Hydrosol Develop Vegan Alternatives Based on Coconut

20 Dec 2016 --- More and more consumers are opting for vegan foods instead of animal products. This goes not just for meat and sausage, but also for dairy products.

According to Innova Market Insights, the demand for plant-based alternatives to dairy products has expanded dramatically around the world in the past four years. With Hydrosol’s new stabilizing systems from the Stabisol line, manufacturers can now produce cultured milk product substitutes based on coconut, addressing two current trends at once - the ongoing demand for vegan and flexitarian food, and the strong demand for coconut based products.

These vegan desserts are produced using the same technology as regular yogurt. They are based on coconut milk, to which coconut water can be added if desired. Fermentation is accomplished with milk-free yogurt cultures. The stabilizing system is flexible, allowing the fat content and texture of the final products to be individually adjusted. The resulting vegan dessert features authentic yogurt flavor and a creamy consistency. The subtle coconut flavor harmonizes very well with the yogurt cultures. Just like traditional yogurt, the vegan alternatives can be refined with fruit preparations and the like. Thus, familiar textures in combination with new ingredients open up extra market potential. In addition to functional systems for dairy-free desserts, Hydrosol also offers ingredient combinations for making sour cream and cooking cream based on coconut milk. The range is constantly being expanded.

Health benefits
Quite apart from the vegan trend, the concept is also of interest to people with lactose intolerance. Lactose-free milk products are often very sweet, due to the enzymatic splitting of the lactose. Coconut yogurt avoids this problem, to add delicious lactose-free alternatives to the menu. 

In addition, the milk-free final products can be vitamin-enriched without problems, to fit the special needs of a vegan diet. Animal foods are recognized as important sources of certain vitamins and minerals. For example, the German Nutrition Society recommends that vegans regularly take a Vitamin B12 preparation, and choose enriched foods and foods with high nutritional density. Iron, which is of immense importance for women and children, is also a problem. To avoid deficiencies, it is advisable to enrich vegan products with iron and specific vitamins to complete the nutrition profile. In this area Hydrosol works very closely with its sister company SternVitamin, allowing it to offer customers individual all-in solutions.