Myconeos wins £200k Innovate UK SMART Grant Award
Myconeos to develop new strains of Penicillium camemberti for application within the soft cheese and meat industries.
OCTOBER 2021
This Innovate UK SMART Grant is a fantastic opportunity for Myconeos, allowing us to apply our ground breaking asexual fungal breeding technology to achieve sexual breeding of P. camemberti strains and associated IP surrounding our second generation of novel Penicillium strains for the cheese market. The project started in July 2021, the project will enable Myconeos to develop novel strains for rapid deployment into the soft cheese and meat industries.
This project will bring the following benefits to manufacturers initially saving them money and allowing them to develop new product propositions in the longer-term:
Myconeos product features
Cheese manufacturer benefits
Production consistency through the use of single strains:
Reduces costs of production through increase yields and quality, adding value to the average RSP
Drive out waste saving money
Strains selected for the control of proteolysis and lipolysis; creating increased control of texture and water availability
Elimination of unwanted flavours such as bitterness:
Barrier to purchase and repeat sales; loss of retail/wholesale customer confidence
Cost saving by eliminating the use of other additives during manufacture
Flavour profile development:
New product innovation offerings helping drive new premium product offers; increasing loyalty and encouraging trade-up
Broaden and develop shopper and customer base; enter new markets
Myconeos has been developing our groundbreaking Penicillium strain breeding technology over the last 2 years and are just about to launch a range of novel P. roqueforti strains into the cheese industry in the UK. You can learn more about our work and its application at:
Why fungal sex is the key to making blue cheese that doesn't smell - YouTube
Food Unwrapped Programme which aired on Channel 4 on the 23 August 2021 at 20:00. The transmission at can be found at http://www.channel4.com/programmes/food-unwrapped on the All 4 website or app.
Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas. We connect businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth.
We fund business and research collaborations to accelerate innovation and drive business investment into R&D. Our support is available to businesses across all economic sectors, value chains and UK regions.
Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation. For more information visit www.innovateuk.ukri.org