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Soufflet Malt has partnered with food tech company Eat the Truth in a move aimed at bringing grain-based fermentation further into mainstream food and beverage applications, with cocoa and non-alcoholic beverages identified as the first areas of focus.

Announced on 10 September, the strategic partnership brings together Soufflet Malt’s expertise in malting, fermentation and industrial production with Eat the Truth’s work in solid-state fermentation, culinary research and flavour creation.

The companies say their objective is to develop food-grade ingredient solutions capable of delivering complex flavour profiles while addressing some of the cost, availability and reformulation challenges facing manufacturers.

The partnership comes as food and beverage companies continue to contend with volatility in key raw materials and changing expectations around ingredients.

According to figures cited by the companies, cocoa prices tripled over the course of a year between 2024-25, before falling sharply in March 2026. Soufflet Malt and Eat the Truth believe fermentation could provide manufacturers with another tool to respond to these pressures.

The partners plan to use malt and solid-state fermentation to create flavour profiles including roasted, cocoa, coffee, umami and kokumi notes.

The companies’ approach could have applications beyond cocoa and beverages, including chocolate confectionery, baked goods, sauces and non-alcoholic alternatives.

The proposal is particularly focused on using food-grade ingredients rather than conventional artificial flavour solutions, while maintaining the consistency and scalability required by industrial manufacturers.

Laurent Debande, chief growth and innovation officer at Soufflet Malt, said: “The partnership aligns with our MALTiply 2030 strategy to accelerate our expansion into adjacent markets and develop new, high-value added solutions for the food and beverage industry.”

A key element of the partnership is the combination of Eat the Truth’s culinary and fermentation capabilities with Soufflet Malt’s global manufacturing footprint.

Soufflet Malt operates 35 malthouses across 20 countries and has an annual malt production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes. Eat the Truth, meanwhile, specialises in sold-state fermentation and flavour development and works with a network of partners across Europe.

The companies intend to provide manufacturers with an end-to-end platform spanning flavour creation, sensory validation, prototyping and industrialisation. The stated aim is to shorten the path from developing a new flavour profile to producing it at commercial scale.

Yair Yosefi, co-founder and CEO of Eat the Truth, said: “This partnership sets a new standard for food ingredients: delicious, honest, innovative solutions designed from the outset for industrial-scale production.”

He added that the combination of the two companies’ capabilities would allow manufacturers to explore alternatives to conventional flavour solutions while targeting taste, labelling and cost benefits.