08Fazer has secured a license to a technology developed and patented by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, which will open up new opportunities for product groups in the dairy, dietary supplement, snacks and cosmetics industries.
Using the Finnish innovation, the company can extract new functional ingredients from oats, including oat beta-glucan, protein and oat oil.
“Finland grows the best oats in the world and exports them to more than 20 countries. We wanted to increase the degree to which oats are processed and develop new products, particularly for food industry applications,” says Heli Arantola, senior VP for strategy and business development in the Group’s Mill & Mixes Business.
“We have invested in a process which allows us to separate valuable and sought-after ingredients—such as oat beta-glucan, protein and oat oil—from raw oats.”
The process is based on a Finnish invention for which Fazer secured an exclusive license from VTT with regard to Europe and Russia.
Meeting demand for oats
The global consumption of oats has been growing, and oat products are in high demand particularly due to its health effects.
The European Union has approved health claims related to the benefits of oats in terms of heart health, blood sugar, cholesterol content and digestive health.
“These new oat products can be used in, for example, functional foods, such as heart-healthy snack bars, biscuits, breads and dairy products,” says Arantola.
“The need for protein, especially plant protein, is growing—up to a point where we can even talk about a protein boom with regard to some foodstuffs.”
