NZ dairy co-op signs R&D deal with China-based nutrition company

New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra has entered into a strategic research and development (R&D) partnership with By-Health, global vitamin and dietary supplements (VDS) enterprise. The partnership will focus on developing innovative nutritional solutions for the health and wellness market by leveraging on Fonterra’s innovation in functional dairy proteins such as Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM) and probiotics; and By-Health’s expertise in vitamin and dietary supplements. Both parties will also work together to explore joint health research and new product development that will deliver health benefits to consumers in China and globally.
Consumers around the world are becoming more aware and proactive about health and wellness, and dairy nutrition plays an important role in supporting these nutritional needs, according to NZMP, Fonterra’s dairy ingredients brand.
“Globally the probiotics market is seeing significant growth. With the market valued at US$40 billion, Euromonitor forecasts the probiotics supplement segment alone to achieve 7% CAGR over the next five years,” said Komal Mistry-Mehta, director of NZMP Sports & Active Lifestyle. “The growing consumer recognition of metabolic health, mental wellbeing and anti-ageing needs presents a significant opportunity for NZMP’s speciality nutrition ingredients, including dairy proteins, MFGM, and market-leading probiotic super-strains BifidoB HN019TM and LactoB HN001TM.”
By-Health said the strategic R&D partnership with Fonterra will give the company access to valuable dairy nutrition expertise to develop high- quality and effective solutions for its customers.
Felix Zhang, research and development director for By-Health, explained: “Our strategy of providing nutritional solutions for consumers is underpinned by our collaborative R&D partnerships with materials suppliers, scientific research institutions, medical institutions and other stakeholders to build the industry’s capabilities to provide superior nutrition.”
Lastly, the partnership is also in line with Fonterra and By-Health’s growth strategies, which saw Fonterra establish a specialised Sports and Active Lifestyle Nutrition unit in 2019 to accelerate its growth in health and wellness nutrition, and By-Health to acquire Life-Space Group (An Australian pro-biotics supplier), to enable global expansion in dietary supplements.

Photo caption: Dairy nutrition plays an important role in health and wellness said Fonterra.
(Image from Pixabay)