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Neil McCluskey © Kerry

Op Ed: Neil McCluskey, Textured Plant Proteins Global Director at Kerry, Explains the Consumer Trends Driving Innovation in Alt Protein

December 12, 2024

Neil McCluskey, Textured Plant Proteins Global Product Director at Kerry, here outlines key consumer trends driving innovation in alternative proteins, including the demand for healthier, sustainable, and clean-label products. While traditional proteins like soy, pea, and wheat still prevail, there is a shift toward more sustainable and performance-oriented sources, explains McCluskey, noting that the US market faces particular challenges due to a significant price premium on plant-based options. From his point of view, the industry is undergoing consolidation, with successful products focusing on taste, texture, and repeat purchases, while new protein sources like mycoprotein are coming to prominence. Exploring New Protein Sources to Meet Consumer Demands By Neil McCluskey, Kerry / Oojah BV Consumer trends driving innovation in alternative proteins include rising demand for healthier, …

Health

New 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Place Emphasis on Plant Proteins, Potentially Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Lives

December 11, 2024

The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) may see significant changes based on a new report from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). For the first time, the committee has recommended placing greater emphasis on plant-based proteins. The changes were originally discussed during the DGAC’s seventh and final public meeting on October 21-22, 2024, where the committee reviewed feedback and finalized its recommendations. Under the new guidelines, plant-based foods will be prioritized over animal-derived proteins, such as meat, eggs, and dairy, which have been linked to higher levels of saturated fat. Additionally, legumes such as beans, peas, and lentils would be officially recognized as protein sources rather than being categorized solely as vegetables. This change aims to offer a clearer understanding of protein-rich foods in …

Health

Harvard Study Links More Plant Proteins and Less Meat to Lower Heart Disease Risk

December 11, 2024

Shifting diets to incorporate more plants and less meat is recommended for environmental and health benefits, including heart health. Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have found that consuming more plant-based than animal-based proteins is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD). Since most diet recommendations do not mention optimal meal portions, the researchers embarked on a study to examine the associations between different plant-to-animal protein ratios and CVD risk. They analyzed 30 years of data from approximately 203,000 adults in the US, including diet, lifestyle, and heart health, with dietary intake reported every four years. The study also assessed the joint effects of the plant-to-animal protein ratio with protein density (percentage of total calories …

Health

Proposed US Dietary Guidelines Prioritize Plant Proteins Over Meat for the First Time

November 7, 2024

The US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) are currently reviewing proposed updates to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines that would shift emphasis toward plant-based proteins, a significant adjustment from traditional recommendations. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee held its seventh and final meeting on October 21, 2024, where a preliminary plan proposed to prioritize plant-based protein sources over animal-based ones. This meeting, hosted by the National Institutes of Health, is part of a larger initiative to revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are updated every five years. Key among the proposed changes is a restructuring of the “protein foods” category, which traditionally prioritized meat, eggs, poultry, and seafood. Under the new guidelines, the plant-based category of nuts, seeds, and soy products …

Algae, Microalgae & Seaweed

Switzerland’s Catchfree Develops Shrimp Alternative Made From Microalgae and Plant Proteins

October 29, 2024October 23, 2024

Catchfree is a food tech startup that has emerged from the Swiss Technical Institute of Technology (ETH). The company is developing sustainable, nutrient-rich plant-based seafood, starting with a microalgae-based shrimp alternative. Made using a proprietary process, the plant-based shrimp combines microalgae with other plant proteins to replicate the taste, texture, and nutritional value of conventional shrimp. The product has been made possible by the increasing availability of non-pigmented microalgae, which provides a rich source of protein and fatty acids without undesirable colours or flavours. Paprika is used to give the plant-based shrimp an authentic colour without the need for artificial additives. Catchfree was founded by food scientists Eduard Müller and Severin Eder to address overfishing and the environmental issues associated with aquaculture. “We’re focusing on …

The Italian beef trader Gruppo Tonazzo, a family business for five generations, announced it would discontinue its meat business at the end of this year.

Company News

Gruppo Tonazzo Shuts Down Meat Business to Focus on Plant Proteins: “We Feel a Deep Responsibility to Future Generations”

September 19, 2024

The Italian beef trader Gruppo Tonazzo, a family business for five generations, announced it would discontinue its meat business at the end of this year. The company said it would focus solely on plant proteins and expand its plant-based brand, Kioene, which was introduced almost 40 years ago and, today, is among the market’s leaders, offering over 100 products. As reported by local media, the company’s meat facilities in Villanova di Camposampiero will specialize in producing high-quality vegetable and legume-based foods. Employees involved in the meat division can transition to roles within the plant-based business, ensuring job continuity. A long-term vision According to Tonazzo’s leadership, the strategic decision reflects a long-term vision to address the environmental impact of meat and promote healthy diets for future …

Frederik Jensen, © NUTRUMAMI

Interviews

NUTRUMAMI: “We Want to Enable a New Wave of Plant-Centric Foods by Unlocking Plant Proteins”

July 10, 2024

Denmark’s NUTRUMAMI, led by fine-dining chef Frederik Jensen, is working on the development of a plant protein powder that replaces nutrients from animal meat, pioneering a new category of “multi-functional plant proteins” for a new generation of plant-centric foods. Using a unique cross-fermentation process, NUTRUMAMI aims to enhance the taste, texture, and nutrition of plant proteins. With plans to expand its team for market launch, NUTRUMAMI seeks to create clean, nutritious, plant-centric foods that offer a complete nutritional profile and reduce reliance on animal-derived nutrients. NUTRUMAMI closed a €450K pre-seed funding round this May, to enable the startup to carry out its mission “to unlock plant proteins to transform the quality of plant-centric foods in terms of taste, texture, and nutrition while being clean and wholesome …

Image supplied by Food Frontier

Company News

Isolate Manufacturer Australian Plant Proteins Enters Voluntary Administration

July 8, 2024

Australian Plant Proteins (APP), the only manufacturer of Australian-grown faba bean and pulse protein isolates, has entered voluntary administration. APP operates the largest of three commercial-scale plant protein fractionation facilities in Australia, producing 1200 tonnes of isolates per year at the site in Horsham, Victoria. The ingredients are used by domestic and overseas companies in products such as breakfast cereals, breads, bakery goods, snack foods, and meat and dairy alternatives. Melbourne-based financial and business advisory firm Romanis Cant has been appointed as administrator, with the hope that APP will be sold as a going concern. It is unclear why the company ran into trouble, but a plan to construct further manufacturing facilities may have been partially responsible; the federal and South Australian governments were initially …

Image courtesy of NUTRUMAMI

Fundraising

NUTRUMAMI Secures €450K Pre-Seed Funding to Pioneer a Brand New Ingredient Category, “Multi-Functional Plant Proteins”

July 10, 2024May 29, 2024

NUTRUMAMI, a Danish startup developing a plant protein powder designed to replace the nutrients found in animal meat products, announces the successful closing of a €450K pre-seed funding round led by Kost Capital and Planetary Impact Ventures. Founded by Frederik Jensen, a fine-dining chef with over 12 years of experience in FMCG innovation, NUTRUMAMI states that it is pioneering a new ingredient category, “multi-functional plant proteins”. Jensen previously served as CIO and co-founder of CHEW in Boston. Head of Fermentation, Chuchu Huang, holds a PhD in microbiology and fermentation and previously worked at Mycorena and Novo Nordisk. Through a “unique cross-fermentation process”, for which the startup says it has a patent pending, NUTRUMAMI provides ingredients and flavors produced from sustainable resources to facilitate a reduction …

Nelida Leiva Eriksson, CEO of Ironic Foods

Fundraising

Ironic Biotech Raises €1M for Precision Fermentation-Derived Plant Proteins with High Iron Content

April 4, 2024

Swedish startup Ironic Biotech has received €1 million for its plant-based proteins, which are designed to facilitate the absorption of iron into the blood. Ironic’s proteins are produced by precision fermentation and used as ingredients for food or food supplements. The funds will be used for further development work, the expansion of the company’s patent portfolio, and the optimisation of the production process. The team is now looking for partners in the food and supplement industry with whom to collaborate. Addressing the performance gap Up to 25% of the world’s population suffers from iron deficiency, which can lead to severe fatigue, tiredness, heart palpitations, learning difficulties, and anaemia. “We want to help 2 billion people prevent and recover from iron deficiency and anaemia. Iron deficiency …

Protein

New Rabobank-Led Initiative to Boost Consumption of Dutch-Grown Plant Proteins, Starting with Edamame Beans

April 2, 2024

Rabobank, Foodvalley NL, and the Netherlands’ Interprovincial Protein Council have partnered to launch the new Plant Protein Forward initiative, which aims to increase the consumption of Dutch-grown plant-based proteins. The programme will work to scale up crop-specific chain initiatives as part of the Netherlands’ National Protein Strategy, which aims to make the country more self-sufficient in protein. It will focus on chain initiatives where farmers are central; this will include farmers who process the raw materials they grow (such as lupin, fava beans, or soy) into ingredients or end products. It is hoped that Plant Protein Forward will increase the structural market demand for protein-rich legumes, which is currently said to be lagging behind production. Over the next three years, the programme will support at …

Fermentation

Canada’s Renaissance BioScience Receives Government Funding to Develop Yeast Solution for the Off-Flavors of Plant Proteins

February 14, 2024February 9, 2024

The Vancouver-based yeast bioengineering company Renaissance BioScience has been awarded CAD $232,000 in funding from the Canadian Food Innovation Network to develop a revolutionary product for plant-based protein products. Renaissance is working on a pioneering project with food industry partners to develop and commercialize a non-GMO solution to neutralize compounds that lead to off-flavors and undesirable aromas in plant-based flours and proteins. In addition to enhancing taste, the yeast aims to eliminate the need for commonly used “flavor masking” ingredients by providing a clean-label solution for manufacturers; on a product’s ingredient list, the yeast solution will be simply identified as “yeast.” Better flavor for a growing market Despite the health and sustainability benefits that plant-based alternatives to animal products offer, widespread consumer acceptance is hindered …

Food Service

Six More Dutch Corporate Caterers Commit to Selling 60% Plant Proteins by 2030

December 19, 2023

Dutch animal rights group Wakker Dier has announced it is partnering with six corporate caterers — Albron, Cirfood, Compass Group, Food&I, Holie Pizza, and Vermaat Group — to help them sell a higher proportion of plant proteins. As part of the collaboration, the companies are committing to three goals: Monitoring their protein sales, including the ratio of animal to plant proteins sold, from this year onwards. The results must be published publically at least annually. Selling at least 50% plant proteins by 2025, with no increase in total protein sales. By 2030, the target for plant protein sales will increase to 60%, again with no corresponding rise in total protein sales. Ten other Dutch caterers — Appèl, Cater Concept, Hospitalents, Hutten, Markies Catering, Rootz Kitchen, …

Studies & Numbers

Just 6 Food Retailers Can Have Significant Impact on Climate & Planet by Shift to 50% Plant Proteins by 2030

November 28, 2023

A new report by Dutch research consultancy Profundo commissioned by US environmental group Madre Brava shows that the world’s leading supermarket chains have the power to reduce the impact of animal agriculture on the environment and achieve significant climate, land, and water benefits for humans, animals, and the planet. According to the report, if food retailers Ahold Delhaize from the Netherlands, Carrefour from France, Thailand’s CP All, Lidl from Germany, Tesco from the UK, and the world’s second-largest foodservice company Sodexo (France), achieve 50% plant-based sales by 2030, they would reduce GHG by 31.6 million tonnes per year — equivalent to removing more than 25 million cars from EU roads. Additionally, since global beef, pork, and poultry production negatively impacts land and water use, such an …

Politics & Law

A Pivotal Moment: Germany’s €38M Budget for Transition to Plant Proteins – ProVeg Responds

November 21, 2023

Last week, Dr. Zoe Mayer, an Alliance90/Green Party Member of the German Parliament, who serves on the Committee on Food and Agriculture, announced that the German government has allocated €38 million in its 2024 budget for the promotion of plant-based, precision-fermented, and cell-cultivated proteins. “The intensive negotiations on the budget have paid off. Our budget holders were able to push through key green demands that represent nothing less than a paradigm shift in the agricultural sector’s funding system. For the first time, a large sum – 38 million euros in 2024 – will be earmarked for the promotion of alternative protein sources and the switch to plant-based agriculture, after decades of focusing primarily on subsidising livestock farming. This is a clear commitment to the protein …

Nestlé and Clextral revoke patent for Ojah's plant protein tech at EPO

Politics & Law

Ojah’s Patent for Transforming Plant Proteins Into Meat Revoked Following Nestlé Appeal

May 30, 2023May 5, 2023

Following an appeal by Nestlé and Clexrtal, the EPO Boards of Appeal (the department of final instance in proceedings before the European Patent Office) have revoked a patent belonging to Dutch alt meat producer Ojah BV this April. Ojah’s patent covers a technology to transform plant-based proteins, such as soy, into meat-like structures. Clextral is a French machine manufacturer, an expert in twin-screw technology, offering design and testing of industrial solutions, equipment manufacturing, on-site installation maintenance, and improvement services. Big Food conglomerate Nestlé has a broad plant-based portfolio including, Wunda, Garden Gourmet, Plant-Based Milo, Vuna, Vrimp, and Veggie Eggs, among others. The European Patent Office Opposition Division upheld Ojah’s patent in amended form during proceedings in March 2021, with Nestlé and the French company Clextral …

Interviews

ADM: “The Future of Alternative Proteins Doesn’t Stop With Plant Proteins”

February 6, 2023

In the alt protein space, ADM has been increasingly making moves and entering new collaborations, including some of the most well-known names in the industry. For example, with Eat Just to accelerate production in its GOOD Meat cultivated chicken division; with New Culture as part of a strategic partnership to accelerate the commercialization of alt-dairy; and with Japan’s next-gen materials company Spiber to support the adoption of regenerative farming practices for Spiber’s Brewed Protein, to name a few. Additionally, in October last year, ADM and Marfig Global Foods announced plans to expand their joint venture, PlantPlus Foods, from Brazil into the US. We spoke with Marie-Bénédicte Charpentier, Marketing Director EMEA, at ADM, to find out more. What were the company’s highlights in 2022? Throughout 2022, …

Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

Propel Foods is Developing AI-Powered Plant Proteins Backed by Mexican Government

September 26, 2022

After winning the Hult Prize 2021, with a proposal to help local communities and the environment with alternative foods, Joel González, Sofía Hillman, and Jayat González received a US $150K prize which they used to fund their startup Propel Foods. Based in Mexico City, Propel Foods is an AI-powered startup that creates plant-based and hybrid-protein foods. The company says it combines the best of the vegetable and animal worlds in foods that are good for your health, delicious to eat, and good for the planet’s health. Propel Foods commented in an interview: “Since we won the prize, we have continued turning our idea into a viable business. We were recognized in Mexico as a National Interest, were featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, and have entered into talks …

Studies & Numbers

Over Half of Parents Want to See Their Children Eat More Plant Proteins

July 18, 2022

A survey conducted by baby food company Gerber has found that 55% of new parents in the US want to see their children eat more plant proteins. Additionally, two-thirds of parents would like their infants to try new foods, but 55% said they found it difficult to come up with flavourful, nutritious meals. The child’s preferences, lack of knowledge about nutrition, and cost were cited as the main challenges. A huge 83% of respondents were worried that their children weren’t getting enough nutrients due to picky eating, while over half (55%) said they had a child who was reluctant to try new foods. Despite these challenges, parents said their children ate five meals per week containing plant-based proteins. 39% had given their children alt-protein products, …

Products & Launches

FrieslandCampina and Canada’s AGT Foods Unveil New Plant Proteins

December 1, 2021

Dairy supplier FrieslandCampina and Canadian pulse processor AGT Foods have joined forces to launch new plant proteins, according to Dairy Reporter. The Plantaris line marks FrieslandCampina’s first venture into the plant-based market. In collaboration with AGT Foods, it developed two products it says deliver a better-tasting protein formula: Plantaris Pea Isolate 85 and Plantaris Faba Isolate 90 A. Compared to similar products, FrieslandCampina and AGT Foods say the isolates are largely free of the off-putting flavors typically found in legume-based products. It conducted a sensory analysis, and found that finished products made with their ingredients provided a cleaner and more neutral taste. Making Better Protein The novel isolates are cream-colored, easy to dissolve, and remain stable at high temperatures, making them suitable for a wide …

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