The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, announced that it is collaborating with Chromocell Corp. for research on flavor innovation.

This partnership agreement includes the discovery and development of sweetness enhancers, natural sweeteners and other flavor ingredients. This partnership is central to the Coca-Cola Co.’s commitment to deliver great tasting beverages that meet the growing and changing needs of consumers, the company said.

 

“Throughout our history we have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of beverage innovation, something we’ve been able to achieve by listening to our consumers and customers and pursuing the right choices with the very latest proprietary knowledge and technology to drive our research and development,” said Bilal Kaafarani, senior vice president of global research and innovation for The Coca-Cola Co., in a statement. “This collaboration with Chromocell will help us build a robust pipeline of innovation across categories and sweetness options so we can deliver to our customers a variety of great-tasting beverages.”

 

Under the terms of the agreement with Chromocell, The Coca-Cola Co. will have worldwide, exclusive rights for the use of all flavors, sweeteners and sweetness enhancers in all non-alcohol ready-to-drink categories. In addition to research funding, Chromocell will receive royalty payments based on the sales of products that contain technologies discovered during the collaboration.

 

“Chromocell is excited to collaborate with Coca-Cola on the development of great-tasting zero and reduced calories beverages,” said Christian Kopfli, chief executive officer of Chromocell, in a statement. “Our proprietary technology, using naturally-occurring systems, is key to helping The Coca-Cola Co. deliver great-tasting beverages. This technology allows us to test extracts and ingredients from fruits, herbs and vegetables for unique ingredients with desired taste qualities. We’re proud of this exclusive partnership, which expands our collaborations with industry leaders into the beverage space and capitalizes on our Chromovert technology to develop innovative sweet enhancers and natural sweeteners to the benefit of consumers.”