ITMO and VkusVill Launch Joint R&D Center for Foods of the Future

The center will serve as VkusVill’s permanent R&D platform on the campus of one of Russia’s leading universities. The task will be not just to generate ideas for “smart” foods, but also to supply the store’s aisles with ready-to-launch products with scientific added value. Young researchers will design fully fleshed-out products, study consumer demands, develop recipes and production methods, calculate the economical values, and produce prototypes – all the way to choosing production facilities and overseeing the first batches. The R&D center will be open not only to ITMO students, but also to any enthusiastic innovator.

“Our joint R&D center is a rare and valuable example of true synergy between science, education, and business. Here, there are no formal agreements for the sake of publicity – only deep, mutual interest. We’re not just creating new products, we’re producing science-rich innovations: every new invention is the result of precise studies, substantiated values, and utmost safety,” explains Sergey Kunitsyn, the head of innovations at VkusVill.

ITMO will provide the infrastructure as well as methodological and administrative support. Teams made up of students of varying majors (from foodtech to design and economics) will put forth hypotheses, come up with recipes, and test them at ITMO labs. VkusVill will provide expertise and methodological support, along with guaranteeing a “test shelf” for each new product that successfully passes the internal selection and tasting. At the final stage, each project will be joined by an industrial partner that meets VkusVill’s high production standards. The partner’s goal will be to upscale the promising products and put them into production. Thus, every team will go through the full development cycle: from scientific hypothesis to real products on store shelves.

“VkusVill didn’t choose ITMO by accident. The former Institute of Refrigeration and Biotechnology (an institution that merged with ITMO in 2011 – Ed.) has now grown into a powerful innovation cluster: our fundamental scientific knowledge of the food industry has been expanded with hot-topic competencies – AI, IT, robotics, chemistry, and biotechnologies. We teach our students product thinking; each idea, invention, or technology must find its market niche and see demand. That’s why for us, it’s important to work with industry leaders. This is how we attract experienced specialists as lecturers while also giving students a chance to work on real tech cases,” comments Olga Orlova, the head of a research and education center in the field of nutrition at ITMO.

The new R&D center was launched as part of the university’s newest structural unit: the FoodTech Center, an interdisciplinary research-and-education center that will focus on innovations in nutrition. Its main mission is to focus heavily on practical projects: research that solves real-life issues, innovations that exist outside laboratories, and education that shapes specialists for the industry.

As a result, VkusVill will receive a range of innovative products and scientific inventions, as well as help bring up the next generation of industry leaders. ITMO University will have the opportunity to provide a practical outlet for science, turning students’ ideas and theses into commercial products. Lastly, manufacturers will be able to introduce new products to the market while enjoying access to fully complete products and guaranteed test sales.

Within their projects, students and scientists will apply their knowledge towards real business work, using their entrepreneurial skills and food R&D experience in collaboration with leaders of the health food industry. The new VkusVill x ITMO R&D center establishes a reliable connection between science, education, and business. As the company’s representatives note, the new center is an “honest implementation of applied science” that proves that a modern university isn’t just a place to scout for “fresh blood,” but also a launchpad for new products and successful business projects.