9 9
Innovation as a foundation
At AAK, innovation means continued sustainable growth
for us and our customers. By constantly exploring new
insights, new raw materials and new technologies,
we are able to co-develop unique solutions that open
the door to a wealth of opportunities. It is what makes
working with AAK different.
Market insights
Our solutions are never a success unless they add
tangible, long-term value to our customers. Through our
co-development approach, we start by gaining deep
insights into the drivers behind market demand, as well
as the challenges they present. This gives us a powerful
framework to ensure each solution is exactly in line with
the customer’s specific requirements.
Value at every stage
When it comes to creating a new solution, our global
network of Customer Innovation Centers is home to
many of the best engineering and technical minds in
the business. We work in close collaboration with our
customers’ own teams and experts to bring the best
resources into play at every stage. This allows us to
make sure that value is created throughout the process
until the final solution is ready for launch.
AAK’s approach to innovation offers significant advantages
that help customers to be more competitive and
build market share. This is not only through safer, more
cost-efficient processing or a more sustainable supply,
but also through superior products with a better sensory
experience, better nutritional profile or that tap into the
latest consumer trend.
New innovations
Innovation at AAK has been strong over 2019 and
thanks to our Customer Innovation Centers being
close to our customer base, we have seen positive
results virtually every day. For example, our focus on
clean labels has created new solutions that increase
the stability of chocolate based on cocoa butter, and in
our nutrition portfolio we have added new solutions to
improve the uptake of the essential omega-3 fatty acids.
Within plant-based foods, we have developed new
standards for sustainable solutions across different raw
materials and functionalities.
Innovation for the future
Going forward and within the framework of our new
strategic direction we will continue to work closely with
our customers. This in order to gain market insights and
steer our innovation efforts towards customer co-developed
solutions that create even higher value. We will
also increase our focus on solutions for plant-based
foods and nutritional solutions that can be implemented
in the food sector where we already have a strong footprint
through our regional Customer Innovation Centers
and close connection to the market.