Looking to set a new standard in the plant-based foods landscape, Bunge, a global food and agribusiness company, has introduced Beleaf PlantBetter, a “superior-tasting” and sustainable plant-based butter designed for bakery applications.
Bunge claims that PlantBetter mimics the taste, texture, and melting behavior of traditional butter to offer manufacturers a versatile solution for plant-based bakery. The NPD is described as a clean-label alternative made with natural ingredients, such as coconut, cocoa butter, rapeseed, and lecithins.
Regarding sustainability, Bunge explains that PlantBetter’s carbon footprint halves standard dairy butter emissions and that these figures have been verified by a third-party study conducted by the Terra Institute.

Game-changing innovation
According to Bunge, the growing demand for plant-based dairy and the increasing instability in butter prices have created opportunities for new and creative solutions. However, not all butter alternatives can accurately deliver the functionality of butter.
PlantBetter can be seamlessly integrated into any production process, providing the desired level of aeration, volume, and taste in products such as croissants, cakes, or any vegan pastry, argues the company. Bunge also launched Eleplant, a retail version of PlantBetter across Europe, earlier this year.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge is a world leader in oilseed processing and a leading producer and supplier of specialty plant-based oils and fats. PlantBetter is part of the company’s Beleaf product portfolio, a range of plant-based lipids for meat and dairy alternatives. The company broke ground in the summer on a new $500 million soybean processing facility in Morristown, Indiana.
“Beleaf™ PlantBetter is a game-changing innovation developed by Bunge that brings together the sustainability attributes of plant-based with the uncompromising sensory and performance of dairy butter — all while delivering a lower cost-in-use compared to butter,” explains Aaron Buettner, President Food Solutions at Bunge.
The company will be at the Fi Europe in Frankfurt later this month, showcasing Beleaf PlantBetter, which has been nominated for the Fi Innovation Awards 2023 in the Plant-based Innovation category.