Food, AI and tomatoes: the business of applied science at Maspex

Maspex Group is launching new R&D projects that bring science directly into its innovation pipeline. Since 2017, the company has already carried out around one hundred such joint initiatives. “Science must respond to social and economic needs,” says Dr. Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska, who is responsible for innovation at the company.

Maspex, the well-known Polish food company with a strong presence across Europe, is starting four new research and development projects in close collaboration with scientists. The case of Maspex illustrates that businesses are willing to allocate funds to research conducted by academics – provided that science is ready to engage in such cooperation.

Borrow from science

For several years, Maspex has been steadily developing an open innovation model. Each year, the company spends PLN 25–30 million (approximately EUR 5.8–6.9 million) on R&D. It works not only with its internal research and development teams, but also with universities, research institutes, startups, and specialized technology firms.

According to Dr. Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska, Director of the Innovation Management Department at Maspex, a turning point came nearly a decade ago when the company became involved in the establishment and operations of EIT Food – the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s food initiative – a consortium bringing together universities, research institutes, and businesses working to drive innovation in the agri-food sector.

Since then, the company has been running several to a dozen R&D projects each year. Maspex focuses on initiatives designed to reach implementation and generate tangible business outcomes. It funds commissioned research and expects results in return.

“We do not engage in projects conducted solely for academic purposes. We focus on initiatives whose outcomes we can implement in the company’s operations,” stresses the head of Maspex’s Innovation Management Department.

An exception that proves the rule

To date, Maspex has completed more than 100 R&D projects, typically in cooperation with researchers from various scientific institutions.

Why does this matter? Because collaboration between companies and universities – and the broader alignment of academic research with economic needs – is a standard model in developed countries. In Poland, however, it is still far from the norm. Researchers too often treat industry cooperation as a side job rather than a meaningful part of academia’s social responsibility.

A report prepared for the Ministry of Science shows that only a small number of research institutions generate significant revenue from cooperation with the market. Most of this income comes from commissioned research (see article below for more details).

By contrast, the median revenue from the commercialization of in-house research over a five-year period remains strikingly modest. For research institutes, it amounts to approximately PLN 307,000 (about EUR 71,000). For universities, it is even lower – just PLN 68,500 (about EUR 15,800). It is also worth noting that more than half of the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences recorded no commercialization revenue at all during this period.

This underscores a persistent imbalance: “science for science’s sake” still too often prevails over science engaged with economic objectives.

Unfortunately, the report does not include data on how many companies in Poland commission research projects from scientific institutions. It also lacks information on how many innovative solutions developed at Polish universities reach the market through commercialization.

Research on a partnership basis

Maspex’s collaboration with science takes various forms. At times, the company commissions specific research tasks from universities or partner institutions; at other times, it forms consortia in which each party is responsible for a distinct component of the project. Increasingly, partners also include startups founded by researchers who are able to combine academic expertise with market needs.

Maspex works with universities across Poland, including the AGH University of Krakow, the Medical University of Silesia, the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, the University of Agriculture in Kraków, and the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin. The company also draws on relationships developed through EIT Food, which enables cooperation with international research centers. Examples from the food processing sector show that the relationship between business and science is effective not only in deep-tech industries.

“We primarily work with people. We look for researchers who understand business needs and are willing to translate their research results into concrete implementations,” adds Dr. Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska.

A new tomato variety: science delivers

One of the most interesting projects in recent years involved the development of new tomato and cucumber varieties adapted to Polish climatic conditions. The company was seeking solutions that would ensure more stable yields and higher-quality raw materials later used in production.

“The projects lasted several years. We carried them out together with consortium partners – a seed company, a biotechnology partner, and an IT firm. The result was the development of new varieties of strategic raw materials for Maspex, as well as a strengthening of the local supply base. The new varieties have been implemented in processing,” says Dr. Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska.

Each partner retained rights to its own solutions. The biotechnology company kept ownership of the biostimulants it developed, while the technology partner retained rights to the software created. Maspex, in turn, gained access to raw materials and solutions improving production efficiency. The company also holds a pre-emptive right to purchase seeds of the new varieties.

“Thanks to our field tomato development program, we are self-sufficient when it comes to this key ingredient, which is the basis of many of our products – we source it entirely from Poland. Likewise, thanks to research programs related to the reintroduction of durum wheat, we already purchase nearly 40 percent of this raw material from Polish crops,” emphasizes Dr. Kutyna-Bakalarska.

“Hydrogen-enriched living water”

Another outcome of cooperation with universities is a new hydration beverage developed jointly with the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice and the Medical University of Silesia. The product is now entering the market.

Not all projects, however, translate immediately into commercial success. This was the case with probiotic dragees developed together with Prolab, a company founded by researchers affiliated with the Jagiellonian University.

“The technology was developed, but the product required refrigerated distribution and was significantly more expensive than traditional confectionery. At the time, the market was not ready for such a solution. We do not rule out revisiting it, however, as interest in functional foods is growing,” says Dr. Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska.

The company is currently finalizing a line of functional vegetable spreads based on highly nutritious raw materials. At the same time, it is conducting research on hydrogen-enriched water. The project uses technology developed by the AGH University of Krakow. The concept assumes that the water may support the body’s regeneration processes. Whether the product reaches the market will depend on further research results and an assessment of its commercial potential.

Waste under the microscope

Among the company’s latest initiatives are the use of artificial intelligence to plan sales activities, the recovery of valuable compounds from tomato processing waste, and the development of functional foods.

One of the four new projects is closely aligned with the circular economy. In cooperation with the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, the company is launching a project to recover lycopene and fiber from tomato pomace generated during production.

“The goal is to recover valuable ingredients and reuse them in production processes instead of treating them as waste,” explains Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska.

A similar approach underpins an international project carried out under the Horizon Europe program. The initiative involves more than a dozen foreign universities and research institutions from various countries. Scientists are analyzing the potential to recover valuable substances from fruit pomace, primarily apple residues. Maspex is one of the companies supplying raw materials for the research – namely, by-products from fruit processing.

“If these studies lead to cost-effective technologies, the next step will be to implement the solutions in our production,” says Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska.

AI in shopping behavior

Digital technologies are playing an increasingly important role in Maspex’s operations. One of the company’s latest initiatives is Shopper Insight, a consortium project with the AGH University of Krakow that uses artificial intelligence to plan activities supporting customers’ purchasing decisions.

“The university is responsible for building the algorithms and the analytical platform, while Maspex provides sales data and the business expertise needed to train the models. The aim is to create a system that will recommend the most effective sales actions,” explains the head of the innovation department.

Polish science still keeps its distance

Maspex’s experience highlights significant differences between domestic and international scientific communities in their approach to cooperation with business.

According to a Maspex expert, foreign universities and research institutes are far more oriented toward commercialization and collaboration with industry. Polish science, she argues, should move in the same direction.

“Science must respond to social and economic needs. Given that research is largely funded by public money, it is reasonable to expect greater involvement from researchers in knowledge transfer and cooperation with the economy,” says the director of Maspex’s innovation department.

More than 100 R&D projects completed since 2017 demonstrate that, at Poland’s largest food producer, meaningful innovation emerges at the intersection of business and science. Unfortunately, in Poland this model of cooperation is still often rejected by academia.

“Doctoral candidates and the youngest researchers show the greatest interest. They are eager to take part in mentoring and accelerator programs with a view to launching their own startups in the future. More senior academics, however, often leave training sessions with knowledge not about how to commercialize their results, but about how to maintain full control over them,” says Gabriela Konopka-Cupiał, Director of the Technology Transfer Center at the Jagiellonian University.

Key Takeaways

1. Maspex is eager to collaborate with science – but on strict terms. For the past decade, the Polish food industry leader has been consistently implementing an innovation model based on cooperation with researchers. The company works with universities, research institutes, and startups, delivering several to a dozen R&D projects each year. So far, it has completed more than 100 projects, all with a clear business objective: launching a new product, improving a production process, or enhancing sales performance.
2. Latest projects and tangible outcomes. Maspex is launching four new initiatives: the recovery of lycopene and fiber from tomato waste under a circular economy framework, functional vegetable ingredients, the development of the Uwielbiam.pl [Loving it!] culinary platform, and the Shopper Insight project, which uses AI to design actions influencing consumer purchasing decisions. Recent successes also include new tomato and cucumber varieties.
3. A rare example of science–business cooperation. The Maspex case shows that business is willing to fund scientific research, provided it is directed toward concrete applications within the company. In Poland, however, cooperation between science and the economy remains marginal – revenues from the commercialization of research results are still very low.