KEY INTERVIEW: A Green Superfood from Portugal Seeks Wide-Ranging Appeal

16 Jun 2014 --- Chlorella already has a place in the supplements industry but micro-algae producer Allma believes it has huge untapped potential. The company’s business development manager, Sofia Mendonça, talks to Food Ingredients First about how it plans to shake up the micro-algae market with its Chlorella powder.

Algae isn’t generally regarded as a glamorous product and it isn’t something many consumers would desire to see on their dinner plates. But a Portugese company has high hopes for its sun-grown Chlorella, which it believes will tap into a number of current food trends such as the demand for protein-rich foods.

But can a new entrant to the food industry convince producers that Chlorella powder has huge potential outside of the supplements arena?

“Besides traditional capsules and tablets we strongly believe there are huge benefits to be had within a product formulation,” explains Sofia Mendonça, the company’s business development manager. “The potential is there for people to take it in nicer and more pleasurable ways rather than in the traditional dietary supplements formats such as tablets or pills.”

Allma’s Chlorella is converted into a powder, which the company says makes it easy to use as it is or when transformed into processed Chlorella ingredients, in a wide range of applications including beverages, yoghurt, ice cream, cookies, snacks and more.

The company says its product is rich in phytonutrients such as proteins, vitamins and minerals and other high value phytochemicals, and it also has the added benefit of appealing to producers seeking a natural green food colouring. Indeed, the company has already secured two wildly different but innovative listings for Chlorella - as a colouring for a healthy sorbet and as an ingredient in a bubble tea.

What makes it special?
“This would be a new ingredient for the food industry as currently you can only find it being consumed as a dietary supplement,” says Mendonça. “From our research and from talking with producers, we understand that there is a desire for natural and sustainable and versatile ingredients that add value, and which have not just nutritional but also functional benefits and an innovative profile.”

She explains also that Allma’s production conditions are strictly controlled which enables a higher quality of production. Also the detailed analysis frequently performed to the microalgae makes some difference. “This is beneficial for customers who wish to make a claim about specific nutrients.

“We also manage to achieve very low heavy metal contaminants (unlike some producers). Food safety and quality are most important criteria that food companies value so we are trying to meet these needs.”
And the green color appeal of Allma’s product also helps it to stand out from the rest.

“This was one of the main requests I have received at trade fair events,” explains Mendonça. “There are several natural colours available but green is normally missing so people either use artificial versions or they just don’t use green at all.

“Ours is also a bit of a different green - it is to do with the high sun exposure probably so it makes it a bit lighter than the usual dark green colors.”

Allma’s Chlorella is of the species Chlorella vulgaris, which offers a rich, natural and 100% vegetable source of protein, including all nine of the essential amino acids. It also contains significant levels of Omega 3 and 6 oils, complex carbohydrates, phytonutrients including lutein, beta-carotene, chlorophyll and zeaxanthin, and a wide spectrum of vitamins and minerals that are essential for a healthy life. It is also a non GMO product and clean label.

In the short to medium term, Allma will have the capacity to supply 50 tonnes and on a long-term perspective, 100 tonnes a year of sun-grown Chlorella are expected, for the global market.

“What we want to deliver is not only quantity but quality,” stressed Mendonça. “The sun-exposure of our product is higher which gives it a different bio-chemical profile. Therefore the composition is slightly different, as is the colour. In addition, we are currently testing one or two minerals which we would like to use to enrich our chlorella further.”

Current applications:
The company already has two listings, from Portuguese companies.

“They are both great examples and they are quite different,” explains Mendonça. “One is more complex and the other is simpler, but both represent innovation and great vision about food products development.”

One of the deals is with major Portuguese group Frulact, which supplies fruit-based ingredients to blue-chip food companies globally and markets jams, beverages and smoothies to consumers.

Frulact has collaborated with Allma to develop an innovative ‘bubble tea’ containing tiny pearls of Chlorella that provide a burst of nutrition in every sip. Frulact is now seeking partners to take the concept to market as a consumer-ready product.

“Frulact is a huge company in Portugal and it has a strong proposition in the African and European market, plus it is opening in US,” says Mendonça. “The company has a strong history of innovation and they came up with the idea to use Chlorella in Bubble Tea. They have produced nice green pearls which have a sweet flavour. It’s an excellent way to get additional nutrients to children and teenagers, for example, which are just two target market groups.”

Meanwhile, leading Portugal-based frozen desserts company Santini is selling Chlorella-enriched sorbet in its chain of café-stores. The sorbet is made with pineapple, orange and lemon, plus 1.3% Chlorella powder, which gives the product a distinctive green colour.

“The company can show their customers a new natural ingredient, which is perfect for them as they only work with fresh and natural (and national) ingredients suppliers,” she says. “People were impressed with the outcome.”
“Both companies are really targeting those seeking healthy foods within the area of innovative treats.”

The future:
Allma wants to develop more partnerships to work together with. “It’s about both sides gathering knowledge about what Chlorella can offer nutritionally.”

The company may look at other areas of micro-algae but for the moment Chlorella is keeping the team busy.
To showcase Chlorella’s potential, Allma has formed a partnership with Portuguese chef Vítor Sobral, in order to work with customers on the creation of new products that harness the benefits of micro-algae. Sobral’s development kitchen is backed by Allma’s experienced scientific support team.

“By educating people about micro-algae we can create a new ingredient market from Chlorella and also micro-algae in general,” explains Mendonça.

By Sonya Hook