Innovation in healthy and tasty food

Pablo Zamora talks about the path from research to final products

Chilean researcher and entrepreneur Pablo Zamora came to PUCRS, on Aug 16, to talk about Innovation in Food: From research to innovative market products. Students and professors were thrilled to hear about his experience with the The Not Company. Four months ago, the company released Notmayo, a lactose, gluten, GMF, cholesterol, egg and soybean-free mayonnaise produced exclusively out of vegetable ingredients to the Chilean market. It keeps the same visual appeal of the original product but it is innovative in the sense that it gives consumers the the chance to have a healthy diet regardless of their purchasing power. The Cycle of Conferences on Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer was promoted by the Technology Transfer Office  of PUCRS.

In 2018, The Not Company has plans to expand to other South American countries, such as Argentina, Colombia and Brazil, by exporting and implementing production plants. Early next year, it is also planning to start trading non dairy products (Notmilk, Notcheese and Notyogurt). And how about vegetable versions of hot dogs, sausage and chocolate mousse? These are among the 12 items the company intends to put in the market.

Zamora is also the co-founder and associate director of  University of California Davis – Life Science Inovattion Center in Chile. UC Davis is an American public university focused on territorial development, which plays an important role in technology transfer and generation of knowledge, specially in food production. It has been in Chile for two and a half years now. In an interview, Zamora has told us what it takes to deliver innovative products based on research projects and tells us a bit about his experience at The Not Company.

What drove you to juggle applied research and innovation projects in product design in addition to your academic career?

I am sure I will pay a significant contribution as a scientist rather than as a professor. There are people who are naturally born for that and do it really well. However, I believe that people who commit to the role of proposing changes to society must assume the risks I deliver lectures and dedicate myself full-time to research so that I can develop products that have social impact. This is what I work for. This can be attested by making the product available in the market or granting technology licenses for people to make use of them.

What role does your academic training plays in it?

I have a degree in Biochemistry and a PhD in Biotechnology, and that’s why I see things from both a scientific and commercial point of view. I have strong ties with the business school of the university where I earned my graduate degree. The development of high impact science, in which users genuinely make use of technology, was what I was looking for in my academic training. And personally speaking, I was also interested in working with people. It was by developing projects with indigenous communities that I realized how important it is to take them into consideration during the investigation. I have a different view of things now and I am committed to doing things for the benefit of society.

What does it take for a product to be considered innovative?

First, it must be different from the others. For me, innovative products are those that represent a shift of paradigms from the existing reality. If my wine production yielded 5 liters per kilo of grape and now I can get 5 extra liters because the process’ efficiency has been increased, this is not innovative. It is because I produce a different type of grape, a new from the same fruit or wine from some other sources. We need to change how we see products. Generally speaking, this is, to some extent, accidental, or may result from the application of science and technology. A product may be innovative but useless. If it is more expensive than that of its competitors, it will become unviable commercially.  In my point of view, there are not many innovative products.

What is the path one has to tread to deliver research-based innovative market products? What has your experience with The Not Company taught you when designing smart foods?

First, it is a matter of interest. Scientists must be interested in developing a product. But without the infrastructure of an institution, with a department for technology transfer and an expert team in patents and commercialization of technology at the university, a talented scientist’s efforts will be powerless. They must know how to integrate with people from legal, marketing and commercial areas, otherwise this will become a sheer laboratory exercise for the market, rather than the development of a high impact product. Traditional researchers arrive at solutions they believe to be valuable but never get into the market to check whether they were doing something relevant for society. We are talking about publicly-funded projects that have been around for 40, 30 or 15 years. For instance, someone designs a detergent using new technology. If the market is not receptive to it, the investment in time, personnel and resources will be wasted. The project never spotted the gap in the industry. This is what we call technology push versus technology pull. This happens when I have a solution and push others to adopt it. What I do will not necessarily be of use to the others. Whereas technology pull happens when I seek the necessity. Researchers must look at a specialized audience and ponder whether it is socially viable or not.

Tell us about The Not Company.

It is an innovative company. It designs unprecedented products. It employs science and technology for people regardless of gender or purchasing power. It is an exercise to make healthy foods to everyone. We, as the founders, are two laboratory scientists plus a commercial engineering, who knew how to position the product in the market. It was interesting to bring the two areas together, have the vision to build infrastructure to position the product in the market. The company got us out of the comfort zone. Our infrastructure is very limited for we are a small company, but we need to be creative to solve the problems and we take responsibility for commercial success. Each investigation is geared towards the improvement of the nutritional properties and useful life. We have different expertises available to bring products to consumers, rather than to its patent or article. We make use of artificial intelligence to deliver products that have the same visual appeal as that of the original.