6 Jan 2022
The Puratos Group announces the acquisition of THT, a Belgian company with strong expertise in probiotics, with a goal to bring to the market more innovative solutions with gut health benefits.
Gut Health Trend
In the past years, there has been a growing consumer understanding that looking after the gut health can drastically change one's health and well-being. A person’s gut microbiome hosts more than 100 trillion microorganisms and is the home base of 70% of one’s immune system. Puratos’ Taste Tomorrow research pointed out that a growing consumer base acknowledges the importance of a well-balanced gut microbiota as it not only supports digestion, it even modulates brain activities through what is called the ‘gut-brain axis’. As such, 72% of consumers, when interviewed, declare to have an interest in products that improve gut health. This makes the topic of gut health appealing to a broad audience, beyond those with actual digestive issues.
This rising awareness is creating a mounting demand for affordable and tasty food that’s good for the gut. Fibers/prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics have been shown to have a significant effect on human health and are center stage when food producers are developing products that are good for one’s gut microbiome.
Bread as a source of nourishment for the gut
Puratos’s ambition is to turn the daily bread into the everyday source of nourishment our gut needs. This can be obtained through prebiotic fiber, which feeds the good bacteria that are already present in the gut, helping them thrive and sending a ripple of well-being throughout your body and mind.
Bread can be the perfect vessel to prebiotic fiber in the diet, as it is routed in the daily routine, making it the natural choice for a gut friendly diet.
Continuous investment in gut health
To stay ahead of trends, Puratos is continuously investing in gut health research and runs several short and long-term collaboration projects with expert academic institutions in this field.
Pierre Tossut, CEO at Puratos states:
With over 100 years of expertise in bakery Puratos connects the art of bread-making with the science of gut health. THT, and its continuous investment in scientific developments, will contribute to bringing new insights in this domain and will enlarge the options for our customers.
Puratos will benefit from THT’s complementary experience in probiotics, create synergies and bring more innovative gut health solutions for our customers.
