Food & ingredients March 2023

Cargill enters alternatice fats
partnership with Cubiq Foods
Cargill
Answering the call for healthier, more sustainable
and better-tasting solutions, Cargill and the young
food-tech company CUBIQ FOODS have signed
product co-development and commercial goto-market
agreements aimed at developing and
accelerating wide-scale commercialization of
CUBIQ FOODS’ innovative fat technologies.
With this strategic partnership, Cargill will
now have access to CUBIQ’s innovative
technologies to help customers develop
plant-based alternative foods with benefits
that surpass typical products made with
animal fats or tropical oils, such as:
• enhances flavor,
• may improve total fats and saturated fats,
• may improve caloric content, and
• may incorporate essential fatty acids (omega 3).
CUBIQ’s novel fats, including Go!Drop®, join
Cargill’s existing portfolio of plant-based
solutions, spanning plant proteins, texturizers
and a full array of traditional fats and oils.
“By embracing new technologies, harnessing
our full ingredient toolbox and leveraging our
global application knowledge, we’re poised
to accelerate the development of the nextgeneration
plant-based products. Ultimately, it
will be a win for consumers, as we enable food
manufacturers to create products and solutions
with an eye toward both people and the planet,”
said Vivek Cherian, Meat and Dairy Alternatives
Category Leader for Edible Oils at Cargill.
The new fat technologies can be used across
multiple applications and are especially
relevant in the plant-based meat and dairy
alternative space, where fats and oils play
pivotal roles in structure, taste, texture, and
nutritional profile. Most current plant-based
options fall short of consumers’ expectations,
but CUBIQ FOODS’ line of “smarter” fats
help close the gap, including advances
that replicate animal fat in terms of visual
appearance, mouthfeel, and bite.
“Signing the joint development and commercial
agreements represents the next phase in our
partnership, as our groundbreaking technology
is now ready for application development,
production scale-up and widespread
commercialization – roles that Cargill is uniquely
equipped to help us advance,” said Andrés
Montefeltro, chief executive officer at CUBIQ
FOODS. “Together, we’ll help food manufacturers
and consumers reimagine what’s possible in the
quest for healthy and satisfying foods.”
Cargill first invested in CUBIQ FOODS in May
2022, as part of ongoing efforts to more
rapidly advance promising food technology
and support customers with novel solutions.
The collaboration complements Cargill’s
previous investments in alternative protein
sources, including PURIS and Upside Foods
(formerly known as Memphis Meats), and
aligns with the company’s ambition to be a
leader in innovative food ingredients.
10 FOOD & INGREDIENTS INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2023