University Partnership Focuses on New Possibilities for Citrus
by RYAN MILEJCZAK
The flavors and aromas of citrus are some of the most prized of any fruit. Lemon and orange scents are nearly synonymous with cleaning products, while citrus plays a starring role in the flavors of popular beverages, snacks, candies, and foods. Despite this, there’s still a lack of research into how to best harvest these flavors and smells.
Enter the new Citrus Innovation Center, a partnership between Florida Polytechnic and International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, and health and biosciences.
“If you look at the developments we’ve seen in other industries, such as in plant nutraceuticals and the cannabis world, there’s a lot of tech that hasn’t ever been applied to citrus,” explains Karel (pronounced “Carl”) Cooseman, VP of Citrus Innovation at IFF.
With this obvious opportunity, it was clear to IFF what needed to be done.
“IFF is looking continuously at where to invest in innovation,” explains Cooseman. “Innovation is one of the most critical differentiating points in the industry. We decided we needed to do something on citrus. The world is continuously changing, and to maintain that leadership position, innovation is a must.”
This desire to innovate citrus was drawn in part from the struggles the industry is currently facing.
“Downstream from us, the industry is in turmoil. If you look at anything done with citrus, at least from an industrial point of view, it’s something that was described in books from the ’50s,” recounts Cooseman.
Before work could begin, IFF first had to find where they would build their new Citrus Innovation Center.
“We started looking at where the best place to build the innovation center would be. Because IFF is a global company, we looked globally: Brazil, Brunswick, California, Israel, Italy, Germany,” explains Cooseman. “But if we map everything out, where is the expertise? Where is the research done? Where are the equipment manufacturers? And all of that automatically links back to Central Florida.”
The team at IFF spoke to the Central Florida Economic Development Council, which connected them to Florida Polytechnic. Florida Polytechnic was already in plans to build a research park, so the collaboration was an obvious fit, and soon IFF was invited to be one of the first partners for the project.
“The grand opening of IFF’s Citrus Innovation Center on our campus marks a pivotal milestone for Florida Poly, launching a bold partnership that will drive pioneering research and create transformative opportunities for our students and faculty,” says Dr. Devin Stephenson, president of Florida Polytechnic University. “This powerful collaboration will accelerate discovery and technological advancement in the flavor and fragrance industry, while marking the beginning of a research park that will fuel innovation and economic growth.”
The center will be dedicated to providing innovations for the world of citrus, creating new technologies and products that harness the flavors, scents, and other properties of citrus to help revitalize the industry. To achieve this, the center will focus on a few different areas.
“The first step is to streamline research and development with more expertise. We’re global leaders in food biotech, so we need to bring that expertise to the center,” Cooseman explains. “Secondly is a focus on training. Most of the people in my industry are my age, and we want to make sure we can train the next generation of citrus scientists. The final piece is the customer experience. Development cycles are very long, and being able to centralize all the aspects of development with the customer in one location will allow us to be able to innovate faster.”
Another cornerstone of the Citrus Innovation Center will be sustainability.
“We don’t do anything in innovation anymore without looking at sustainability,” says Cooseman. “How does a product break down in nature, what is the impact from harvesting and processing, that sort of thing. I think we’re about 65 or 70% fully natural already in our industry, and we’re continuously moving that needle forward.”
Collaboration With Growers
To help them achieve their goals, the team at the Citrus Innovation Center will be working with local growers.
“Looking on the agronomy side is very important for us,” says Cooseman. “We’ll be doing things like helping growers and nurseries select the best varieties, or looking at ways they can get better or extra revenue streams. We will have continuous cooperation to help growers continuously assess the changes happening in the market.”
Through these collaborations, the center hopes to be on the cutting edge of citrus innovation.
“Our ultimate goal is to create better products for consumers around the world,” says Cooseman. “That means continuously improving on these types of products, making them more stable, more affordable, better tasting, and more effective.”