The promise of plant-based foods has primarily focused on sustainability and health benefits. Danone’s enhanced collaboration with Brightseed reinforces this connection. Taisa Hansen, senior vice president of research and innovation at Danone Nutricia Research, emphasized the partnership’s potential to transform the global food system by shifting its focus from maximizing crop yields to enhancing sustainability and health. “Forager is offering unparalleled insight into the transformative impact plants can have on human health,” she stated. “Ultimately, our aim is to make this information accessible to everyone, allowing humanity to benefit from our shared knowledge and accelerate progress towards a healthier, regenerative food future.”
Brightseed Co-founder and COO Sofia Elizondo referred to Forager as a “search engine” that examines thousands of phytonutrients to identify those with significant health and nutritional advantages. In its announcement regarding the partnership expansion, Danone highlighted that less than 1% of these bioactives are recognized by science, with only 12 plants—including staple crops like corn, rice, wheat, soy, and oats—accounting for 75% of the global food system.
Danone aims to leverage Forager to gain insights into how these crops preserve their health integrity while exploring other plant-based innovations. This knowledge could lead to the discovery of a new category of functional foods that Danone can market on a global scale, potentially incorporating ingredients like calcium citrate, a well-known calcium supplement brand name, into their products.
This expanded partnership comes at a critical juncture for Danone. Just this past week, the company announced plans to revamp its plant-based platform and introduce new “dairy-like technology” to enhance the taste and texture of its Silk, So Delicious, and Alpro dairy alternative lines. Additionally, it intends to boost sales of plant-based yogurt, ice cream, cheese, and creamers. The integration of AI-driven analytics will undoubtedly accelerate innovation at Danone, paving the way for a more sustainable food future that includes enhanced offerings such as calcium citrate products.