GoodMills Innovation bolsters alt-meat production with new site for texturates

23 Jul 2024 --- GoodMills Innovation is expanding the production of plant-based ingredients through a new production tower, “Tower III,” in Germany, focusing on the texturization of plant-based proteins for use in vegetarian and vegan products. 

This comes as over 40% of Millennial and Generation Z consumers identify as moderate or heavy users of plant-based meat alternatives, suggests Innova Market Insights’ data.

The site aims to help manufacturers produce high-quality meat and fish alternatives on an industrial scale and deliver on taste, sensory properties and nutritional physiology.

“With the Tower III, GoodMills Innovation hopes to make its Hamburg, Germany, site a center of excellence for texturates and, at the same time, significantly increase its production capacities for plant-based products,” Katharina Haack, head of marketing communications at GoodMills Innovation, tells Food Ingredients First.

“This translates into the security of supply, a certain resilience to fluctuations and the ability to overcome challenges such as crises, climate change, conflict and inflation.”

The facility is a “multi-million investment” for the company and will include a fully automated texturate production process combining extrusion, texturization, wet defibering and hydrothermal product refinement.

Texture and taste are the main barriers for consumers' purchase of alt-meat products, says Katharina Haack, head of marketing communications.“Meat mimicking”
GoodMills Innovation, which calls “meat mimicking” its specialty, manufactures high-quality protein texturates using EU-sourced raw materials like wheat, pea and soy. The ingredients also offer significant cost reduction potential and increased yield benefits.

One example is Vitatex, which facilitates a meat-like bite and mouthfeel for tailor-made textures in burger patties, poultry, pork, or other meat and fish alternatives.

“Texture is key. The challenge is still to find the right texture and taste as these parameters are the main barriers for consumers’ purchase,” explains Haack.

The company works with customers to build a “detailed picture of available technologies and equipment, as well as limitations and bottlenecks,” to develop products that work for them.

“Once we know what parameters we are working on, we can adjust the texturate and binding systems accordingly. We can also replicate the process on a small scale, in a test kitchen, to identify any potential issues before scaling up. With Vitatex, we can help to create the right texture.”

“Tower III” has direct access to grinding and specialty mill products from the Group's sister company, Aurora Mühle Hamburg.Blending for versatility
Vitatex texturates are formulated as chunks and flakes and can bind high amounts of water, reducing material input and enabling end products with a very juicy and typical mouthfeel.

Additionally, the pea texturates can be blended to create the desired sensory profile.

“Vitatex Pea Flakes M SVP Pro can be combined with wheat texturates from the Vitatex range to create a different textural experience. Blending the pea texturate with a wheat texturate will result in a finer, softer texture than using pea texturate on its own,” Haack explains.

“Another approach might be to combine our original pea texturate Vitatex Pea Flakes M SVP with Vitatex Pea Flakes M SVP Pro to produce pea patties with a juicier texture.”

Blending different texturates and adjusting the “degree of shredding” opens up an array of application possibilities beyond the usual balls and schnitzels, she adds.

Meat of the future
With 30% of Europeans now considering themselves to be flexitarians and a 25% predicted market share for vegan meat alternatives in 2040, Haack sees plant-based protein as the “meat of the future.”

The wheat and pea flakes can be combined for softer, finer textures.“It helps to protect the climate with its lower carbon footprint and better use of resources. Vegan, vegetarian and especially flexitarian diets have become megatrends and many consumers perceive plant proteins to be natural, healthy ingredients that are more sustainable to produce than animal proteins.”

Next steps
While wheat, pea and soy texturates are the company’s focus products, it is also working on “exciting developments in other texturate areas,” Haack reveals. 

“We are investigating the potential that exists in our own value chain; we have access to some interesting raw materials through our sister company Müllers Mühle, particularly in the pulses sector,” she concludes.

Besides meat substitutes, the company also leverages wheat to address protein fluctuation and bakery dust concerns in bakery productions.

By Insha Naureen