Dutch family-owned Schouten Europe has created plant-based minced meat created with fermented tempeh, partly consisted of by-products from one of Schouten’s production facilities. The tempeh mince will be available for retail, out-of-home and the food processing industry.
“We want to avoid food waste as much as possible and the by-product is completely safe and usable, we can market it as tempeh mince”
Schouten is launching two new varieties, spicy and mild, with the latter intended for consumers and/or product developers who want to season the product themselves.
By-products are generated in the production of other tempeh products in the Schouten range and the new upcycled products cater to the fact that minced meat (known as beef grounds in the US) is now one of the most important product groups in the vegan protein market.
In recent years, Schouten has gained a lot of knowledge and experience with tempeh. The company has already introduced several successful innovations with tempeh. For example, Henk Schouten, CEO of Schouten Europe, launched Tempeh Today in February 2021, establishing an innovative way to produce sustainable and healthy food in India.
“Because we want to avoid food waste as much as possible and the by-product is completely safe and usable, we can market it as tempeh mince,” says R&D manager Niek-Jan Schouten.
