Paul Graham, president of Symrise Flavors North America, Teterboro, N.J., announced the launch of Califormulations, a new concept offering a dedicated suite of product development services to beverage entrepreneurs. Based out of Symrise’s Laguna Beach, Calif., beverage development center, Califormulations gives entrepreneurs access to a fully equipped beverage lab that specializes in rapid prototyping with a staff of beverage technologists and utilizes processing capabilities such as hot-fill, cold-fill, carbonation, homogenization and more, the company says.

The 2017 Fi Europe Innovation Awards were presented Nov. 28, 2017, by Fi Europe & Ni, which is organized by UBM plc. and Food Ingredients Global, at Messe Frankfurt, Germany. There were 10 Innovation awards categories, plus two Start-Up Innovation Challenge categories. A total of 17 companies were shortlisted in the Fi Europe Innovation Awards and an additional 10 in the Start-Up Innovation Challenge. The following were among the 2017 Innovation Awards winners: Alberts won the Future of Nutrition Award for its automated smoothie machine, Europe’s first fresh smoothie vending machine; and Arla Food Ingredients received the Performance Nutrition Innovation Award for its taste-neutral whey protein isolate. The following were the Start-Up Innovation Challenge winners: Chromologics won the Best Innovation Award for its ChromoRed water-soluble, natural red pigment; and Alver received the Best Natural Ingredient Award for its Golden Chlorella.

PureCircle, Oak Brook, Ill., announced a new stevia farming program in the United States, which will provide economic opportunities for tobacco farmers looking for a sustainable crop that is in high demand. This past fall, the company partnered with North Carolina farmers to plant and harvest StarLeaf brand stevia in small trial plots. PureCircle and its partner farmers will significantly increase commercial production of StarLeaf stevia for the next planting season, the company says.