Popcorn made from water lilies, legumes that mimic the effects of weight loss drugs, and enzymes that turn sugar into fiber in our bodies: they may sound like science fiction, but thanks to Pladis, consumers might be seeing more of them on supermarket shelves before too long.

The London-headquartered snacking company has unveiled 12 start-ups chosen for its 2025 Accelerator Program, designed to scale-up cutting-edge food and ingredient innovation.

Selected from more than 300 applications across five continents, the eight-week program brings together founders tackling some of the food industry’s biggest challenges: obesity, food waste, sustainable sourcing and the growing demand for personalized nutrition.

"There’s so much creativity in this group. What stood out is how practical their thinking is. This cohort has big ideas that are grounded in real science and they’re ready to be tested in the real world," says Jennifer Moss, chief R&D officer at Pladis.

Turning waste and science into snacks

Among the more radical ventures is Dublin-based Nuritas, which uses AI and genomics to unlock bioactive plant peptides that can trigger health benefits at a cellular level. Fermtech, meanwhile, has created a cocoa alternative by fermenting food industry side-streams, resulting in a product with a 98% lower carbon footprint than traditional cocoa powder.

Then there’s Zya, which has developed enzymes that convert up to 30% of sugar into fiber after it’s consumed—a behind-the-scenes transformation that could help reduce the impact of sugar without changing how food tastes.

Rethinking fats, flours, and packaging

MicroLub is reinventing texture for the plant-based market with next-gen fat replacements. PulseON Foods is targeting gut health and satiety—mimicking the biological pathways triggered by new weight-loss medications, but doing it with legumes.

Just Nosh is turning water lilies into a popcorn-like snack, and, Pack2Earth is tackling plastic waste with packaging that breaks down naturally in household conditions, even when used for liquids and semi-solids.

The program, powered by Yildiz Ventures—the innovation arm of Pladis’ parent company Yildiz Holding—will give each start-up access to Pladis experts across R&D, supply chain, regulatory and marketing, as well as real-world testing opportunities.

"We applied to the Pladis Accelerator because we’re looking for partners who understand both science and scale,” says Dr. Nora Khaldi, founder and CEO, Nuritas. “The access to mentors, technical expertise, and commercial insight is exactly what we need to bring our next generation of functional plant peptide ingredients to market.” 

Forward Fooding has been a strategic partner in helping Pladis source and evaluate the applications, using its insights into Food Tech trends and solutions to guide the company's selection process.

Alessio D'Antino, co-founder and CEO, Forward Fooding, notes “This selection process has been a highly collaborative and rewarding journey. The 12 companies selected for this program truly represent breakthrough innovations that are well aligned with Pladis' mission to revolutionise snacking while addressing wellness and sustainability challenges. We're excited to see how this program will drive meaningful impact for Pladis and the broader industry." 

The full 2025 Pladis Accelerator Program lineup includes:

• Nuritas is on a mission to improve billions of lives: the company uses AI, deep learning, and genomics to discover and unlock precision cell-signalling peptides from natural plant sources, creating a new category of bioactive ingredients.
• Biovit provides food companies with sustainable vitamins and minerals.
• PulseON Foods is a patented, legume-based ingredient offering manufacturers and consumers a natural way to support digestive wellness, satiety regulation, and weight management via metabolic pathways used in recent weight management medications.
• Zya uses the power of enzymes to transform how bodies use food. Its first ingredient, Convero, is an enzyme that converts 30% of sugar into fiber after eating. 
• Kyomei uses technology to valorize crop waste green leaves into healthy, sustainable food ingredients for consumers.
• Supernatural Foods aims to revolutionize snacking with its proprietary process that creates healthy snacks by pressing vegetables in a way that preserves their nutritional value while delivering crunch.
• Just Nosh offers Water Lily Pops: reportedly crunchy like potato chips but fluffy like popcorn.
• Fermtech creates food without traditional farming by converting food industry side streams into nutritious ingredients. Its Koji Cocoa, a cocoa replacement, can fully substitute up to 75% of cocoa powder at a 1:1 ratio—while boasting a 98% lower carbon footprint than conventional cocoa.
• MicroLub uses next-generation protein technologies to aim to revolutionize texture in fat replacement and plant-based food products.
• Pack2Earth has developed the first materials that compost at ambient temperatures almost anywhere, while being suitable for packaging long-life dry, semi-liquid, and liquid products, including food. These materials reduce CO₂ emissions and protect both the environment and human health from toxins and microplastics.
• Shiru aims to transform product innovation by using AI-driven discovery to unlock natural, scalable, high-performance ingredients.
• Sun Bear Biofuture is striving to bioengineer the future of ingredients through microorganisms and precision fermentation.

Pladis is on the current Candy Industry “Global Top 100 Candy Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Global Top 100” rankings.