FiE 2024: Plant-based innovators advance taste and texture in combined protein solutions

The race to formulate standout plant-based alternatives that compete with animal protein on taste, texture and nutrition heated up at this year’s Fi Europe (FiE) in Frankfurt, Germany. Ingredient leaders continued to address market challenges, including cost-effectiveness, by exploring and often combining plant-based proteins from numerous and increasingly sustainable sources. 

Food Ingredients First spoke to several key innovators from the show floor to understand the latest advancements and emerging trends in the plant-based space.

Innova Market Insights showcased its Top Ten Trends for 2025 at the event, highlighting that ingredient quality has become a top concern for many global consumers. In the plant-based space, consumers increasingly demand “naturalness” from their purchases while remaining conscious of climate change.

Lu Ann Williams, global insights director at Innova, explains: “We have noticed a lack of perceived naturalness as a growing barrier for plant-based products, with consumers showing more concern for plant-based products that are perceived to be too processed or artificial.”

She adds that nearly 25% of consumers are hesitant to buy overly processed plant-based products. 

The chef’s perspective

Who better to demonstrate the power of high-quality ingredients than culinary experts? Many plant-based ingredient suppliers had chefs working at their booths, serving up samples of plant-based prototypes that excelled in sensory qualities.

“Taste and texture are key for the consumer, and they are looking to mix and match their protein sources,” says Alicia Humpert, director of protein marketing EMEA at ADM. “These demands bring formulation challenges, but we have vast soy, wheat and pea protein portfolios, and we’re trying to bring all these ingredients together while improving taste and providing realistic textures.”

ADM showcased a vegan “flavor play” menu that tapped into culinary expertise and expanded the flavor palette of plant-based alternatives, including soy-based salmon, meatballs and sausages and a potato salad with vegan chicken broth.

At the Cargill booth, company chefs cooked up Thai-style veggie patties from Abunda mycoprotein, developed in partnership with food-tech firm Enough.Cargill chefs prepared Thai-style veggie patties made from Abunda mycoprotein.

“Mycoprotein is an emerging ingredient bringing much value to the market, especially with its meat-like texture, sustainability aspect and protein profile,” says Kevin Lemeilleur, global meat and dairy alternative managing director at Cargill.

“It has a very clean taste, light color and a fibrous structure, which is very close to meat. It allows us to formulate whole-muscle chicken or fish alternatives, but can be used in many other forms, such as grinding it to make sausages or patties.”

Cargill also offered samples of its vegan, nut-free confectionery alternative to chocolate at the event in partnership with Voyage Foods.

Affordable healthy indulgence

The strong focus on plant-based solutions at FiE 2024 demonstrated that the industry expects consumer demand for plant-based alternatives to keep expanding. Experts on the show floor told us that protein intake, fiber enrichment and sugar reduction are key innovation areas within this market, but many consumers still prioritize affordability amid high inflation.

Planteeners was nominated for the FiE Food Manufacturing Innovation Award for its plant-based Steak 2.0 concept. Dr. Dorotea Pein, director of technology and innovation at the food-tech firm, explains that the product is innovative both from a manufacturing and price perspective.

“The technology behind the steak makes it possible to produce a certain amount per hour, which makes it more cost-effective than other solutions on the market. The quality is high, with the structure and taste of a steak, so it’s a delicious product.”Planteeners’ Steak 2.0 shone for its manufacturing and price competitiveness (pictured here: Dr. Dorotea Pein).

It also ticks the boxes for ingulence and health, she adds. “It is critical that we have a certain amount of protein because people choose meat and cheese for that reason, but without sacrificing indulgence. We also need to increase the fiber intake for digestive problems and reduce saturated fats, which we achieve by using liquid oils.”

Roquette targeted the consumer health trend, presenting a plant-based taco with a Nutri-Score A and a fermented yogurt, both produced from the company’s fava protein isolate. 

“The limitation we generally face is to keep the taste and texture untouched when improving the nutritional profile. Our formulation experts create value propositions that keep the indulgence because consumers do not want to compromise on taste — we need to find the right balance,” says Valérie Le Bihan, head of customer marketing and global marketing distribution at Roquette.

Hybrid protein solutions

Major companies are exploring hybrid and blended solutions as part of their animal protein offsetting initiatives to support protein diversification.

ADM believes hybrid or blended meat and dairy offerings are relevant to current industry challenges, as they have the overall advantage of pulling from multiple sources of protein. According to the company’s research, nearly half (43%) of global plant-forward consumers believe it’s healthier to get protein from a wider variety of sources.

“Hybrid has such huge potential with fermentation, cultured meat and so on — we really see this as an opportunity to answer consumer questions around protein. For us, right now, hybrid means a combination of plant protein and traditional animal protein,” says Humpert at ADM.Ingredion presented a hybrid cream cheese with 50% less animal protein.

Across the show floor, Ingredion aimed to demonstrate the interconnectivity between the consumer health trend and elevated taste and texture, combining its solutions in protein fortification, fiber enhancement and sugar reduction. The company showcased several prototypes, including a hybrid cream cheese.

“Our hybrid cream cheese reduces animal protein by 50%, providing a recipe cost savings of around 20%. We addressed the textual challenges by introducing one of our plant-based proteins alongside some of our texturizing solutions, citrus fiber and a new starch,” says Daniel Haley, vice president of global texture value enhancement.

According to Haley, Ingredion expects to push forward next year with new capabilities addressing how texture addresses consumer preferences, from the melting of cheese to the crispness of French fries.

Beneo also sees a future in hybrid innovation to improve the nutritional value and eating quality of lower-emission foods. Two years after acquiring the Dutch meat alternative company Meatless, the company has found synergies in its mycoprotein and pea offerings with Beneo’s own rice and faba ingredients.

This year, it showcased future food concepts with a food truck that served concepts like hybrid beef burgers made with 20% texturized rice flakes and hybrid pepperoni pizza toppings made with pork and meatless textured flakes.

An evolving market

The plant-based space and the wider alt-protein movement are evolving in different directions, but experts generally agree that consumer demand for animal-free F&B products will continue expanding.

“We see the plant-based space evolving a lot as demand grows. There will be more innovation addressing the market’s needs,” says Le Bihan at Roquette.Roquette offered a plant-based taco with a Nutri-Score A to show visitors.

“More and more, the sensory experience is key — we are going beyond mimicking meat to surprise the consumer with sensory appeal.”

For Lemeilleur at Cargill, it is clear that consumers are demanding better plant-based alternatives: “They say, ‘It has to taste good, or I’m not buying it.’ Second, they want to see products that are more nutritious and also good for the planet. Lastly, they are asking for a product at the right price, which is important, especially in the current environment.”

“Fortunately for them, innovation has advanced during the past five years, and product quality has improved significantly. And that’s what we are doing — helping formulate better products,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Planteener’s Pein tells us the company has many more products in the pipeline for next year, “focusing on new proteins, including mycoprotein, precision-fermented proteins and cell-cultured protein.”