Clean label baking ingredient manufacturer Il Granaio delle Idee (IGDI) has entered into a strategic partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks.

IGDI has identified a new sourdough bakery strain that it says can improve the flavour and aroma profile of baked goods with its starter culture product, Pater. The collaboration will leverage Ginkgo's Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE) technology to accelerate the growth rate of IGDI's selected strain.

IGDI has used its proprietary technology to develop a product, Pater, that keeps lactic acid bacteria dispersed in flour, viable and stable over time. Pater is a shelf stable, dried baking mix that can be used to make sourdough on a large scale, enabling artisanal and industrial bakers to expand their potential offerings of sourdough-based products.

Bakers can use Pater to enhance the flavour, fragrance, structure, and colour of bread, improve digestibility and extend bread freshness. Additionally, Pater can produce natural emulsifiers, reducing reliance on chemical additives used widely in the baking industry.

In order to grow this strain economically, IGDI will leverage Ginkgo's ALE technology as it seeks to evolve the strain towards a higher growth rate. Ginkgo uses ALE as a fast, powerful strain development tool that can adapt strains to industrially-relevant conditions without gene editing.

Federico Allamprese Manes Rossi, founder and CEO of Il Granaio delle Idee, said: "We've watched Ginkgo excel in the food and nutrition space for years, and we couldn't be more excited to work with them. Ginkgo's impressive ALE technology shows promising potential to rapidly improve the growth rate of our strain, distinguishing Pater within the market.

Together, we're enhancing product quality, empowering bakers with innovative solutions that elevate their craft and preserving the expression of culture and identity in food."

Simon Trancart, Head of ALE at Ginkgo Bioworks, added: "This collaboration underscores Ginkgo's commitment to innovation within the food and nutrition industry. We're thrilled to support Il Granaio delle Idee's vision by leveraging our strain optimisation tools and powerful ALE technology to elevate their sourdough product to advanced levels of quality and efficiency.”

This is the latest in a number of partnerships for Ginkgo. In October, the biotech company partnered with Swiss food-tech solutions company QL AG to develop new dairy proteins made using precision fermentation. Last month, Ginkgo joined forces with Aqua Cultured Foods to enhance Aqua's fermentation technology used to create alt-seafood products and Ginkgo also partnered with Imagindairy to accelerate the introduction of a new wave of cow-free dairy proteins.

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