Davis, California, USA
March 19, 2018
Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKDA), an agricultural technology company, today announced the official launch of its GoodWheat™ consumer brand, a non-transgenic (non-GM) platform that enables food manufacturers to differentiate their consumer-facing brands. The brand launch is a key element of the company’s go-to-market strategy to achieve greater value for its innovations by participating in downstream consumer revenue opportunities.
Arcadia designed the brand to make an immediate connection with consumers that products made with GoodWheat™ meet their demands for healthier wheat options that taste great. The GoodWheat™ brand encompasses Arcadia’s current and future non-GM wheat portfolio of high fiber Resistant Starch (RS) and Reduced Gluten wheat varieties, as well as future wheat innovations. In addition to the recently announced technology milestones in its RS wheat program and its commercial launch, Arcadia has made significant progress in its Reduced Gluten wheat program and remains on track for its commercial launch.
“Our GoodWheat™ brand is directly aligned with our strategic direction to deliver differentiating value to food manufacturers and consumers who want healthier products that taste great,” said Raj Ketkar, Arcadia’s president and CEO. “The launch of the GoodWheat™ brand follows a decade of research in wheat quality traits and is the direct result of the product strategy implemented last year.”
To capitalize on these opportunities, the company is building out its commercial team, including the retention of Ian Miller, an expert branded ingredient strategist who was the architect of the NutraSweet brand along with hundreds of other well-known consumer brands.
“The chance to make a positive healthy impact with an ingredient as ubiquitous as wheat doesn’t come around very often,” Miller said. “With GoodWheat™, Arcadia has an incredible opportunity to meet mainstream consumer demand and create measurable value for consumer food and beverage brands.”
Arcadia recently announced it has developed wheat varieties that contain up to 94 percent amylose, compared to 25 to 30 percent amylose in traditional wheat. Increased levels of amylose correspond to higher levels of resistant starch which has been proven to deliver significant health benefits. These same wheat varieties also deliver levels of total dietary fiber high enough to meet the US Food and Drug Administration’s threshold for a “Good Source” of fiber or “High in Fiber” designation on consumer packaging. Since Resistant Starch GoodWheat™ is naturally high in fiber, food companies can reduce the use of additional fiber sources in their formulations and simplify their ingredient labels. Arcadia is already working with a growing number of consumer packaged goods companies on new, healthier formulations of existing products using both refined and whole wheat Resistant Starch flour.
To meet demand for functional wheat ingredients, the company is also developing Reduced Gluten, and other soon-to-be announced improved wheat varieties that would be sold under the GoodWheat™ brand.
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