CPF, Mahidol team up for health food
SET-listed Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF) has partnered with Mahidol University for R&D on health food innovations, aiming to drive up new healthcare-related food products to exceed 30% of new products by 2020.
The company has collaborated with the university’s pharmacy faculty for two R&D projects on microbiomes for people of varying ages in the central region, as well as probiotics, with a budget of around 3 million baht for the scale of lab research.
The R&D budget for clinical research is not part of the 3-million-baht sum.
A larger database on microbiomes will help the company better understand how to develop health food products suitable for various customer demographics in different areas, said CPF executive vice-president Sommai Tachasirinugune.
“The collaboration on R&D will help develop innovations for health and speciality foods, and increase the capacity to create quality and safe food products for consumers of all ages with sustainable social benefits,” said Mr Sommai.
In the near future, the company has plans for joint R&D collaboration with global universities beyond Chulalongkorn University, the pharmacy faculty of Siriraj Hospital at Mahidol University and Ramathibodi Hospital, all of whom are existing partners.
This should provide in-depth research on nutrition science, which will help the company develop a variety of food and beverage products to serve the country’s greying population and consumers of all ages, he said.
With a mission to drive the company’s social responsibility and sustainability goals, health food products account for 20-25% of new health food products.
CPF aims for new health food products to comprise more than 30% of its new products by 2020, in line with the UN’s guidelines for developing health food to create sustainability for the health of the world population.
The health food initiative by the country’s agro-industrial and food conglomerate supports the company’s mandate of becoming “Kitchen of the World”.
Built in April 2017, CPF invested 1.35 billion baht in an R&D centre in Wang Noi district, Ayutthaya.
CPF aims for the centre to develop products that meet global trends.
CPF shares closed yesterday on the SET at 27.25 baht, up 25 satang, in trade worth 768 million baht.