AAK joins forces with Good Food Institute to accelerate India’s plant-based revolution

18 May 2020 --- India’s burgeoning market for plant-based meat and dairy alternatives is “highly promising,” according to vegetable oils and fats supplier AAK. AAK Kamani, the company’s majority-owned Indian joint venture, has partnered with the Good Food Institute (GFI) India to collaborate on research and business promotion aimed at advancing projects in this space. As animal protein supply chains strain under pressures from COVID-19, among other socio-environmental challenges, plant-based ingredients are pegged as imperative to building a more secure and resilient protein supply.

The partnership will be offering training seminars and focalized guidance on the development of plant-based offerings, with a focus on texture and local flavors. “This collaboration means we can provide more support to both established food producers and start-ups, promoting the fast-track development of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives for the Indian market,” says Dheeraj Talreja, President of AAK Kamani.

India’s burgeoning plant-based market is in line with the global “Plant-Based Revolution,” pegged by Innova Market Insights as the second most significant trend expected to influence NPD this year. Within the vegan meat space, the market researcher’s 2018 consumer survey showed one in five US consumers “have eaten less meat across the past year.” Meat substitutes accounted for 14 percent of global meat launches in the first nine months of 2018, up from 6 percent in 2013.

“The challenges of climate change, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity presented by the world’s reliance on animal protein supply chains have been underscored by the COVID-19 public health crisis,” highlights Varun Deshpande, Managing Director at the Good Food Institute India.

“Accelerating the development of the plant-based meat, egg and dairy sector is therefore imperative to building a more secure and resilient protein supply. Indian businesses and scientists have immense potential to be at the center of this development, driving affordability and sensory experiences as well as cultural appeal in transformative plant-based foods – but they need support on their journey,” he emphasizes. 

Through the partnership, AAK’s Customer Innovation Center in Mumbai will host AAK Kamani Academy sessions designed to help businesses and entrepreneurs take advantage of the significant opportunities that exist in India’s plant-based foods category. 

Plant-based co-development
With support from the Good Food Institute India, AAK will also provide “co-development expertise” for guiding companies on how to accelerate the formulation of new products, with a particular focus on achieving optimal texture and appealing to local tastes. The collaboration is closely linked to AAK’s global AkoPlanet initiative, which provides a platform for plant-based food innovations.

GFI-India is focused on stimulating scientific research and business activity in indigenous crops, in order to help diversify the global sources of protein and other ingredients for plant-based foods. These include pulses like chickpea, mung bean and pigeonpea, and crops like millets. 

“We call them ‘triple bottom line’ crops because they’re inherently hardy and sustainable (good for the planet), can offer affordable nutrition for consumers at scale (good for people), and represent a huge opportunity to create lucrative diversification for farmers and business (good for profit,” explains Deshpande.

Niall Sands, President Plant-based Foods at AAK, details, “Developing great-tasting plant-based foods is one of the main challenges today. However, to maintain the growing interest in plant-based foods we must continue to improve the sensory experience. From a global perspective, we also need to be mindful of the need to adapt to regional taste preferences. This is why I'm pleased to start our collaboration with the Good Food Institute in India.”

Emergent trends in a “data-dark” market
A significant proportion of the growth in meat demand over the next decades is going to come from regions like India and South-East Asia as incomes continue to rise, notes GFI. Deshpande remarks, “India is a highly heterogeneous country, and a data-dark one, which makes questions about meat demand and meat replacement difficult to answer.”

Other prominent grey areas in market research are flagged by Deshpande, such as, “How much meat are people eating at different levels of the income pyramid, and what kinds? What might predict if they would switch to a replacement? How strong are sustainability movements in the country?”

“Given the potential rewards of accessing many millions of increasingly Westernized, upwardly mobile consumers in megacities like Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore, doing research into eating and buying behavior is imperative,” he stresses.

The plant-based trend is quickly branching out in other Asian markets, such as China. Last month, Beyond Meat, through a new partnership with Starbucks, announced the roll out of its plant-based meat analogs across the nation. The company is now introducing its plant-based ground “beef,” branded Beyond Beef, to the new market.

In similar moves, agri-food supplier Cargill entered a partnership with fast food conglomerate Yum China to launch plant-based KFC fried chicken across China in the same week. The meat-free chicken substitute was piloted in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

By Benjamin Ferrer

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