Ashdod, Israel-based Better Juice Ltd., a food tech startup that develops innovative technology to reduce all types of sugars in orange juice, and Citrosuco S.A., Brazil, announced a new partnership that aims to set up a pilot plant to reduce sugars in orange juice with some of the funding provided by Citrosuco as well as technical and operational expertise, the companies say. Better Juice’s enzymatic technology works to transform types of fruit sugars into prebiotic and other non-soluble fibers and sugars, it says.

Hydrosol GmbH & Go. KG, Ahrenburg, Germany, announced it has developed Stabiprime MFD, a range of new stabilizing systems for flavored milk beverages including flavors such as cappuccino, coconut, walnut and banana. Stabiprime MFD consists of carefully selected hydrocolloids that are water soluble as well as in sweet whey, the company says. Hydrosol also offers a gellan alternative, Stabiprime MFDG that enables milk beverage filling at temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius, it adds.

Artemis International Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., appointed industry veteran Chris Tower as vice president of sales and business development, effective immediately. Tower will oversee all Artemis sales activities and play a key role in developing and implementing overall business strategies to drive profitable growth for the company, it says. Previously, Tower served as vice president of North America at Oakbrook, Ill.-based PureCircle USA Inc.

Decatur, Ill.-based Tate & Lyle helped the Chicago Bears football team celebrate its 100th season at the team’s Return to Decatur celebrations earlier this summer. Tate & Lyle’s plant in Decatur is where the Chicago Bear’s team originally was founded by plant owner Augustus Eugene Staley. Staley established a Tate & Lyle employee football team — the Decatur Staleys, which eventually became the Chicago Bears, the company says. As part of the Return to Decatur weekend, Tate & Lyle gave local Bears fans the chance to stand in for original Decatur Staley’s team players, with a lifesized team photo wall. Christine Hood, Tate & Lyle culinary technician, prepared a special birthday cake to mark the occasion, incorporating PROMITOR Soluble Fiber which the company produces at its Decatur plant.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Burcon Nutrascience Corp. announced it has developed a new pea-protein blend: Nutratein-PS. Nutratein-PS is a blend of Burcon’s proprietary Peazazz pea protein and Supertein canola protein that provides clean flavor and high solubility for fortifying dairy-alternative beverages such as almond milk, it says. It also can be used to formulate a stand-alone beverage with a nutritional value consistent with the gold standard of cow’s milk, it adds.

PepTech Collagen, Inc., Brazil, and InterGanics, Inc., Chicago, announced a new joint venture where the companies have reimagined the collagen production process end-to-end, from raw material acquisition, through processing and packaging, they say. The result is a new high-purity product — PeptPure Collagen Peptides and a re-engineered process that achieves unprecedented levels of purity, traceability, sustainability and transparency, according to the companies.

After two years, Gelymar S.A., Santiago, Chile, announced that its $15 million capacity expansion program is complete. Product capacity now is doubled and ranges as much as 10,000 metric tons of product, the company says.

The Flavor Extracts Manufacturers Association (FEMA) has issued GRAS (generally recognized as safe) approval for Vitosa natural flavors, a new line of stevia products from HB Natural Ingredients, Irvine, Calif. Vitosa natural flavors are designed to provide unique flavor modification properties that can be used to impart, enhance or modify the flavor profile of a wide range of food and beverage products. Vitosa beverage applications include carbonated soft drinks, juices, energy and sports drinks, flavored water and dairy products.