Merit Functional Foods and its technology partner Burcon NutraScience have entered into a joint development agreement with Nestlé. The goal of the partnership is to develop and commercialize Merit’s new plant protein ingredients to use in Nestlé’s plant-based foods and beverages.
The joint agreement commences a long-term relationship among the parties, covering Merit’s novel proteins. Merit is currently building its commercial-scale production facility, which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2020.
At its state-of-the-art facility, Merit will produce various plant-based protein ingredients using Burcon’s proprietary and patented extraction and purification technology. Burcon has been developing its plant-based protein technology for more than 19 years.
“Partnering with Nestlé is a great milestone for Merit Functional Foods. Merit has already demonstrated the impact of our novel proteins in plant-based foods. The new partnership helps build on this, and it’s a major step in developing the next generation of nutritious and delicious plant-based products that draw on the benefits of our novel proteins,” said Merit co-CEO Ryan Bracken.