Tanmiah inaugurates Innovation Center

- Unites the entire innovation cycle in one micro-laboratory-scale facility at Tanmiah's headquarters

- Enhances capabilities to experiment with new ideas and locally-sourced ingredients

- Advances local food security, raises quality standards, elevates the profile of unique Saudi ingredients

- Supports KSA's vision of a sustainable, self-sufficient food sector 

Tanmiah Food Company, one of KSA's vertically-integrated poultry and food producers, has launched the Tanmiah Innovation Center at its headquarters in Riyadh. The centre is envisioned as a platform for expanding Tanmiah's value-added portfolio across the broader protein landscape, advancing the company's vision of becoming the leading global provider of halal, sustainable and healthy protein. 

The center was inaugurated in the presence of Tanmiah's Chairman H.E. Amr Al Dabbagh, and Dr. Abdulaziz bin Malik Al-Malik, Deputy Minister for Research and Innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, as well as other representatives from the Culinary Arts Commission, the Agricultural Development Fund, the Environment Fund, alongside Tanmiah's executive management team. 

Photo from the Innovation Center inauguration event

The innovation centre is focused on healthy, sustainable protein products, and will lead the development of all new products across Tanmiah's brands, which are distributed in KSA and GCC markets. The entire innovation and R&D product lifecycle will be managed in one place. Consumer insights, concept creation, project evaluation, prototype development, pilot trials, consumer validation and market launch are handled within a single integrated ecosystem, rather than split across separate functions or external suppliers. 

In addition to consumer product innovation, the centre is designed to foster close collaboration with hotel, restaurant, café/catering (HORECA) and other food service partners on tailored solutions, from product development to menu creation. Its capabilities also extend beyond poultry products themselves, supporting the development, testing and validation of new protein categories. 

The centre has four connected areas: creation and research, kitchen, application, and sensory analysis. This integrated structure supports faster responses to emerging trends, improved decision-making, and higher product quality, all while protecting operational continuity, Tanmiah said. 

By replicating Tanmiah's further-processing and marination capabilities at a micro-laboratory scale, the centre enables products to be fully developed and validated on site before moving directly to production. This reduces lead times, improves responsiveness to consumer feedback, and ensures products reach the market in the shortest possible time. 

Zulfiqar Hamadani, Group Chief Executive Officer of Tanmiah said: "With this Innovation Center, we are strengthening our ability to respond faster and more effectively to the evolving needs of our customers and consumers, creating products that are more convenient, healthier, and deliver greater value. 

"At the same time, it enables us to contribute positively towards the ambitions of Vision 2030 by developing a more diversified, self-sufficient, and sustainable food sector. For six decades, our deep connection to the communities we serve has been a cornerstone of our resilience and success, and we believe it will remain central to how we grow and create value for generations to come."

Zein M. Attar, MD, Tanmiah said: "Our deep-rooted presence in the communities where we farm, produce, and deliver our products, gives us a unique understanding of the consumers we serve and their evolving needs. This culinary Innovation Center will turn that insight into nutritious, healthier, and more sustainable food solutions, developed locally, for the people and communities we serve. We are tremendously excited about the pipeline this centre will unlock and the opportunities it creates for Saudi talent, Saudi ingredients and Saudi innovation in the years ahead."

Marcos Delorenzo, CEO, Agricultural Development Company (ADC) said: "Chicken meat is one of the most versatile proteins, offering tremendous possibilities for innovation across flavors, spices, formats and occasions. The Innovation Center allows us to unlock that potential, responding faster to evolving consumer trends and customer needs with differentiated products and customised solutions. 

"In alignment with our vision, its capabilities also take us beyond poultry, providing a platform to explore new protein categories and expand Tanmiah's role in the future of food in the kingdom, regionally and globally." 

The inauguration of the centre follows a number of milestones for Tanmiah's innovation pipeline. In 2026, through its subsidiary Agricultural Development Company (ADC), Tanmiah won in two categories at the Product of the Year (POY) Gulf Edition for the 5th consecutive year. The winning products are its frozen breaded chicken Range, pioneering the use of 100% fresh Saudi Chicken in the frozen category, and its Taste secrets fresh marinated Shaqra Pepper Chicken Breast Fillet in the marinated category, made with the distinctive local Shaqra pepper cultivated in the Shaqra region northwest of Riyadh, delivering deeper cultural relevance through authentic local flavor while supporting local farmers. 

Angel Yeast boosts yeast protein production

Source: Angel Yeast. Angel Yeast is boosting yeast protein production to meet a global demand for alternative protein foods.

Angel Yeast, a global yeast manufacturer, has officially topped out its main plant for industrial yeast protein production at Baiyang Yichang. The plant is expected to achieve an annual output of 11,000 tons, a milestone of Angel Yeast's sustainable protein development strategy, in 2025.

According to the company, traditional protein production, from cereal and legume cultivation to dairy farming, is time-consuming and may struggle to meet future demands for quantity, quality, and sustainable supply. Yeast protein also boasts significant environmental advantages by effectively lowering dependence on land and water resources and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The carbon dioxide emissions associated with producing yeast protein are approximately 1/20 of those from animal protein, Angel Yeast said.

Angel Yeast offers a large-scale, low-cost, and high-quality protein production method, taking hours to extract proteins from yeast. The resulting protein is called AngeoPro, and can be used for protein bars, high-protein cereals and chips, as well as yeast protein powder, cookies and alternative meats. Angel Yeast's AngeoPro can already be found in a vegan protein bar brand in India, the company shared.

"AngeoPro has redefined 'future protein', boasting 80% higher protein content and a 96% protein utilisation rate that surpasses nearly all plant-based proteins. It also provides the nine essential amino acids needed by the human body which account for 47% of total amino acids, while in comparison whey protein is 46% essential amino acids, while plant proteins are usually only 35 to 40%, making AngeoPro yeast protein a nutritionally-advantaged and highly-efficient source of high-quality protein," said Zhang Yan, Assistant GM of Angel Yeast and Dean of the Angel Yeast Research Institute.

Bruce Friedrich, founder and CEO of Good Food Institute, recently spoke at the The Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore, where he noted that the Asia-Pacific region's demand for meat is expected to account for 50% of the global total by 2050. He compared alt protein development to that of solar and electric vehicles a decade ago, which was not seen as a viable choice of energy transformation at that time but is now mainstream.

"Looking forward, Angel Yeast will continue to increase our investment in the R&D of yeast proteins, improve production technologies and expand fields of expansion, and contribute to building a sustainable future for all," said Zhang.