NIZO food research and Winclove Probiotics join forces in strategic partnership built on interdependency and microbial innovation
Ede, The Netherlands, 30 June 2026 – NIZO Food Research, a leading CRO and CDMO dedicated to the food transition towards healthy innovative food products, and Winclove Probiotics, a science-driven company that turns microbiome science into market-ready, trusted, preamium probiotic solutions that improve quality of life, today announced a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the discovery and development of novel probiotic solutions.
The collaboration combines NIZO’s proprietary and unique Culture Collection, with Winclove’s decades of expertise in probiotic development, formulation, and commercialization. Together, partners will characterize this boutique collection and explore its potential with the ambition to develop innovative probiotic solutions addressing current and future needs for health supplements and beyond.
“At the heart of the collaboration lies a shared belief in the power of interdependency,” says Maarten Pekelharing, CEO of Winclove Probiotics: The understanding that meaningful innovation emerges when organizations combine complementary strengths, knowledge, and purpose.”
NIZO’s Culture Collection comprises approximately 4,500 strains, around 2,000 of which are owned by NIZO. The collection represents a rich and diverse resource, whose potential will be unlocked. Through this collaboration, the collection will be systematically reorganized, maximizing its usability for research and development purposes.
“At NIZO, we strongly believe that the most impactful innovations are created through collaboration,” according to Nikolaas Vles, CEO of NIZO Food Research. “This partnership with Winclove enables us to unlock the potential of our microbial assets in a way that neither organization could achieve alone.”
Beyond the direct scientific and commercial opportunities, both organizations see this collaboration as a starting point for cross-pollination. Throughout the term of the agreement, experts from both organizations, including microbiologists, food technologists, clinicians, bioinformaticians, and product developers, will come together to discuss findings, connect complementary expertise, and identify promising directions for future probiotic and microbe-based (food) innovations.
As Coline Gerritsen, Chief Research & Development Officer at Winclove Probiotics, and Susann Bellmann, Director Commercial Operations at NIZO, emphasized during the early conversations leading to this partnership, innovations often arise at the intersection of disciplines.
This three-year interdependency agreement not only lays the foundation for probiotic innovation at Winclove and discovery of novel processing functionalities for NIZO, but also allows foster entrepreneurship and long-term partnership between both organizations.
