Igniting Innovation–Interview With Dr Peter KC Ong Of KH Roberts

Taste matters when it comes to food, and it is undeniably a factor in influencing consumers’ purchase decisions in food and drinks. KH Roberts creates and manufactures true-to-nature aromas and tastes for consumer companies in diverse segments like food and beverages, health and wellness and pharmaceuticals around the world.

With diverse cultures and taste preferences, we take pride in our deep expertise in designing food flavors and customizing aromas to meet the varying demands of these consumer groups. Flavor creation and process development are competencies that we built upon through years of accumulated insights on in-market consumers and specialized flavor manufacturing expertise.

Collaboration has been part of our corporate DNA since the founding of KH Roberts. As our business involves creating and producing flavor profiles that meet consumer preferences, partnering with our customers is necessary to get the right details and feedback. As in all other industries, trade secrets and intellectual properties are natural concerns when it comes to collaboration. The fear of losing always outweigh the gains.

The turning point came in around 2010 when we started our first open innovation project with a long-term strategic partner. The brief was straightforward: to jointly develop a range of flavored ingredients leveraging the in-house expertise of both parties. The results were beyond our expectations and it turned out to be a significant additional revenue stream for both companies. Today, KH Roberts recognizes open innovation as a core value that helps to enable our business and creates a network multiplier effect.

Working with partners allows us to accelerate the prototyping and trials of innovative concepts and flavors. Innovation partners very often serve as good functional sounding boards, which also helps speed up the commercialization process.

Overall, open innovation also allows us access to more diverse ranges of new, trending consumer behaviours, novel ingredients and technologies.

We constantly engage with our managers within KH Roberts to communicate the innovation framework and update projects, so they feel safe and assured of “free innovation” while not infringing on any out-of-bounds markers.

We also provide physical space in our facility for collaboration. It includes integrated labs and pilot trial plants that allow us to work with our partners and drive the cross-pollination of ideas. “Never say no” at the first instance is also an innovation mantra that we practise internally. Whether it is an internal initiative or a challenging project brief from our partners, good communication is critical in open innovation to align mutual expectations.

Additionally, we acknowledge and recognize diverse expertise and experience internally and externally, while leveraging these advantages in the creation process.

We learned that great innovation takes time and that the key to successful joint innovative efforts is to identify appropriate partners who have a similar approach and beliefs. The project team can only run as fast as the slowest partner.

Not all innovation projects result in commercial viability and success. It is important for partners to embrace learnings and mistakes, and to build on or improve upon them. Most importantly, all partners as well as their staff should understand the common principles of and have a shared respect for intellectual property.

Partnering with IPI has expanded KH Roberts’ network of innovation partners, technologies and resource. We also gain insight into the current innovation landscape from various perspectives. Overall, connecting with IPI enables KH Roberts to be plugged into the wider innovation ecosystem, providing opportunities for us beyond our own network.