Kyowa Hakko USA recently made advancements in its flagship branded ingredients, Cognizin and IMMUSE ― highlighting its commitment to cutting-edge research and product development. Kyowa Hakko announced that IMMUSE, its pioneering immune health ingredient, has achieved Non-GMO Project Verified status as of June. This certification assures brands and consumers that IMMUSE meets the Non-GMO Project’s standard for GMO avoidance, it says. “IMMUSE receiving Non-GMO Project Verified status is a proud moment for us,” said Maria Stanieich, marketing manager at Kyowa Hakko, in a statement. “This certification allows us to bring even greater value to our customers who are seeking out premium, non-GMO ingredients.” Cognizin, Kyowa Hakko’s premium form of citicoline, has recently been launched in several exciting new formats. The brand new Smart Chocolate from InfiniWell features Cognizin to support overall cognitive function, the company notes. Focus Buddies L’OLLY Pops from Olly have also recently hit the market, providing a convenient and tasty way to support focused attention, it says. Cognizin has also been included in new product launches by other well-known brands, like Goli’s Matcha Mind and has even gone to space in Astreas Ultra chocolate supplements.

BENEO announce the appointment of Olivier Roques as CEO and a new member of its Executive Board of Directors at BENEO GmbH. With an engineering degree in agronomics and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Roques brings more than three decades of experience within the international ingredients industry to this new role. He started his career in the dairy and flavor industries, followed by more than 20 years in leadership roles in the USA and Europe at Agrana Fruit, a world-leading manufacturer of fruit preparations. This included positions in sales, food safety and quality, and new product development. Prior to his new role at BENEO, Roques was positioned as CEO of Agrana Fruit Europe. In addition to being BENEO’s new CEO, Roques also will be responsible for overseeing all sales and marketing as BENEO’s new Chief Sales Officer, succeeding Dominic Speleers. His appointment comes at a pivotal time as BENEO’s product portfolio of plant-based functional ingredients continues to grow in diversity. 

HOWTIAN introduced SoPure Andromeda. Andromeda, part of HOWTIAN’s industry-leading SoPure family of stevia products, is a range of proprietary stevia blends uniquely designed and optimized for a wide range of beverage applications. Following an extensive study at HOWTIAN’s Shanghai Application Technology & Innovation Centre, Andromeda blends have demonstrated exceptional capabilities in enhancing a variety of beverages, far surpassing the performance of conventional Reb A stevia extracts, according to the company. The unique blends of steviol glycosides have been meticulously formulated to deliver superior overall taste at a cost-effective price, even in beverage applications looking to achieve high levels of sugar reduction and replacement, it adds. SoPure Andromeda products are fully natural stevia-based sweetener blends, ideal for formulating clean label beverage products, it notes.