The latest guest on our Nutrachampion podcast, Verleen Goh, is the Chief Food Fighter, Chief Technology Officer, and Co-founder of Singapore-based start-up Alchemy Foodtech.
Although food and nutrition are closely related, she noticed that there has been a lack of attention on using food technology to make nutritional foods that can be incorporated seamlessly into the daily diet.
This is an area where she is seeing numerous new product development opportunities.
“With regards to market gaps, I think there are a lot of start-ups in the protein space now, [and so], I would say that the market gaps would probably be more on the nutrition side, because I think nutrition is a very huge topic.
“For us, we are focusing on improving blood glucose levels through improving carbohydrate quality and slowing down digestion.
“But nutrition is such a big topic, there are so many things that I think can be improved on,” said the newly crowned Nutrachampion in this year’s NutraIngredients-Asia awards.
Six years ago, Goh co-founded Alchemy Foodtech which focuses on creating low glycemic index (GI) and high fibre products.
The aim is to address the rise in chronic diseases, such as diabetes.
Today, its flagship patented product, Alchemy Fibre, has caught the attention of business partners from as far as the US.
The product, which is a blend of low GI, high fibre, and high prebiotic plant-based fibres in the powder form, can be added into rice and bread to increase the fibre content and lowering the GI.
Aside from addressing the problem of chronic diseases, she believes that food technology can also be used to make nutritional foods to support the needs of an ageing population.
“There's obviously much more attention on immune health with the COVID-19 situation. But I also think that, with an ageing population, there's going to be more need for things like improving bone density,muscle mass, and eye health.”
Based on her experience, she added that product taste, texture, and customisation to local dietary habits were crucial considerations when making a new food product.
Listen to the podcast to find out more about the story behind Goh’s research and entrepreneur journey and as well as the upcoming research and business plans for Alchemy Foodtech.
Nutrachampion is also available on Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, and more.
