Eminate, a wholly owned subsidiary of The University of Nottingham (a spin-out company from the School of Pharmacy), has signed a license agreement with global food business, Tate & Lyle, for the exclusive rights to use a new technology which reduces sodium in baked products.
The agreement with Tate & Lyle will give the business exclusive rights to further develop the new technology, and to manufacture and commercialise ingredients derived from it. It is expected to eventually enable up to 50% reduction of sodium bicarbonate in baked goods.
Revolutionary hollow microspheres
The new technology is based on transforming normal solid sodium bicarbonate crystals into hollow microspheres which means that far less is needed in baked products, without affecting the final product quality. It is the second licensing deal based on the hollow microsphere technology which Eminate has agreed with Tate & Lyle. In 2011, Tate & Lyle also signed an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Eminate for their SODA-LO® Salt Microspheres technology.
Dr John Stewart, Tate & Lyle’s Director of Open Innovation said: "We are delighted to announce our second agreement with Eminate. This new technology will help us to expand our sodium reduction offering into a wider range of categories and, while the technology is still at the development stage, the results to-date have been very encouraging.
"Tate & Lyle’s goal is to become the partner of choice in our sector and our new agreement with Eminate is another example of our Open Innovation approach at work, collaborating with innovative partners to develop new and exciting speciality food ingredients.”
Game-changing food ingredient technologies
Neil Davidson, Chairman of Eminate Limited, said: “We are very happy to announce a second license agreement with Tate & Lyle. Our goal is to develop game-changing food ingredient technologies and to partner with global companies to commercialize them. This second agreement with Tate & Lyle demonstrates the success of this approach”.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tate & Lyle assumes responsibility for further development of the ingredient and will be responsible for commercialising the final product on a global basis including manufacturing, product development, sales and marketing.
Practical innovations to give a competitive edge
Speaking about the new licensing deal, Mike Carr, Director of Business Engagement and Innovation Services at The University of Nottingham, said: “Eminate was established by The University of Nottingham to help us develop and commercialise our new technologies. This new agreement with Tate & Lyle is a great example of the way in which we can provide businesses with practical and innovative technologies that can give them a competitive edge.
“I would strongly encourage any businesses that are interested in finding out about the technologies and licensing opportunities that we can offer to contact us to see how we can work together.”
For more information about the range of services that The University of Nottingham offers to businesses, visit
www.nottingham.ac.uk/servicesforbusiness