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Natural aroma ingredient manufacturer Axxence has announced a long-term strategic R&D collaboration with Dutch research institute, Wageningen Plant Research (WPR). The agreement will span the next five years and see Germany-based Axxence and WPR further expand their cooperation, which has been in place since 2015. The new stage of the partnership aims to drive forward research in the field of natural flavour substances, to aid Axxence’s customers in developing natural flavours for the food and beverage industry. “Over the last seven years, we have already been able to advance research in natural aroma substances through various one-off projects in biotechnology. From now on, our cooperation will intensify even more,” said Ruud van den Bulk, head of business development and legal affairs at WPR. “By combining Axxence’s deep understanding of aromas and our scientific expertise, we will facilitate the development and commercialisation of natural products.” The research projects will focus on the development and production of natural aroma ingredients by fermenting sugars. Projects for the fermentative production of natural raspberry ketone and natural indole are already in progress and will serve as a blueprint for new projects planned for the coming months. “Our collaboration with WPR is an important strategic step to accelerate the further development and diversification of our R&D pipeline to offer our customers innovative products that respond to evolving consumer needs. With WPR’s scientific expertise in plant sciences and its strong position as a part of the Wageningen Food Valley infrastructure, we have found the ideal partner to achieve this,” added Peter van der Schaft, CEO of Axxence.