How PIPA & Rivalz are transforming snacking with digital extrusion twins

The snack aisle is getting a makeover. Adult obesity rates are finally dropping in the US, thanks in part to a surge in popularity of GLP-1 drugs. With nearly 1 in 10 Americans projected to be on weight loss drugs by 2030, one thing is clear: consumers are demanding healthier snacks.

Snack company, Rivalz, is shaking up the $692 billion industry by placing AI at the center of its product innovation and development. Rivalz is dedicated to creating a new generation of snacks that are not only delicious but also packed with protein and fiber, all while remaining affordable. But how are they achieving this ambitious goal?

Watch the full interview with David Westin for Wall ST Week here.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg’s David Westin for Wall Street Week, Rivalz co-founders and investors Harold Schmitz and Ralph Jerome, along with Ilias Tagkopoulos, founder of PIPA, discussed how AI is transforming the healthy snack category by embedding AI and digital twins at the center of product development.

GLP-1 is ushering in the healthification of snacking

Harold Schmitz recognized the growing demand for healthier snacks, fueled by the rise of GLP-1 drugs and a shift in consumer preferences away from conventional snacks that are typically high in calories and fats. He highlighted the critical role of AI in the healthification of snacking. Schmitz explained how AI can serve as the catalyst for developing delicious, nutrient-rich snacks that are both affordable and aligned with evolving consumer needs:

“AI is making this incredibly complex mixture of chemistry, biochemistry that goes into food processing understandable so that product development can happen exponentially faster in order to create exponentially better products that are more cost-effective for consumers.”

Digital extrusion twins accelerate food formulation

Ilias Tagkopoulos, PIPA founder, shared how his conviction for food as medicine stemmed from a personal experience, where nutrition was the answer to getting his son out of a delibitating condition.

“We need to generate food that can keep us healthy in the long term. We have to change the paradigm, we have to be more sustainable ourselves and as a society.”

Tagkopoulos provided a sneak peek into PIPA’s groundbreaking digital extrusion twin technology that helps Rivalz to quickly and with high precision identify the optimal ingredient combinations and extrusion process from a virtually boundless design space to create winning formulations. Digital Extrusion is a newly introduced capability within the PIPA OS suite of offerings.

This technology leverages Generative AI and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to overcome a significant challenge: creating appealing textural characteristics in low-starch, high-protein, high-fiber snacks using traditional extrusion methods. Rivalz co-founder Ralph Jerome explained that while starch is crucial for achieving desirable textures like crunchiness and lightness, digital extruder technology enables us to achieve these attributes with protein- and fiber-rich formulations.

According to Jerome, Rivalz would have had to conduct 500,000 formulation experiments to develop its first products. WIth AI that number was cut to just 71 trials tha resulted in the rad ranch, tasty street taco and lazy night pizza flavor. Rivalz, with its AI-powered, data-driven approach, is breaking down the traditional barriers faced by CPG companies. They’re successfully developing affordable, healthy snacks that are both delicious and commercially viable, all while accelerating the product development process

While challenges remain, the potential for AI to transform the food industry is immense, offering a path towards a more sustainable and healthier future for consumers.

To learn more about our digital extrusion technology reach out at info@pipacorp.com.