On the 21st of January Representatives of Mjólkursamsälan and Matís signed a five-year collaboration agreement on research on skyr bacteria and whey. According to information from Jón Axel Pétursson, MS's Managing Director of Sales and Marketing, the company is very excited about this collaboration, which the companies have agreed on.
"There is great value in the skyr and the Icelandic skyr bacterium, as we have seen very clearly from our positive sales development of skyr in the Nordic countries, but last year sales there increased by 85% and are now a total of around and over 13,000 tonnes," says Jón Axel. There is every reason to investigate further the Icelandic skyrgeril and its uniqueness and how it can be used to make the skyr an even more valuable export product than it is today. "Gaining access to the qualified and good professionals in science and research who work at Matís is therefore very valuable to us and we have high hopes for the future of our collaboration," says Jón Axel. "Furthermore, together we intend to better investigate the properties of whey and how it is possible to make more value out of it than is done today."
According to Oddur Már Gunnarsson, Matís' business development manager, the company sees a great opportunity in working with MS. Matís is a leading research company in food, biotechnology and environmental research and the company is very well equipped to handle projects like this.
"There is a great deal of knowledge within Matís about all kinds of microorganisms and that knowledge will be useful for research on skyr and skyr bacteria. Whey is no less an interesting raw material that offers great potential for increased value creation. The collaboration between Matís and MS creates enormous opportunities for innovation, "says Oddur Már.
"The collaboration with MS also fits in well with the basic values of Matís' operations, but the company places emphasis on working on various projects in the food industry, where emphasis is placed on innovation and value addition", says Oddur Már further.
Oddur Már Gunnarsson, Matís Business Development Manager and Jón Axel Pétursson,
The Managing Director of Sales and Marketing at MS signs a co-operation agreement between the two companies