Rootly, a startup from Denmark, is developing vegan sausages with a difference. They’re made mostly with vegetables, but they contain a unique ingredient — recycled juice pulp.
Normally, the pulp is discarded when juice is produced, but Rootly hopes to reduce food waste by making use of it.
Upcycled foods have been predicted to be one of the biggest food trends of 2021, with companies such as Renewal Mill already making use of recycled ingredients. But so far, most recycling of juice pulp has focused on producing materials such as vegan leather.
The pulp, which comes from organic cold-pressed vegetable juice production, will be combined with tempeh to produce the sausages. The company opted not to use seitan due to concerns about gluten intolerances.
Sausages with “snap”
For many Danish people, the feeling of biting into a sausage with skin is an important part of the experience. But most vegan sausages do not have skin, which is traditionally made with animal skin or intestines.
To tackle this problem, Rootly teamed up with the Technical University of Denmark. Researchers have been working to develop similar textural properties to those of meat sausages, replicating the “snap” feeling of biting into a sausage and ensuring that the sausages keep their shape when they are cooked. Now, they believe they are close to their goal.
The next challenge is to figure out how to scale production. But the company is optimistic that the sausages will be ready for commercial production in the next year.
“We see great market potential and consumer demand,” Rootly co-founder Peter Brix Bæk told FoodNavigator.