Global scanning & co-exploration of applications of natural ingredients

We unveiled natural ingredients with special properties for the food industry

A Mycelium collective intelligence joint bet with Valrhona and SOSA

Mycelium set out to complete an exercise of collective intelligence about the existence and properties of natural ingredients with specific intrinsic characteristics that make them hard to find. The goal was to find alternatives to more classical ingredients used by chefs and artisans worldwide, given new trends of sustainable production, plant-based push, and cleaning up labels in general.

The results exceeded our expectations and made us happy we made a bet, and it turns out the whole is indeed more than the sum of its parts. We pinpointed amazing ingredients that show the way to sensible substitutions, and we have paved the way for sustainable sourcing given the network's global reach.

The Challenge

How might we leverage the collective intelligence of our global, multidisciplinary network to find natural ingredients with specific functionalities and characteristics?

How we tackled it

We explored the scope and concept of “natural ingredient” and “specific properties” within the R&D teams of Valrhona and SOSA, to create alignment and set the direction for our exploration

We took on a global network scanning of ingredients, preliminary selection, and prioritization: with a portfolio vision, we select about 20 ingredients from nearly 90 initials. The criteria used for the selection of the portfolio were origin, functionality, biological classification, and specific characteristics. Mycelium suggested a prioritization considering other strategic variables such as versatility in its use and accessibility.
We then went back to the group of experts to hold discussion groups about possible mechanisms of function of the ingredients, applications, and hypotheses of future uses. The outcomes were prioritized to explore the most promising ingredients in the short and mid-term development pipelines.

Deliverables

10 viable natural ingredients with specific properties, organized in an innovation pipeline portfolio.

Scope

More than 90 natural ingredients with specific properties identified by Mycelium collective intelligence
Selection and characterization of 20 natural ingredients with specific properties
More than 50 experts involved in ingredient scanning

Profiles of chefs, chemists, food technologists, nutritionists and anthropologists from five continents.