Neogen Corporation announced Tuesday a strategic collaboration and equity investment in Hinalea Imaging Corp., aiming to develop digital imaging solutions for food safety and quality inspection.
The partnership builds on work the companies began in 2025 to evaluate hyperspectral imaging applications in food safety. The technology captures information across multiple wavelengths to assess product characteristics that standard cameras might miss.
Through the collaboration, Neogen and Hinalea plan to create solutions that could streamline inspection and testing workflows while helping customers interpret results faster and more consistently. Neogen’s equity investment and shared development costs are designed to speed up the technology’s development for food safety uses.
“Food producers need solutions that deliver reliable information sooner and reduce the manual work involved in testing and inspection,” said Jeremy Yarwood, Neogen’s chief scientific officer. “We believe Hinalea’s imaging technology offers a promising way to address those needs practically and economically.”
Yarwood said the investment provides an opportunity to deepen the collaboration and develop digital capabilities that bring Neogen’s food safety expertise into new inspection workflows.
When combined with analytical tools and machine learning, hyperspectral imaging could support more automated measurement, counting and classification in food safety and quality applications. The companies will continue evaluating where the technology can deliver meaningful benefits within customer workflows.
Barry McDonogh, Hinalea Imaging’s CEO, said food safety and quality inspection are moving toward digital, connected and increasingly automated workflows.
“Neogen’s investment validates both our technology and our shared vision for the future of food inspection,” McDonogh said. “Together, we believe intelligent imaging can transform how food companies measure and control food quality and safety.”
Neogen, based in Lansing, Michigan, provides food safety solutions globally.
