Agency provides access to donated processing patents
their business by providing them with access to patented processing
techniques donated by some of the industry's giants.
As part of its program, the Wisconsin-based Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation Inc.(CATI) this month announced it had formed a license agreement with Alliance Enterprises of S. E. Wisconsin, LLC, a packaging company located in Racine.
Smaller food firms generally do not have the funding or technical staff needed to develop new or innovate products on their own. As a result many governments providing funding to business development agencies targeted at boosting growth in the small to medium sized segment of the market.
Alliance will license a food processing technology developed by Kraft Foods, and donated to CATI, to produce a new line of healthy cheese products. The company plans to target the product at the rapidly growing Hispanic cheese market.
Matt Wagner, CATI's executive director, told FoodProductionDaily-USA.com that the agency has a total of seven food patents in its portfolio. These are primarily concentrated around three major food areas.
Previously CATI launched one other company around a yogurt technology it owns. The product is called Yokit, an instant yogurt product. The patent was donated by S.C. Johnson. CATI's senior technical advisors recommended that developing a start-up firm would be the most advantageous route to market. Yokit was launched in September 2005.
In response to a question about the viability of funding compaines in the food area Wagner agreed that the sector is very competitive.
"That's why we tend to focus on value-added niche markets, rather than commodity, volume-oriented food products," he said.
The Kraft technology involves removing cholesterol from dairy products and replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fat. The technology can remove up to 90 per cent of cholesterol from dairy products, without sacrificing taste or altering texture, CATI stated in a press release.
"The technology works with all cheeses including process cheese," said Ed Salinas, CEO of Alliance Enterprises. "Alliance will, initially, focus on Hispanic cheeses, a market where there are few low-fat or low-cholesterol alternatives."
Hispanic cheeses represent one of the fastest growing cheeses in the industry with a 23 per cent annual growth rate, according to figures furnished by CATI.
"Hispanic households use more cheese than any other ethnic group in the US," CATI stated. "This product will give a healthy alternative with the same characteristics of the products Hispanics love for authentic meals."
Alliance will subcontract with other cheese manufacturers to produce mozzarella, cheddar, and muenster cheeses in order to provide healthy alternatives to school lunch programs and other food service providers.
"Research has shown a direct link between minority business development and increases in employment, particularly amongst minorities. It only makes sense to encourage more value-added minority venture creation using technology transfer as a mechanism for increasing employment opportunities," said Wagner.
CATI partnered with the Racine Hispanic Business and Professional Association as part of its new minority tech transfer program.
CATI operates an incubation facility for new and developing firms.
