Univar Solutions launches “Foodology” to help “shape the future of food”

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Univar Solutions (Downers Grove, IL) has launched Foodology by Univar Solutions, which is a specialized team dedicated to the unique distribution and technical innovation needs of the food and nutrition ingredient industries.

"Foodology embodies Univar Solutions' continued commitment to helping shape the 'future of food' by providing global brands access to the necessary ingredients, formulations, testing resources, regulatory expertise and world-class supply chain required to feed a growing world in a sustainable fashion," said Nick Powell, president, ingredients & specialties and president, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific (EMEA), at Univar Solutions, in a press release. "Foodology also sets Univar Solutions apart as a full-line food ingredient distributor, product innovator, safe supplier, and expert partner."

With the food and beverage space continually evolving, there is more and more pressure on manufacturers to adapt. This means either developing new products or reformulating existing products to meet consumer demands. With its global footprint, Univar Solutions has access to a world-class global supply chain that can be leveraged by its food solution centers to find the best formula to develop or reformulate food and beverage products.

“If [a product developer is] coming up with an absolutely new product or they’re looking for a reformulation, instead of them calling ten different suppliers…they can call their Foodology by Univar solutions sales rep…and the sales rep immediately pulls In the application development scientist, they talk about it at a technical level, and literally we can send them samples from tens, even hundreds of suppliers we have from our portfolio,” explained Lavanya Venkateswar, Univar Solution’s senior technical sales and marketing manager for its food ingredients business. They also offer a much lower minimum order quantity compared to other ingredient suppliers.

With its global footprint, Foodology by Univar Solutions has a network of distinguished food scientists who collaborate with one another, bringing perspectives and expertise from their disctinct markets.

“Having this network of solution centers is fabulous because we have a lot of thought leadership that comes in from each of these locations; they closely work with each other. At all of our food solution centers, the chefs and the food scientists there collaborate with each other regularly in sharing those high-level solutions,” said Venkateswar to Nutritional Outlook. “In North America we have a very high penetration of bakery customers. In EMEA, we have a lot of prepared food customers. So, we do see some nuances based on our customer base and that’s where we’re like, if there’s a bakery project, we’ve probably already worked on it in North America. We’re able to say, hey this is how we solved this customer’s problem, or we share what the customer is thinking so that the other market is aware.”

Trends like vegan/plant-based foods and clean label, in particular, are encouraging manufacturers to develop new products or reformulate, especially as consumer expectations and standards change over time, said Venkateswar. A good example is the use of carrageenan, which has fallen out of favor in some use-cases. Supply chain issues also make resources like Foodology by Univar Solutions invaluable, because it can help manufacturers find an alternative to an ingredient relatively quickly.

The Foodology by Univar Solutions team will exhibit at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Expo in Chicago, July 10-13. The company will also celebrate its launch during a series of events at the official grand opening of its test kitchen in The Hatchery Chicago during this same time