Future-proofing food: Inside IFT First’s winning pitches for protein, flavor and formulation challenges

The food industry continues to grapple with challenges like sustainable sourcing, healthier products, and production efficiency. To tackle these, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) hosted “The Pitch” competition at the recently concluded IFT First 2025 in Chicago, offering innovators a platform to enhance global food system resilience with solutions ranging from plant-based proteins and fermentation-derived ingredients to novel botanical extracts.

Food Ingredients First goes behind the scenes of the rapid-pitch competition to speak with Plantible, the winner, and Crush Dynamics and RedLeaf Biologics, the runners-up, to explore how they might shape the future of the food system.

“Doing right by our planet and our future requires moving away from synthetic emulsifiers, allergens, and unsustainable and unstable sources such as animal-based ingredients. But existing alternatives are just that: alternatives. They’re more expensive, less tasty, and oftentimes, less healthy,” says Tony Martens, co-founder and CEO of US-based Plantible Foods. 

The company received US$10,000 from competition sponsor Seeding The Future Foundation for winning The Pitch.

Plantible has developed Rubi Protein, a functional and nutritional plant-based protein ingredient that allows food manufacturers to replace eggs, dairy ingredients, and synthetic emulsifiers with a single clean ingredient.

Plantible CEO Tony Martens with Bernhard van Lengerich, founder of the Seeding The Future Foundation which sponsored The Pitch.The protein is highly soluble, foams, emulsifies, and binds, often “outperforming” whole eggs, whey, skim‑milk powder, and methylcellulose in commercial food applications.

Elevating meat and dairy textures

Martens explains that RuBisCO (Rubi Protein) plays an important role in photosynthesis, a process responsible for plant energy production. 

Despite being called the “holy grail of proteins” and found in all green plants, he says no one has managed to scale RuBisCO production. Plantible says it can do so using strain development, automation, sensing, and its expertise in biology, proteins, and material science.

“Rubi is a neutral-flavored, off-white protein that can enhance the texture, nutrition, and sensory experience of a wide variety of products — from meat to dairy and from bakery to confectionery.” Unlike other plant proteins, Rubi contains all nine essential amino acids and has a protein digestibility score of one (similar to that of eggs or animal protein). 

The protein also offers sustainability benefits to brands since it is grown with a “fraction of the water, land, and carbon footprint of animal proteins,” underscores Martens. It has <10 % CO2 emission and <10 % water use compared to eggs.

 Plantible’s upcoming ingredient is Lemna Leaf Greens: a nutrient-dense green powder containing protein, fiber, and essential micronutrients, for ready-to-mix beverages, nutrition bars, supplements, and culinary applications.

Crush Dynamics transforms grape pomace into bioactive ingredients using evolved bacteria and yeast.

Reducing plant protein off-notes

Agri-tech firm Crush Dynamics was the runner-up, receiving US$2500 at the start-up competition. Its proprietary fermentation process enhances sweetness perception and reduces off-notes in plant-based proteins.

“After years of research, our team successfully selected and evolved specific bacteria and yeast that transform grape pomace into a bioactive ingredient,” says CEO Kirk Moir.

“This patented process enables us to enhance and control a natural bioactive release system while producing a combination of functional compounds that improve the flavor and texture of foods. Notably, this is the most effective technology currently available worldwide for converting grape pomace from a sustainability perspective.”

This is because 100% of the residual biomass generated during the grape pressing process can be fermented and bio converted into a clean, natural, and sustainable ingredient.

“Our ingredients also offer clean label antioxidant functionality, making them ideal for reducing added sugars, sodium, and synthetic additives across various F&B applications, from sauces, dressings, beverages, snacks, and protein bars.,” he adds.

The ingredients also support upcycled innovation by transforming winery side streams into high-value functional solutions.

Moir says that this “holistic” nature of the ingredient initially overwhelmed formulators used to single-function ingredients. The team reframed the conversation to address this, focusing on clear, application-specific benefits, like reducing “beany notes” in plant-based beverages while enhancing sweetness.

RedLeaf’s ReDaxin is water-soluble, stable, and has a mild tea-like taste — ideal for functional F&B, says CEO Jordan Wood.

Beyond polyphenol bitterness

US-based RedLeaf Biologics was the other runner-up, with a prize worth US$2500. The Kentucky-based firm was recognized for its novel botanical extract, ReDaxin, a patented, polyphenol-rich extract derived from its red sorghum varietal.

While polyphenols are mostly unstable in F&B systems, RedLeaf CEO Jordan Wood explains that a unique class of polyphenols, “3-deoxyanthocyanidins,” produced by sorghum are stable, but have “never been commercially scalable” since sorghum produces them in small quantities.

RedLeaf’s non-GMO red sorghum pumps out this 3-deoxyanthocyanidin-rich complex to deliver a “highly stable, water-soluble, color-rich ingredient” — ReDaxin extract. It has a mild, neutral flavor, without the typical bitterness that polyphenols impart, making incorporating it in F&B formulations easier. 

It has a “mild tea-like taste that can stand alone or be paired with myriad flavor profiles,” notes Wood. 

According to the company, the extract has “extremely potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties.” It has also been “clinically validated” to support muscle recovery and reduce muscle soreness in a published human clinical study, Wood shares.

Scaling up and branching out

Plantible plans to use the prize funding to accelerate operational upgrades and directly invest it into manufacturing upgrades at its commercial facility in Texas. “This will allow us to provide more Rubi sooner to our customers,” says Martens.

Crush Dynamics will use the prize funding to advance its US marketing initiatives , says CEO Kirk Moir.Meanwhile, Moir shares that Crush Dynamics will inject the amount to support its US marketing initiatives. “On the production side, we’re scaling our fermentation capacity to meet growing demand from CPG partners and ingredient distributors.”

“Beyond grapes, we’re also actively exploring other polyphenol-rich agricultural side streams that would typically go to waste.”

For RedLeaf Biologics, the prize will support the expansion of prototype development and testing for F&B formats, Wood shares. “We’re currently collaborating with formulation partners to bring ReDaxin into clean label recovery drinks, performance powders, and functional ready-to-drink beverages.”