Inside the Beneo Institute

The Sudzucker-owned Beneo Group established the Beneo Institute in late 2009 to give “new oxygen to a squeezed industry”, as Executive Board member, Yves Servotte, puts it, to a functional foods industry facing unprecedented regulatory and scientific challenges in Europe and abroad.

Servotte is joined by colleague, Anke Sentko, the vice president of regulatory affairs and nutrition communication at the Beneo Group, and they tell Shane Starling why the Institute was formed and what it is trying to achieve.

“It is a matter of communicating the expert knowledge that is there to the outside world,” said Sentko, noting the company had been working in the area for more than 25 years.

The Beneo Group also sees the Institute as a place where ideas can be exchanged to help “defend the industry and keep it in Europe.”

“We know that we have to stimulate debate around functional foods,” Servotte said.

“It is a strategic commitment that we want to help our customers in their desire to innovate with our functional ingredients.”