MartinoRossi SpA and HI-FOOD SpA sign an agreement for the joint development of new functional ingredients for the food industry

1 May 2017 Off By stefanorossi

An important partnership is born for the Italian food business in the field of natural ingredients, allergen-free. Two Companies join forces for the development and manufacturing of technologically functional ingredients: MartinoRossi SpA, owned by the Rossi family of Cremona and the young Hi-Food SpA of Parma, innovative start-up founded less than five years ago.

In 2015 the two companies initiated a close working path for the study and development of new technologies for the production of innovative flours and new natural ingredients, leveraging on their complementary know-how: on the one hand MartinoRossi, with their total control of the field-to-mill chain and their important presence in the market of grains and legumes; on the other hand Hi-Food, focused on the research and development of new natural ingredients with technological functionalities, naturally located inside the Science Park of the University of Parma. Starting from a variety of gluten-free cereals and legumes, the new next-generation production facilities located in Cremona (Malagnino) – headquarter of MartinoRossi – will produce natural flours with new texturizing, gelling and thickening properties that can be used in various fields of application: from pasta to desserts, from bakery to meat, from deli to vegetarian/vegan.
The Owners of MartinoRossi, Giorgio and Giovanni Rossi say: “It is a very exciting and ambitious project that looks to the future. The partnership with Hi-Food provides the fundamental basis for the development of new products in the market of gluten-free flours. Being able to replace the thickening effect and cohesion of gluten by using gluten free flours is certainly a great challenge. The production plants of new generation of MartinoRossi, the continuous research for higher quality combined with a totally proprietary and controlled supply chain coming from more than twenty years of experience (the choice and control of seed, planting, cultivation, harvesting, drying, storage, milling and heat treatment) allow us to look at the future with enthusiasm.”
Emanuele Pizzigalli, co-founder of Hi-Food and Director of Research and Development observes: “When I met the Rossis and discovered their knowledge and expertise in the agro-food sector, I realized that it was the right time to go back to some ideas about a new generation of ingredients that had been in the drawer of my desk for a few years. Along with Rossi we have managed to combine relevant knowledge, different and complementary. Hi-Food has accepted the challenge of the new project, searching for new technological matrices with high performances, starting right from the high-quality raw materials selected by Rossi. Specific studies have been conducted to obtain new structures of starches, fibers and proteins. These flours have now become new raw materials, major technological building blocks for the design of new food products as well as for the improvement of existing ones. Moreover, together with Rossi we have started research activities on by-products from the processing of cereals and legumes, aiming at transforming them into higher value-added ingredients.”
Stefano Rossi, Marketing Director of MartinoRossi says: “The partnership established between MartinoRossi and Hi-Food is an important step for the development of new functional ingredients in the free-from market, which is growing significantly and is more and more opposed to the use of artificial ingredients and sensitive to the long-term impact that they may have on the health of consumers. Committment to the development of natural ingredients as well as low-glycemic flours: these are our new challenges for the food industry. We face them with great enthusiasm and dedication.”
Massimo Ambanelli, co-founder and CEO of Hi-Food, concludes the round: “We continue our path towards the development of innovative natural ingredients. We are particularly pleased to have found a partner like MartinoRossi and the Rossi family, so capable and passionate as much as we are. It confirms the strength and effectiveness of our business model, based on networked developments. The expression “Made-in-Italy” means this, too: intelligent ingredients from an intelligent supply chain.