Barry Callebaut has established a base at ‘Gastronomica’ a food and drink centre based at Bedford’s Colworth Science Park that is focused on advancing the future of food.
The incubator was created through a cooperation between Unilever and life science and tech real estate and investment firm, Pioneer, last year.
It was developed to act as a place for start-ups to engage with the FMCG giant and benefit from other companies housed at the park, including its recently spun off business, The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), as well as its close links to Cranfield University and the University of Northampton.
Barry Callebaut, which has now established a presence at the site, has a long-standing strategic partnership with TMICC that spans over a decade. Together, the two companies have advanced premium chocolate and beyond-chocolate solutions for ice cream, including the signature cracking chocolate coating that has become synonymous with the Magnum brand.
The chocolate manufacturer’s move to the site will now see the duo looking to bolster their collaborative activities further.
“Gastronomica offers the ideal environment for strengthening our long-standing partnership with The Magnum Ice Cream Company, allowing us to work side by side with its teams and accelerate collaboration, innovation, and decision-making,” commented Valeria Gutierrez, R&D director at Barry Callebaut.
“Our teams are already collaborating on several exciting projects, leveraging Barry Callebaut’s expertise in chocolate and beyond-chocolate solutions to explore new textures, flavours and ingredient technologies. Combined with TMICC’s deep expertise in ice cream and consumer understanding, these complementary capabilities create exciting opportunities to accelerate innovation and deliver new experiences for consumers.”
Gutierrez added that the company’s presence at Gastronomica also marks “an important step” in strengthening its “customer-centric approach” and underlines its commitment to co-innovation, agility, and developing new solutions for the future consumer.
Nicky Purser, tenant relations manager at Colworth Science Park, said: “Gastronomica brings together organisations with complementary expertise in food science, consumer research, sustainability and innovation. It gives tenant companies opportunities to exchange ideas, form partnerships and collaborate on projects that advance food innovation and create value for consumers.
“We are delighted to welcome Barry Callebaut to our growing Gastronomica community. The company has taken dedicated workspace for its on-site team, alongside collaborative meeting spaces for joint project work with The Magnum Ice Cream Company. Our flexible facilities will help the teams accelerate product development and co-create the ice cream innovations of tomorrow. We look forward to supporting this exciting new journey.”
