Exporting Functionality ANDFOODS Finds Its Feet in Asia

New Zealand food innovator ANDFOODS is discovering that the future of food exports may be less about what an ingredient is, and more about what it can do.

There's something exciting happening in Singapore's cafés and professional kitchens. And it involves a New Zealand company, a humble black gram bean and a different approach to food innovation.

ANDFOODS, the Massey University Riddet Institute spin-out led by CEO Alex Devereux, has launched its fermented, non-dairy whipping cream, WHIP, into Singapore's foodservice market. But the launch isn't the real story.

Early customer feedback suggests ANDFOODS may be doing something considerably more interesting: exporting functionality.

Selling what an ingredient can actually do for the chef, barista and ultimately the consumer.

And Devereux now has real-world feedback to support that proposition. "For a cafe using our cream on their beverages for example, WHIP sits better on top as a cold foam and doesn't bleed into the drink as much as dairy," he told PlanetFood.News.

"The texture is also much better for a customer to be able to drink through it and get a mouthful of cream and the matcha, tea or coffee liquid below."

Alex Devereux says WHIP also allows the underlying beverage flavours to come through more clearly. A cream topping that doesn't overwhelm the coffee, matcha or chocolate beneath it, while maintaining its structure and texture.

That's not simply replacing an ingredient. It's potentially improving the drinking experience.

And the applications extend beyond beverages and desserts.

Alex Devereux says customers are using WHIP in savoury dishes, replacing ingredients such as cream cheese and mascarpone.

One customer combines it with avocado and vegetables to create a lighter purée for avocado toast. The result, according to feedback shared by Alex Devereux, is more pronounced avocado flavour and a less heavy eating experience.

Three characteristics are emerging: flavour delivery, stability and lightness.

Qualities professional kitchens can evaluate immediately, without lengthy explanations about alternative proteins.

ANDFOODS has reportedly secured customers including Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, while distributor Lim Siang Huat provides access to the wider foodservice market.

Every successful application potentially gives another chef or food manufacturer confidence to experiment. And that's where the larger opportunity lies.

If fermented black gram can deliver desirable characteristics across beverages, bakery, desserts and savoury foods, what other functional ingredients might New Zealand's food scientists develop?

ANDFOODS is still at an early commercial stage. Repeat orders, competitive pricing and manufacturing scale will determine how far this opportunity travels.

But Alex Devereux and his team are discovering something many food innovators spend years trying to establish and that is what customers actually value.

For New Zealand, the implications extend well beyond one cream launch.

The Kiwi's have become very good at exporting food. Perhaps the next frontier is exporting what food can do.

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