SAN FRANCISCO — Danone SA and biosciences company Brightseed have expanded their partnership and now will work globally to accelerate Danone’s development of plant-based products, the two companies said Aug. 4. Brightseed’s Forager artificial intelligence (AI) maps and predicts the health impact of plant-based compounds.
San Francisco-based Brightseed previously worked with Danone North America, maker of plant-based brands Silk and So Delicious. Since last year, Danone North America and Brightseed have focused on identifying new biological connections between bioactives present in Danone’s raw plant sources and human health. Forager in one plant uncovered 10 times more bioactives than previously known.
“By partnering with Brightseed, we now have tools to shift the global food system from one that is yield-driven to one that prioritizes sustainability and health beyond all else,” said Taisa Hansen, senior vice president of research and innovation at Danone Nutricia Research. “Forager is providing unprecedented visibility into the transformative power plants can have on human health. Ultimately our goal is to make this information non-exclusive so that humanity can benefit from this collective wisdom and move faster toward a healthier, regenerative food future.”
By 2025, Brightseed expects to map all the approximately 10 million bioactive compounds in the plant kingdom.
“Brightseed and Danone share the belief that the health of people and the health of the planet are interconnected,” said Sofia Elizondo, co-founder and chief operating officer of Brightseed. “Through unprecedented access and open data exchange between Danone and Brightseed, we are breaking down the silos that have traditionally kept the food and health industries worlds apart.”