By: IPP Bureau
Last updated : September 08, 2026 8:45 pm
Collaboration combines VIT’s research capabilities with Fermenta’s expertise in vitamins, nutritional premixes and food fortification
Fermenta Biotech Limited, a top Indian manufacturer of premium-grade APIs, intermediates, and nutritional premixes, has signed an exclusive licence agreement with the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). Under this agreement, Fermenta will commercialise VIT's technology for natural in-situ Vitamin B12 fortification in fermented foods to serve its global markets.
Vitamin B12 deficiency continues to be a major health concern, especially for vegetarians and vegans who lack natural dietary sources. Fortifying everyday foods provides a more accessible way to boost intake compared to relying only on supplements or injections. This growing need for B12 solutions is driven by the rise of plant-based diets, an aging global population, and a surging consumer focus on fortified foods.
To address this, Dr. Krishnan Venkataraman and his team at VIT Vellore’s Centre for BioSeparation Technology (CBST) have created a smarter approach to fortification. Rather than mixing Vitamin B12 into finished food products, VIT’s technology naturally boosts the vitamin directly during the fermentation process.
The process uses selected nutrients and cofactors during fermentation to enhance the formation of Vitamin B12 within the food matrix. It is designed to integrate with existing food fermentation processes without requiring substantial alterations to conventional production methods. Laboratory studies demonstrated approximately 80% retention of the enhanced Vitamin B12 levels following cooking, indicating the technology’s potential applicability across both fermented and subsequently cooked foods.
Commenting on the milestone, Prashant Nagre, Managing Director, Fermenta Biotech Limited, said: “Fermenta’s collaboration with VIT Vellore brings together scientific depth and industrial capability with a shared purpose: to make nutrition more meaningful, relevant and accessible. This technology opens a differentiated route to Vitamin B12 enrichment and extends Fermenta’s food fortification capabilities beyond customised vitamin and mineral premixes. It also reflects a larger ambition of translating emerging nutrition research into scalable solutions that can become part of everyday foods and, over time, contribute to better nutritional outcomes. Our focus will now be on advancing this technology towards practical, market-ready applications with the potential to support improved nutritional outcomes.”.
Commenting on the milestone during the signing and exchange of the exclusive licence agreement, G . Viswanathan, Chancellor VIT, said: “This MoU with Fermenta Biotech Ltd is a significant one and it reflectsVIT’s long-standing commitment to transform academic learning into a solution provider for real world challenges especially in healthcare industry. I am confident that this MoU will contribute to India’s capabilities in nutritional science and also fight against micronutrient deficiency.”
The upcoming phase focuses on application development, nutritional validation, testing final Vitamin B12 concentrations, and assessing regulatory pathways to build commercially viable food solutions. This breakthrough holds immense commercial potential across the FMCG, food and nutrition, nutraceutical, and broader healthcare markets. By leveraging its specialized scale-up capabilities, Fermenta aims to transform this research into accessible pre-mixes and fortified foods—marking a powerful industry-academia partnership dedicated to eradicating global dietary deficiencies.