P&G Donates 'Smoothie' Know-How to Kansas R&Ders

The Procter & Gamble Co. (Cincinnati, OH) is donating patented nutritional beverage technologies to researchers at Kansas State University, Mid-America Commercialization Corp. and other Kansas research institutions. The donation involves patent rights and technology for "Smoothies-Protein Particle Stabilization (PPS)"—a process which enables production of shelf-stable (non-refrigerated) beverages containing both milk and fruit juices.

Under conventional circumstances, it is difficult to attain long shelf stability for beverages containing both milk and juice (smoothies). But reportedly, the PPS technology permits milk and juice to co-exist at room temperature with little or no sedimentation over time. The finished beverage is designed to have a smooth taste and texture and offers the calcium benefit of milk and the vitamins and flavor benefits of juice. The technology also offers the opportunity for high-speed mass manufacturing of "smoothie" products.

As part of the donation, P&G will include product formulations and rights to use the company's calcium fortification technologies.

Why on earth would P&G give away this valuable information? Gordon Brunner, P&G chief technology officer, explained: "We simply invent more products than we can develop. So we donate those ‘off-strategy' technologies which require significant development to universities who have the unique expertise to develop and commercialize them. The Mid-America Commercialization Corp., through its affiliation with Kansas State University's food and nutrition programs, was the institute most qualified to advance the Smoothies-PPS technology and to realize its commercial potential."

Ron Sampson, president and chief executive of Mid-America Commercialization Corp., said, "We very much appreciate the confidence Procter & Gamble is placing in our organization with this donation. Because the donation involves some products nearly ready for market, we expect to begin the commercialization process through licensing to a new start-up venture in the near future. That venture also will have certain sub-licensing rights and, over time, we expect to make available other new products flowing from related university research programs."

Mid-America Commercialization Corp. is a not-for-profit company founded as a joint venture among Kansas State University, the State of Kansas via the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp., the City of Manhattan, KS and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

For more info: Ron Sampson, Mid-America Commercialization Corp., 785-532-3900; Terri Carrick, Procter & Gamble, 513-945-6202; Cheryl May, Kansas State University, 785-532-6415.

Edited by Judy Rice, managing editor, Beverage Online