[Photo: Eater]
Ferran Adrià, chef of the soon-to-shutter elBulli and no stranger to corporate sponsorships, has a new gig at PepsiCo. The chef, who had previously been involved with the company in Spain as it developed such products as Lay's Artesanas and Alvalle brand soups, will now extend his involvement with the corporation to include all worldwide brands.
According to a post on one of the company's blogs, Adrià will draw from his "observations from around the world" to inspire PepsiCo as it creates "new snackable foods, breakfast options, and convenience alternatives." Spherified fritos? Cap'n Crunch foam, perhaps?
In addition, a particular goal of the partnership will be to develop "taste enhancement ingredients and natural preserving techniques" to make their products healthier. The news comes just before the chef will begin in earnest to develop the elBulli Foundation, a cooking and creativity think tank.
PepsiCo and ‘World’s Greatest Chef’ Announce New Innovation Partnership
PepsiCo and Chef Ferran Adrià to Work Together on Creative Food ConceptsXX June 2011 The opportunity for PepsiCo to develop new food innovations and learn about leading cuisine trends lies at the heart of an exciting new partnership between the company and Ferran Adrià.
Ferran Adrià, whose restaurant El Bulli in Spain has been named best in the world five times by Restaurant Magazine, will work with PepsiCo to help develop new methods and concepts for creative food innovation. This partnership follows an existing successful relationship between the two parties which began in 2005 and involved Chef Adrià’s consultation on PepsiCo Spain’s Alvalle brand of chilled vegetable soups and Lay's Artesanas 100% olive oil among others.
Ferran Adrià will share creative principles, methods, procedures and techniques in order to assist PepsiCo in the creation of new snackable foods, breakfast options and convenience alternatives. He will help to inspire PepsiCo’s product development team by sharing samples, food trends and observations from around the world.
One specific area of focus for the partnership will be exploring the culinary arts to enable PepsiCo to broaden its portfolio of healthier choices. This includes developing taste enhancement ingredients and natural preserving techniques in order to reduce the use of fat and oil in current products, therefore making them healthier.
Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, explained “PepsiCo has had a long standing reputation for food innovation and this partnership, with arguably the best chef in the world, will enable us to move further forward with new creative concepts and ideas. We will also share our own creative principles and ideas, developed over our 46 year history, in order to help assist Ferran Adrià with his mission to create a world leading gastronomic think tank and research facility in the future.”
Ferran Adrià said “It is an honor for us, as well as a challenge, to be able to work so closely with a food company as important as PepsiCo and, most especially, with its extraordinary R&D teams around the world. This is certainly an enriching experience for both parties, from which we hope to obtain interesting results from our joint task, where El Bulli will provide its historic know-how regarding high level gastronomy as well as other areas of the food business.”
· Indra Nooyi Samples New Flavors with Ferran Adrià at the Greatest Restaurant in the World [PepsiCo Blogs]
· All Ferran Adría Coverage on Eater [-E-]
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