LEUVEN, BELGIUM — EIT Food and Mars Petcare have partnered to launch an Open Innovation Challenge, which seeks to identify innovative solutions to transform fiber into protein and sugar. The goal of this is to work with organizations to develop more sustainable pet food ingredients. 

This initiative aims to transform byproducts from agricultural processing — such as straw from crop harvesting or waste from peeling and chopping vegetables — into ingredients of nutritional value for pet food by improving ingredient digestibility.

“Agricultural byproducts often comprise of high-quality proteins but come with high levels of insoluble fibers that limit usage in pet food due to being difficult for pets to digest,” said Benoit Buntnix, director of business creation at EIT Food. “Transforming the insoluble fiber fractions into materials that can be effectively digested in the gut of a dog or cat would allow the usage of what would otherwise be a waste material as a valuable and more sustainable option for pet food.”

The challenge provides an opportunity for organizations in the pet food industry to work with the two companies, creating the potential to scale innovations rapidly.

“This Open Innovation Challenge with EIT Food represents a significant step forward in our mission to drive more sustainable food solutions for pets,” said Michael Horan, global S&T platform leader material science at Mars Petcare. “We believe that we have a lot to offer when it comes to open innovation approaches and are excited to tap into this using the ecosystem and know-how of EIT Food.”

Applications are open until Sept. 22 for startups, academia, research institutes or established organizations. Register for the Open Innovation Challenge here.

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