LAUSANNE, Switzerland – At the Nestlé R&D Accelerator, passionate Nestlé experts, graduates, students and startups work on rapidly turning science and innovative concepts into new product solutions, selling them as special editions to be tested in real market conditions. The Nestlé R&D Accelerator is a global initiative first launched in April 2019 at Nestlé Research in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Since then, more than 30 teams successfully completed the R&D Accelerator program by taking a product from a concept to the store shelf in just six months.
“The R&D Accelerator is an amazing experience for both the participants and our businesses. We foster creative entrepreneurship behavior and provide the teams access to scientific, technical and business expertise, to prototyping and mini-production technologies, and everything that is required for their route to market”, says Tom Wagner, Head of the Nestlé’s global R&D Accelerator initiative. “Our innovation coaches provide spot-on support to bring science-based concepts to consumers in record times”.
For example, one of the R&D Accelerator’s team just launched a product building on Nestlé proprietary research identifying new natural bioactive ingredients that work at the cellular level to reduce physical fatigue. Our scientists have shown that the combination of micronutrients with a natural olive extract supports muscular energy and allows the body to use its full potential without actually adding calories to the muscle. The product is currently available in Italy as part of a limited shop test.
The R&D Accelerator has also just launched the first nutritional solution that addresses motivation, to help people reaching their lifestyle goals. The product contains a combination of selected vitamins and the supplement form of a naturally occurring amino acid. The innovative solution promotes the production of glutathione, a powerful antioxidant produced by the body, that has been scientifically proven to be associated to motivation control and energy production. It is sold in France as a food supplement, in selected pharmacies, specialized shops, on a dedicated website and other online platforms.
Another recent example the R&D Accelerator brought to the market is a superfruit smoothie range that supports health benefits such as immunity, protection and energy. Working with a Swiss start-up founded by two entrepreneurial gastroenterologists who also had the original idea, the product contains superfruits that have been selected for their nutrient density and proven health benefits, leveraging the different scientific expertise, of the start-up and Nestlé. The team successfully tested the product range in selected supermarkets in Switzerland.
“The scientific discoveries of Nestlé Research are the foundation for many tasty, healthy and sustainable innovations that have been launched across markets and categories”, says Isabelle Bureau-Franz, Head of Nestlé Research. “Our R&D Accelerator brings some of our discoveries to the shelves in only six months, helping us to move fast. With great passion and agility we deliver innovations embracing consumer needs and desires, while continuing to broaden and strengthen our scientific work and focus on long-term projects.”
As Nestlé is extending the R&D Accelerator initiative to multiple markets and across product categories, more accelerated science-driven innovations are expected to be launched in the near future.
