Kalsec and 2nd Nature explore AI-led discovery of natural food ingredients

Kalsec and 2nd Nature have announced an exploratory collaboration to investigate naturally sourced food and beverage ingredients, combining AI-assisted discovery with expertise in natural colors, flavors and food protection.

• Kalsec and 2nd Nature announced an exploratory collaboration to assess how AI-assisted discovery and natural ingredient expertise could identify opportunities with functional and commercial potential for manufacturers.
• The companies identified performance, availability, scalability and cost as considerations for evaluating opportunities, with the initial work intended to establish whether further development would be worthwhile.
• The announcement followed recognition of 2nd Nature’s AgWastePortal in TIME’s Best Inventions of 2026, where the ingredient discovery platform was included in the list’s Agriculture category.

Announced on October 28, the collaboration will examine how 2nd Nature’s AgWastePortal platform could complement Kalsec’s market knowledge and technical capabilities. The initial work will evaluate potential areas of mutual interest in ingredient discovery and sourcing.

The announcement did not identify a specific ingredient, feedstock or product application selected for development. Instead, the companies will explore whether their respective capabilities can identify opportunities worth pursuing, taking account of performance, availability, scalability and cost.

“We are continually looking at new ways to expand our understanding of naturally sourced ingredients and the opportunities they may create for our customers,” said Dr Roger Nahas, Executive Vice President of Global R&D and Chief Innovation Officer at Kalsec.

“2nd Nature brings an interesting discovery platform and perspective. We look forward to exploring where our capabilities may align and what we can learn together.”

Headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Kalsec has supplied natural ingredients to food and beverage manufacturers since 1958. Its portfolio covers taste and sensory ingredients, natural colors and food protection solutions, providing the application and market expertise that the companies intend to draw on during the exploration.

AgWastePortal maps compounds in agricultural materials, including food processing side streams, and predicts functionality. The platform is intended to help identify potentially useful sources of ingredients and assess them against practical manufacturing and commercial requirements.

Partners can approach 2nd Nature with either a function they need an ingredient to perform or a feedstock they want to investigate. The company combines discovery with process development and scale-up, with decisions guided by performance, production cost and supply requirements.

That approach allows the work to begin with a formulation requirement, rather than depending solely on identifying compounds and subsequently searching for an application. Alternatively, an existing side stream can provide the starting point for investigating which compounds it contains and what those compounds might do.

“Kalsec brings deep market knowledge and technical expertise in natural ingredients,” said Effendi Leonard, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of 2nd Nature.

“We are pleased to begin a dialogue about how our platform could complement that experience. This is an opportunity to explore possibilities, test assumptions and determine whether there are areas worth pursuing further.”

Separately from the Kalsec announcement, 2nd Nature’s website identifies three ingredients in development: a no-calorie sweetener, a non-sodium umami ingredient and an enzyme that converts sugar into fiber. It also lists early discovery work with Kanematsu and patent applications covering ingredients the company has discovered. These activities are not identified as projects within the Kalsec collaboration.
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The company’s stated development priorities span sugar, sodium and fiber. Its platform is designed to connect the search for useful compounds with an assessment of how they could be manufactured economically and advanced through regulatory evaluation.
2ndnature.bio

In a separate announcement on October 15, 2nd Nature described agricultural, fermentation and dairy side streams as feedstocks of interest. It said the platform’s work extends from mapping compounds and identifying potential functions to developing production methods, assessing commercial feasibility and planning for scale-up and supply.
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That earlier announcement accompanied AgWastePortal’s inclusion in the Agriculture category of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2026. The recognition preceded the Kalsec collaboration by less than two weeks.

For the newly announced exploration, the companies have emphasized the need to establish whether potential ingredient opportunities meet both functional and commercial requirements. The discovery of a promising compound would therefore represent an initial step, with production cost, dependable availability and scalability also informing any decision to proceed.

2nd Nature develops ingredients for food and beverage, home and personal care, and wellness markets. Kalsec operates production and distribution facilities internationally and is a certified B Corp. Neither company disclosed financial terms, a development timetable or target production volumes for the collaboration.

Meta description: Kalsec and 2nd Nature will explore AI-assisted discovery of naturally sourced food ingredients, including opportunities in agricultural and processing side streams.

(Main photo shows Effendi Leonard, PhD, CEO & Co-Founder of 2nd Nature)

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