With deep knowledge of regional markets, our innovation teams work to meet the needs of consumers around the world. A point of focus is developing products that deliver added benefits to consumers, such as specialty oils fortified with micronutrients.
Bunge employees in Europe developed a vegetable oil that offers a potential market solution to the problem of iodine deficiency in Romania. Many people in Romania do not get enough iodine in their regular diets. Iodine deficiency poses numerous health risks. It increases the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth, and it is the most common cause of preventable mental retardation worldwide.
"Bunge is a global leader in bottled vegetable oil, and 98 percent of Romanian households use cooking oil, so we wondered how we could help," says Bunge marketing manager Ionela Nicolau. "Our innovation team looked at the problem from a marketing perspective to see if we could devise a product that could help people get more iodine in their diets."
Area development manager Adina Creangă, a chemist and member of the innovation team in Romania, helped bridge the business and science of the project. Scientists at the Bunge Europe Research and Development Center in Budapest, Hungary, and in Geneva, Switzerland, worked to meet the challenge of adding iodine to vegetable oil. Dr. Katalin Kővári, director of R&D, and Dr. Nathalie Henin, director of scientific affairs, helped lead this collaborative effort.
The team also worked with the World Health Organization, the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, the Romanian health ministry and other government, medical and scientific authorities.
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