American food tech startup Shiru is partnering with Japanese multinational Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition on the development of new low glycemic sweetener systems created from sweet proteins identified by Shiru’s proprietary A.I. protein discovery platform.
Founded in 2019, California-based Shiru uses its A.I. system, called Flourish, to analyze a database of over 33 million molecules to create designer ingredients and products for CPG customers. According to founder and CEO Jasmin Hume, the proteins are identified by computer and then fermented in order to produce at scale.
“Our business model is to actually work in concert with large ingredients or CPG companies to develop, essentially, custom solutions for the biggest formulation challenges or innovation challenges that they have,” Hume told BevNET. “[It is] enabling them to develop new products, and improve upon aspects like nutrition, taste, texture, cost [and] sustainability.”
The partnership with Ajinomoto marks the Japanese company’s first attempt to launch a product based on sweet proteins. Sweet proteins are, more or less, what the name suggests – proteins typically sourced from fruit-bearing plants that naturally taste sweet but do not trigger blood sugar spikes or insulin release when consumed. They can also be over 3,000x sweetener than sugar – in comparison, monk fruit is said to be between 100-250x sweeter than sugar and stevia can be up to 300x sweeter.
The ingredient has been explored as a potential alternative to artificial sweeteners for over a decade, but due to the low amount of sweet proteins found in the plants that bear them (primarily uncommon, global fruits like katemfe and oubli), manufacturers have had difficulty producing a sweetener at scale.
In recent years, however, CPG companies have begun embracing sweet proteins. Chocolate and sweet tea brand Oobli (previously Joywell Foods) has made its use of sweet proteins its signature, and other ingredient manufacturers like Conagen have also introduced protein-based sweeteners.
According to Hume, Shiru is working with Ajinomoto on a “portfolio” of sweet protein-based products.” The intent is for Shiru to serve as a technology and innovation arm, while Ajinomoto will act as a “go-to-market partner” responsible for sales and scaling.
“Proteins … tend to be very potent in terms of delivering flavor, and so you can use a very, very small quantity of a protein-based sweetener to achieve a high impact in terms of perceived sweetness,” she said. “Which is fantastic because it makes the economics of these ingredients very attractive from a production standpoint.”
Earlier this year, Shiru launched ProteinDiscovery.ai, billed as an “Amazon for proteins” that functions as an online marketplace for brands “to search, discover, pilot, and buy molecules for food, agriculture, personal care, and advanced material applications.”
The system bears some similarities to A.I. seen elsewhere in the food and beverage industry over the past several years, such as NotCo’s “Giuseppe” system that identifies plant-based ingredients that can then be used to create more accurate alternatives to animal products, or by flavor houses using A.I. in formulation.
Hume noted that while Shiru is working with Ajinimoto on a sweet protein product, the discovery platform can be used for any variety of products. The company is now preparing to announce several more business partnerships in the coming months, and Hume said the business will work primarily with manufacturers but could also collaborate with CPG brands capable of producing their own ingredients.
It’s not just limited to food and beverage either, she said. Shiru is also open to partnerships with cosmetics and other product categories as well.
“We are really focused on commercialization, on engaging with these partners and spinning up several different discovery activities to be able to find functional ingredients across these industries, including food, but also cosmetics, agriculture and advanced materials,” she said.