site analytical characterization, stability testing, or sensory evaluation. Depending on project scope, partners may also visit key R&D centers for collaborative sessions or pilot-scale testing, subject to scheduling and facility availability.
Q&A with the company

The Q&A is now closed.

Sort by:
Q.
We are scaling up production of a sweet protein, Brazzein, (which is 500 - 2000 x sweeter than sugar) in a more productive continuous fermentation process. Are you interested in supporting our scale up efforts?
1
A.
It is all about the differentiation when compared with other Brazzein. The challenge we have seen with existing novel solutions: price per kg beyond 300USD and not fully stable in high pH / heat / light
Team Member, Reviewer, Private Company
January 10, 2026
Is this response helpful?
1
0
A.
Thanks for your kind reply. We can't change/improve the properties of the natural sweet protein and still call it nature-identical. We can reduce the cost of manufacturing by 50% over the traditional batch fermentations, using our more productive continuous fermentation process.
1
Q.
Do you accept the end product to be in a liquid form?
1
A.
Sure
Team Member, Reviewer, Private Company
January 23, 2026
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
Hello, would a biofermentation production platform of tagatose from whey be in scope of this RFP?
AK
Anna Kuzmicheva, Tech Transfer, MIGAL Galilee Research Institute
December 1, 2025
1
A.
Not really as we are looking for high impact solutions which goes in very low inclusion rates in food application.
Team Member, Reviewer, Private Company
December 2, 2025
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
Do you see potential value in producing miraculin as a co-product of a commodity crop?
1
A.
Yes. That can be interesting to see
Team Member, Reviewer, Private Company
January 16, 2026
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
Interested in consulting with a retired scientist (experimental psychology, psychophysics) who is knowledgeable about sweetness in general including the science behind enhancing sweetness in the brain with volatiles?
1
A.
Dear, thanks but not at this time. We are looking for product solution.
Team Member, Reviewer, Private Company
December 2, 2025
Is this response helpful?
0
0
A.
I would be happy to suggest answers if you tell me the exact problem you want solved.
1
Q.
What would be the target price point of the sweet protein in terms of sugar equivalent sweetness to make it commercially attractive?
1
A.
It should have low to no impact in the overall cost of the product
Team Member, Reviewer, Private Company
January 28, 2026
Is this response helpful?
1
0
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