DSM has opened a new biotechnology facility at its site in Delft, the Netherlands that will expand its research and development capabilities in fermentation and biotechnology for food.
The centre, named after pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin, is part of a €100 million investment program by DSM to scale up its research and development in the Netherlands.
Located on the site where DSM Food Specialties is headquartered, the new centre brings together over 400 skilled scientists from 27 different countries, allowing the company to continue and further its development of food enzymes, cultures, bio-preservatives and taste ingredients for the global food industry.
Speaking at the grand opening of the Rosalind Franklin Biotechnology Center, Ilona Haaijer, president of DSM Food Specialties, commented: “At DSM Food Specialties, we believe passionately in our purpose of enabling better food for everyone. Every day, our R&D colleagues work in close partnership with our customers to make their food products better. Being able to draw on the expertise here at the biotechnology centre, where molecular scientists and fermentation experts work hand in hand with application specialists to develop new and unique ingredient solutions and production aids for the food industry, is a tremendous asset. This is a wonderful R&D facility to have on our doorstep as the hub in our global network.”
One example of a breakthrough innovation is DSM’s development of fermentative steviol glycocides – the reduced-calorie, sweet-tasting molecules in the stevia plant – as an answer to the growing global demand for sugar-reduced food and beverages.
The development phase is well on track and DSM expects commercial availability by the end of 2018.
The new centre, which officially opened today, makes use of the latest advances in laboratory robotics and automation to expand R&D and food application development.
Its location at the heart of the Biotech Campus Delft allows DSM to rapidly scale up promising food applications for customer validation and commercial roll-out.
DSM’s Biotechnology Center will be named the Rosalind Franklin Biotechnology Center in honor of pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin, whose extraordinary work during a tragically short life and career significantly contributed to understanding of the structure of DNA, effectively creating the basis for modern biotechnology.
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