PRESS RELEASES

“Global research continues to indicate that taste is the first consideration when consumers make food choices, but they have historically shied away from chocolate products with less added sugar due to negative taste perception,” said David Meggs, Chief Operating Officer at Blommer Chocolate Company. “We have tremendous opportunity at our fingertips to bring consumers back to this category who have avoided sugar-reduced products because they simply didn’t taste good enough.”

Blommer is excited to be first to market with this innovation and will continue to expand the Discovery product line to meet the rapidly changing consumer needs. This month, Blommer and DouxMatok will be in attendance at Sweets & Snacks Expo 2022 in Chicago. Blommer invites those interested to stop by booth #11956 at McCormick Place from Tuesday, May 24th to Thursday, May 26th, to taste the difference or reach out to parternships@douxmatok.com  and marketing@blommer.com  to learn more.

“We’re thrilled about the new opportunities that the expanded Discovery product line will open up for food brands,” said Kelly Thompson, DouxMatok’s SVP Head of North America. “Chocolate-covered snacks are beloved by consumers, and they shouldn’t have to compromise on taste or nutrition when they reach for their favorite treats.”

To learn more about DouxMatok and Incredo® Sugar, please visit douxmatok.com  or incredosugar.com , or follow along on LinkedIn. For more information about Blommer Chocolate Company, please visit blommer.com. Organizations interested in working with DouxMatok and Blommer can reach out to partnerships@douxmatok.com  and marketing@blommer.com  to learn more about product development opportunities.

About Incredo® Sugar
Recognized as a special mention in the ‘Best Inventions of 2020’ by TIME, Incredo® Sugar is the flagship product of DouxMatok , a global food-tech company pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor technologies and enabling tastier and healthier consumption of foods. Incredo® Sugar is a first-of-its-kind, sugar-based sugar reduction solution that improves the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Based on real cane sugar, this breakthrough, patented sugar reduction solution enables food manufacturers to develop delicious, better-for-you formulations that deliver great taste experiences and enhance nutritional values of sweet food products while reducing sugar. In April 2021, DouxMatok launched its first product, limited edition Incredo Spreads in two flavors via shop.incredosugar.com. For more information, please visit incredosugar.com , or follow along on Facebook  and Instagram.

NEW YORK, NY ( September 14, 2021) – Today, DouxMatok (Israel/USA) and Hi-Food (Italy), two food-tech pioneers leading the development of innovative ingredients, announce a partnership to deliver a complete end-to-end nutritional solution for food manufacturers. DouxMatok’s first-of-its-kind sugar-based sugar reduction solution, Incredo® Sugar , alongside Hi-Food’s semi-solid fiber of natural origin, Meltec®, will allow food brands to address sugar reduction in food products without compromising on taste, texture, sweetness or nutrition.

Incredo Sugar, which officially launched last year and is now commercially available in the U.S., enables up to 50% sugar reduction in food products. The ingredient allows room for nutritional ingredients such as fibers and plant-based proteins, creating a natural fit for a joint effort with Hi-Food’s Meltec, an innovative semi-solid ingredient similar to syrup that is based on vegetable fibers of natural origin. In addition to enriched fiber content, Meltec improves structural properties in food products, is neutral in taste and does not alter odors or colors.

“In partnership with Hi-Food, we’ll be able to deliver more than just a specialty ingredient for great tasting sugar reduction solutions to food brands,” said DouxMatok’s Chief Technology Officer, David Tsivion. “We can provide a full nutritional platform that delivers the scalability and functionality needed for food developers and food production, and the sweetness and mouthfeel that consumers have come to expect.”

The collaborative effort between DouxMatok and Hi-Food addresses one of the most common challenges of existing solutions on the market — maintaining sweetness and other sugar functionalities while avoiding the aftertastes often associated with sugar substitute bulking solutions and addressing other missing sugar functionalities. Research and application development teams at both companies have been working together for over a year to test Incredo® Sugar and Meltec® in combination as pillars to full nutritional solutions in various applications.

“We’re really impressed with the collaborative work of our team and our partners at DouxMatok, and we’re confident in the ability of these combined ingredients to provide a solution that the market is lacking,” said Emanuele Pizzigalli, R&D Officer and co-founder at Hi-Food. “Sugar reduction is a key priority for food manufacturers across the globe, and we’re committed to helping them address this challenge through the use of our fibers with Incredo Sugar.”

The companies have developed product prototypes across a range of applications, including cakes, cookies, chocolate, candy, protein bars, energy bars, snacks, and more. The unique combination of these ingredients also provides an added sustainability value for the food industry as a whole, helping to reduce the environmental impact of overconsumption of sugar, and at the same time exploiting the use of upcycled products from controlled legumes and cereals supply chains. Products utilizing DouxMatok and Hi-Food’s full nutritional solution are expected to launch in early 2022.

To learn more about DouxMatok and Incredo® Sugar, please visit douxmatok.com or incredosugar.com , or follow along on LinkedIn. For more information about Hi-Food and Meltec®, please visit hifood.it , or follow along on LinkedIn. Organizations interested in working with DouxMatok and Hi-Foods can reach out to partnerships@douxmatok.com and info@hifood.it to learn more about product development opportunities.

About Incredo® Sugar

Recognized as a special mention in the ‘Best Inventions of 2020’ by TIME, Incredo® Sugar is the flagship product of DouxMatok , a global food-tech company pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor technologies and enabling tastier and healthier consumption of foods. Incredo® Sugar is a first-of-its-kind, sugar-based sugar reduction solution that improves the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Based on real cane sugar, this breakthrough, patented sugar reduction solution enables food manufacturers to develop delicious, better-for-you formulations that deliver great taste experiences and enhance nutritional values of sweet food products while reducing sugar. In April 2021, DouxMatok launched its first product, limited edition Incredo Spreads in two flavors via shop.incredosugar.com. For more information, please visit incredosugar.com , or follow along on Facebook and Instagram.

About DouxMatok

DouxMatok is pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor delivery technologies of food products. Patented through 24 granted patents, its sugar reduction solution, Incredo® Sugar, maximizes the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness, enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Independent consumer and expert sensory panel tests have confirmed that, when using Incredo® Sugar, it is possible to reduce 30%-50% of the sugar levels in a wide range of food and snack products while retaining consumer preferences. For more information, please visit douxmatok.com , or follow along on LinkedIn.

About Meltec®

Meltec® – award winning and patented – semi-solid innovative ingredient is rich in fiber and guarantees excellent texturing and bulking properties without sweetening. Produced in Italy, this ingredient made by ingredients of natural origin (corn and chickpeas) is neutral in taste and smell and has less than 1% of sugars. Apparently similar to honey or glucose syrup, Meltec® is suitable for all sugar-free / low-sugar applications, acts as a humectant, texturizing, thickening, filling, cryoprotectant agent and reducing freezing point in a wide range of foods: typical applications include bars, granolas, cakes, ice-creams, sauces and fillings. For more information, please visit hifood.it.

About Hi-Food

Hi-Food was founded in 2012 in Parma, at the heart of Italy’s “Food Valley”, by a group of entrepreneurs with a proven track record in the natural ingredients sector. Over the years, the Company has developed deep expertise and applications knowledge in producing and using natural products, such as new fibers, proteins, gluten-free nucleus, clean label and plant-based systems to create customized functional solutions for conventional and disruptive food industry (traditional bakery, gluten free, gastronomy, sauces, fillings, dessert, ice cream, beverage, new plant-based foods). The R&D team are on-hand to answer questions and solve issues about shelf-life, stability, sugar/salt/fat reduction, egg replacement, fiber/protein enrichment, structure improvement or many other needs which are suitable for its ingredients, and customer finished product. Hi-Food operates research and production facilities in Italy and is expanding its footprint with a state-of-the-art new production plant and R&D application center in Parma. For more information, please visit hifood.it or follow along on LinkedIn.

NEW YORK, NY (August 3, 2021)  – Today, DouxMatok  – a food tech company pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor delivery technologies – has announced the appointment of Ari Melamud as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Melamud joins following the commercialization of DouxMatok’s sugar reduction solution, Incredo Sugar , in the U.S. and successful launch of a limited edition product, Incredo Spreads.

Melamud brings over two decades of executive management experience across consumer goods marketing, advertising and B2B specialty ingredients, providing a diverse background and strategic fit to lead DouxMatok. Notably, Melamud has held CEO positions with both Kimberley-Clark, the largest non-food CPG company in Israel, and most recently, Sharon Laboratories. In his role with Sharon Laboratories, a company that develops and sells specialty ingredients to the food and global personal care industries in over 70 countries, Melamud drove a strategic growth plan, which resulted in doubling total sales under his leadership.

As a seasoned executive, Melamud will utilize his expertise to drive global expansion, sales, and lead fundraising efforts to scale up the organization to oversee continued research and development and commercialization of new science-based solutions for overall better nutrition in a variety of food categories.

Incredo Sugar, a first-of-its-kind sugar-based sugar reduction solution and the main pillar of a full solution that includes a carefully selected mix of nutritional fibers and proteins, is currently available for use by food manufacturers, food service providers, co-packers, bakeries and chefs in food products. With food and snacking products “empowered by Incredo Sugar” already sold in hundreds of retail stores in Israel and a growing pipeline of partnerships and new products in development in the U.S. and Europe, Melamud’s appointment signals DouxMatok’s confident position to execute rapid expansion plans and secure the funds to grow at scale, as consumer demand for products with less added sugar and increased nutritional value continues to rise.

“I’m thrilled to join the talented team of passionate professionals at DouxMatok, who are equally motivated by the inspiring mission of the company and its game changing technology,” said newly appointed CEO Ari Melamud. “Our disruptive solution can successfully address the global challenge of overconsumption of sugar, and I’m eager to lead the company into this phase of global expansion.”

Serial entrepreneur and passionate co-founder Eran Baniel has been at the helm of DouxMatok and is responsible for having taken the company from innovative technology to commercialization with $30 million in fundraising to date and is now transitioning into an Executive Chairman role. Baniel will continue to support the company.

“We’re delighted to bring Ari on board, and I’m confident that he will transition DouxMatok into this next stage of growth,” said outgoing CEO, Eran Baniel. “Not only does Ari demonstrate an impressive track record as an extremely talented, experienced and commercially successful CEO for a number of companies, but he shares in our mission to make the world both a happier and healthier place while curbing the overconsumption of sugar.”

Earlier this month, DouxMatok and Incredo Sugar were featured in the premiere episode of season 3 of ‘Explained’, a documentary style television series on Netflix produced by Vox Media, which provided an in-depth look at sugar and sugar alternatives. DouxMatok’s momentum will continue throughout the remainder of the year and early 2022 as a variety of partner launches are expected.

About Incredo® Sugar

About DouxMatok 

DouxMatok is pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor delivery technologies of food products. Patented through 24 granted patents, its sugar reduction solution, Incredo® Sugar, maximizes the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness, enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Independent consumer and expert sensory panel tests have confirmed that, when using Incredo® Sugar, it is possible to reduce 30%-50% of the sugar levels in a wide range of food and snack products while retaining consumer preferences. For more information, please visit douxmatok.com , or follow along on LinkedIn.  

NEW YORK, NY (April 20, 2021)  – Today, DouxMatok unveils its limited-edition Incredo® Spreads and its Spread The Happiness campaign, providing U.S. consumers with a chance to taste a product made with its innovative ingredient for the first time ever and experience the wonders of how sugar can be used to reduce sugar. Incredo® Spreads are now available for purchase on shop.incredosugar.com  in a two-jar bundle with Hazelnut Cocoa and Dark Cocoa Salted Caramel, both with almost 50% less total added sugars than other leading products and rich in nutritional fibers. The limited consumer launch showcases the ability of Incredo® Sugar, a sugar reduction solution made from real cane sugar, to provide an uncompromised and delicious taste.

To reinforce DouxMatok’s mission to make the world a happier and healthier place while curbing the overconsumption of sugar, starting today, consumers can join the Spread The Happiness  campaign, which aims to put the Incredo® Sugar promise to the test with Incredo® Spreads and inspire communities to enjoy a more nutritious diet without compromising a great taste experience. As people continue to spend a majority of time at home amid another challenging year, real happy moments still deserve to be celebrated more than ever. The campaign features a consumer sweepstakes and a charitable donation to Common Threads , a nonprofit that provides children and families with cooking and nutrition education to encourage healthy habits that contribute to wellness. DouxMatok will donate 10% of each sale of Incredo® Spreads and will match the amount to double the donation, which will support both children and adults with healthy snacks and meals, plus programs to develop nutrition and cooking skills.

In addition to using less sugar, Incredo® Spreads offer 30% of the daily recommended fiber intake with just two tablespoons of the spread, are made with organic hazelnuts, are non-GMO, Gluten Free, use sunflower oil to replace palm oil, and are free of artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.  

Incredo® Sugar is the flagship product of the food-tech company, DouxMatok. It is based on a breakthrough sugar reduction solution which is made of real cane sugar and allows for up to 50% sugar reduction. Incredo® Sugar enables food brands, manufacturers and retailers to develop delicious, better-for-you formulations of cakes, snacks, cookies, chocolate, candy, protein bars, baked goods and more.

“As brands continue to provide consumers with better-for-you alternatives, we’re inviting US CPGs, foodservice, and emerging brands to work with us to formulate products with Incredo® Sugar that will allow consumers to continue enjoying the happy moments that are provided by sweet treats, with significantly improved nutrition,” said Lorraine Niba, VP of Sales NA.

About Incredo® Sugar

About DouxMatok 

DouxMatok is pioneering the development of efficient nutrition and flavor delivery technologies of food products. Patented through 24 granted patents, its sugar reduction solution, Incredo® Sugar, maximizes the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness, enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Independent consumer and expert sensory panel tests have confirmed that, when using Incredo® Sugar, it is possible to reduce 30%-50% of the sugar levels in a wide range of food and snack products while retaining consumer preferences. For more information, please visit douxmatok.com , or follow along on LinkedIn.  

NEW YORK, NY (January 28, 2021)   -   DouxMatok , a   food-tech company, pioneering the development of efficient and nutritious flavor delivery technologies,   announces today the appointment of Lorraine Niba as VP of Sales NA and Jim Schulok as VP of Applications to its U.S. based team. Niba and Schulok join as DouxMatok readies to enter a phase   of   accelerated growth with the introduction of Incredo® Sugar - a sugar reduction solution based on real cane sugar and its flagship product recognized as a special mention in   TIME’s ‘Best Inventions of 2020’   - to the North American market.  

Niba brings over a decade of experience in scaling new, specialty ingredients, joining from Ingredion Inc., a Fortune 500 global ingredients manufacturer, where she led business strategy and product portfolio for the company’s Global Nutrition Platform and a specialty sales development team focused on commercialization of new innovation products.   Schulok brings nearly 25 years of executive leadership experience in   product development and R&D with Mondelez and Kraft Foods, across a variety of categories and technologies, including chocolate, beverages, coffee, snacking and biscuits, and leading multiple projects with brands including Oreo, Cadbury, Ritz, belVita, Milka and Capri Sun.  

With their vast expertise in the food and ingredient industries, the addition of Niba and Schulok to the leadership team will propel DouxMatok to execute U.S. market expansion plans and establish strategic partnerships with food companies in order to further its mission to inspire people to eat healthier, all while curbing the overconsumption of sugar.  

To date, DouxMatok has been encouraged by continued success and credibility through various strategic partnerships, which resulted in great tasting products made with Incredo® Sugar, reinforcing the current opportunity for accelerated growth in North America. In October 2020, DouxMatok also announced a partnership with Roger Sugars Inc. (TSX:RSI), parent of Lantic Inc.,   one of the leading sugar manufacturers in North America, to manufacture   Incredo® Sugar   and make supplies readily available for new product launches.  

“I am excited to play a role in bringing this cutting-edge solution to the U.S. market and introducing the possibilities to food manufacturers so that together, we can tackle this mission and provide consumers with delicious, better-for-you options,” noted Niba. Schulok added, “I’m thrilled to join the DouxMatok team at such a pivotal moment for the company as it expands its footprint into a priority market here in the U.S. The next phase of growth for the company will help food brands address key consumer needs and preferences, and I’m confident that Incredo® Sugar is an innovation that will pioneer the entire industry.”  

Based on real cane sugar, Incredo® Sugar improves the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness, enabling substantial sugar reduction in baked goods, confectionery, spreads, chocolates and snacks without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. In response to consumer needs and preferences for limiting sugar consumption, Incredo® Sugar empowered solutions, with nutritional fibers and proteins to replace the bulk of the sugar reduced, deliver great taste experiences and enhance nutritional values of sweet food products while reducing sugar consumption.  

“We, at DouxMatok, know that ground-breaking technologies need a great, dedicated team, and experienced and passionate industry leaders, and with the addition of Lorraine Niba and Jim Schulok to lead our North America team, we’ll be able to turn our Incredo® mission into reality,” said Eran Baniel, CEO and Co-Founder of DouxMatok. “Their combined experience, specifically with R&D and scaling new, innovative products, will help us inspire food manufacturers, brands and consumers in North America alike to prioritize tastier and healthier food options powered by Incredo® Sugar.”

To learn more about DouxMatok and keep an eye out for announcements from Incredo® Sugar, please visit   douxmatok.com   or follow along on   LinkedIn.

About DouxMatok

DouxMatok is pioneering the development of efficient and nutritious flavor delivery technologies while improving the nutritional profile of food products. Patented through 24 granted patents, its sugar reduction solution maximizes the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness, enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Independent consumer and expert sensory panel tests have confirmed that, when using DouxMatok sugar, it is possible to reduce 30%-50% of the sugar content in a wide range of food products while retaining consumer preferences. For more information, please visit   douxmatok.com , or follow along on   LinkedIn.

About Incredo® Sugar

Recognized as a special mention in the ‘Best Inventions of 2020’ by TIME, Incredo® Sugar is the flagship product of   DouxMatok , a global food-tech company pioneering the development of efficient flavor delivery technologies and enabling tastier and healthier consumption of foods. Incredo® Sugar is a first-of-its-kind, sugar-based sugar reduction solution that improves the efficiency of sugar delivery to the sweet taste receptors and enhances the perception of sweetness enabling substantial sugar reduction without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture. Based on real cane or beet sugar, this breakthrough, patented sugar reduction solution enables food manufacturers to develop delicious, better-for-you formulations that deliver great taste experiences and enhance nutritional values of sweet food products while reducing sugar. For more information, please visit   incredosugar.com , or follow along on   Instagram.

The project was broken into six tasks, one on management, one on dissemination and the other four tasks were then interlinked; starting with a review of the available Smart Tag technologies and their usage in food value chains, which provided input to a task that focused on assessing consumers’ and other stakeholders’ needs and expectations towards Smart Tags. These then provided valuable input to a task that studied potential novel service concepts that rely on Smart Tag technologies; a task that resulted in identification of 19 Smart Tag enabled service concepts. The most applicable of these concepts were then pre-piloted in selected food value chains in the final task.

The task of reviewing the available Smart Tag technologies and their usage in food value chains was quite extensive. It focused on the available technologies in the domain of intelligent packaging and their enablers and barriers towards consumer acceptance and trust. Three main components of intelligent packaging technology were identified (indicator, sensor and data carrier) and synthesised their most widely found sub-components in literature which include time temperature indicator, freshness indicator, gas indicator, biosensor, gas sensor, barcode and RFID. The task concluded that despite a large number of research work being done in the domain of active and intelligent packaging, there are limited empirical studies that investigated consumer acceptance or trust towards intelligent packaging technologies. The tasks therefore also looked at the technologies proposed for supply chain traceability as it has a similar aim as intelligent packaging which is communication. The tasks also studied the main barriers for intelligent devices in food packaging, and concluded that consumers’ acceptance, legal constrains and some technical issues present a major barrier for wider uptake of Smart Tag solutions in food value chains. The results of this task will be presented in a peer-reviewed journal article that is planned to be published in 2021.

The task that focused on assessing consumers’ and other stakeholders’ needs and expectations towards Smart Tags was as well very comprehensive. It used results from the previous task as input and further analysed the needs and requirements of consumers and suppliers. This work included in-depth interviews with suppliers in nine countries, focus group sessions in five countries and a wide scale consumer surveys in eight countries. The project has in total received direct input on consumer’s and stakeholder needs and expectations from over 4 thousand people. The results of this work will be presented in a journal article that is planned to be published in 2021. The overall conclusion is that Smart Tags have the potential to meet with many of the consumer’s and supplier’s needs, and that there is a willingness amongst consumers to pay a premium for such solutions.

The task that studied potential novel service concepts that rely on Smart Tag technologies analysed in-depth the potentials, as well as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats associated with the different Smart Tag solutions. The task identified and analysed in total 19 novel Smart Tag enabled service concepts. The results of this work will be presented in a journal article that is planned to be published in 2021. Building on the results of the previous tasks, the most applicable and promising solutions were pre-piloted in the final task. The Smart Tag solutions were selected based on different criteria, depending on the needs in the different value chains and the maturity of the available technologies. The smart Tag technologies pre-piloted were a   Nitrogen Smart Tag indicator   which was piloted by MATIS (Iceland), AZTI (Spain) and KU Leuven (Belgium) to indicate freshness of different food items. The technology showed particular potentials in seafood value chains, which will be further explored beyond the project.   An NFC Smart Tag Temperature logger   was also pre-piloted by VTT (FI) and MATIS (IS) but this technology allows consumers and suppliers to monitor temperature of food during logistics and transport. Many fresh and frozen food items are delegate towards temperature, which makes this technology very relevant. The NFC logger pre-piloted in this project was though believed to be more relevant for professionals in the value chains (business-to-business) than for regular consumers, as the temperature readings require expert knowledge to interpreted into quality parameters and shelf-life. The project did also pre-pilot   Oxygen Smart Tag indicators   which for example can inform consumers and other stakeholders if packaging is leaking. The oxygen indicators were pre-piloted by AZTI (Spain) and LU Leuven (Belgium). The final Smart Tag that was pre-piloted was a   ‘W ine Cap’ Tag   which provides a unique electronic identity for bottles and other containers. By scanning the label with a smart phone, the consumer can see when and where the wine was grown and bottled as well as get information such as tasting notes and food pairings. The label also includes a temperature indicator which lets the user know when the wine is the ideal temperature to drink.

The Smart tag solutions pre-piloted in the projec t

The Smart Tags project was classified as a communication project, which means that one of its kay objectives was to communicate to consumers and stakeholders in food value chains what Smart Tags are, how they can be used, what tags are already available and what tags are in development, how they can add value etc. The project met this objective by interacting directly with over four thousand consumers and suppliers, reaching close to seven thousand people as ’media audience’ and over 40 thousand through ’online media impressions’.

The project is now officially finished, but the project’s legacy will still live on through further research & innovation, as well as through scientific peer-reviewed papers as at least four papers are planned to be published in 2021, based on work done in the Smart Tags project.