Plant-based trends thrive amid increasing flexitarian diets and hybrid protein innovations

11 Sep 2024 --- Increased consumer interest in health and sustainability and the ability to make more varied choices are fueling plant-based innovation. F&B innovators are responding to emerging plant-based trends, such as flexitarian diets, hybrid proteins and clean labels while supporting consumers who ask for environmentally friendly food options that do not compromise on flavor, texture or indulgence. 

Food Ingredients First speaks with key industry players, including GNT Group, Planteneers and ADM, to unpack how companies adapt their offerings to meet the needs of a progressively plant-based population whose expectations are only multiplying.

The rise of flexitarianism

Flexitarian diets, primarily plant-forward diets with occasional meat consumption, are gaining ground in the plant-based space. Food manufacturers say this segment of consumers is a crucial target.

Dr. Pia Meinlschmidt, team lead of product management at Planteneers, tells us that the company has been focused on flexitarians since the development of its plant-based ingredients. “We take great care to ensure that our plant-based alternatives are very similar to their animal counterparts in terms of taste, texture, appearance and color.”

She says Planteneers continuously works to optimize recipes to deliver on the “ever-increasing demands” of flexitarian consumers. “One approach is optimizing the nutritional profile through enrichment with micro and macronutrients. Another is shorter ingredient lists. Fewer ingredients and more natural components make products more attractive and trustworthy for this target group.”

“Both approaches ensure our customers can make products that appeal to health-conscious flexitarians and omnivores. In other words, consumers are looking for both the enjoyment and the health benefits of a plant-based diet.”

Theresa Wilms, technical sales manager and lead of the Plant-Based category team at GNT Group, the creator of Exberry colors, says the company has been adapting its portfolio to suit plant-forward diets, where product appearance is important.

“When flexitarians buy plant-based alternatives to animal products, they go for options that effectively replicate the real thing. Taste and texture are key factors there, but the appearance sets their initial expectations on product quality.”

Theresa Wilms, technical sales manager and lead of the Plant-Based category team at GNT Group.“When we began developing coloring solutions for plant-based products more than a decade ago, we initially focused on meat substitutes, dairy alternatives and more recently, seafood alternatives. We can now use our plant-based concentrates to achieve exceptionally realistic results in almost any plant-based product, from burgers and salami to yogurt and ice cream to salmon and caviar.”

Taste, texture and health in plant-based foods

As the debate over ultra-processed food evolves, health emerges as a key driver for plant-based purchases, especially among flexitarians. Wilms notes that manufacturers prioritize ways to offer clean ingredients.

“Plant-based color concentrates are great for this as they support simple label declarations like ‘carrot and radish concentrate.’”

In addition to wholesome ingredients, the rise of alt-protein advancement, especially in plant-based alternatives, provides brands with opportunities to satisfy the demand of health-conscious consumers.

Innova Market Insights data indicates that protein ingredient use in F&B launches grew 4% from April 2019 to March 2024. Meanwhile, plant-based proteins gained ground, with meat substitutes being the fastest-growing category and “plant-based” the top on-pack claim.

Jacquelyn Schuh, global senior director of Product Marketing, Specialty Ingredients at ADM, notes that today’s consumers acknowledge that meeting protein requirements does not need to be “an all or nothing” approach.

“Proprietary ADM research finds over half of global consumers lead a flexitarian lifestyle by trying to eat more plant-based foods and beverages while still eating meat and dairy products. We help brands cater to the demands of the rising flexitarian consumer segment.”

“We continually expand upon our library of wholesome ingredients and systems from a range of distinct plant-based sources with new solutions to address critical areas of improvement for alternative protein products, including taste, texture, nutritional value and cost.”

At Planteneers, Meinlschmidt emphasizes the importance of developing ways to improve the texture of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives through new ingredients, technologies and processing methods. These investments enable the company to enhance its functional systems of proteins, hydrocolloids, starches and fiber to support plant-based meat and dairy alternatives.

“These functional ingredients provide stability, improve mouthfeel and imitate the smoothness and creaminess of products like milk alternatives. In meat products, they create an authentic bite in cold and hot applications,” she explains.

“The technological innovations include high-moisture extrusion. This technique enables us to produce meat alternatives with a juicier, more tender texture. We also use textured vegetable proteins to more accurately replicate the texture of meat and produce an improved fibrous structure. Another example is the integration of mycoproteins from biomass fermentation. This allows us to achieve a more realistic meat-like texture.”

Hybrid proteins: The future of plant-based?

The plant-based food category is diversifying with innovation in the hybrid protein space. Industry experts note that new technologies like precision fermentation allow high-quality proteins to be combined with plant-based ingredients.

“This technological advancement aids hybrid protein products’ scalability and commercial viability. By combining plant-based proteins and proteins from fermentation processes or cultured meat, we can combine both strengths. In this way, current limitations can be overcome, and superior products can be produced,” explains Meinlschmidt.Jacquelyn Schuh, global senior director of Product Marketing, Specialty Ingredients at ADM.

“These products not only meet consumers’ sensory and nutritional expectations but are also in line with far-reaching health and sustainability goals.”

As consumer awareness increases and the demand for protein surges, she expects hybrid proteins to gain further ground in the alternative protein space.

Schuh reiterates the “strong growth potential” hybrids and blended meat and dairy products offer to improve protein quality. They meld the best qualities from each source to build “elevated” applications that can appeal to flexitarians, while also being gentler on the environment.

“Hybrids and blends have a significant role in the protein arena’s evolution. Some 63% of consumers across five key markets (US, UK, France, Germany and Australia) find the concept of hybrid meat options appealing.”

“Diversification of resources has the potential to reduce environmental impact, as well as support cost optimization from product formulation to store shelf. We support this advancement by strengthening local growing, sourcing and innovation capabilities and leveraging our protein portfolio and technical ingenuity to build protein solutions with optimal functionality, nutritional value, sensory attributes and cost-in-use for hybrid and blended protein products,” Schuh continues.

ADM combines animal protein with soy proteins to help meet consumer demands for functional protein formats. The possibilities are many with easily accessible soy, pea and wheat protein concentrates, isolates and textured proteins, which can partly replace meat or dairy proteins to reduce manufacturing costs, she notes.

“Hybrids and blends can also combine familiar plant protein sources with emerging ingredients like chickpea, quinoa and navy beans for greater protein fortification, nutrient density and diversity, multisensorial taste and texture characteristics. Blending can also help tailor solutions to a wider array of dietary preferences, meeting consumers where they are on their flexitarian and plant-based eating journeys.”

Clean labels and carbon costs

The modern consumer takes an active interest in ingredients when making food choices.

Dr. Pia Meinlschmidt, team lead of product management at Planteneers.Amid increased scrutiny on food labels and sustainability footprints, sustainability is ever-evolving for companies such as GNT that create plant-based ingredients with black carrots, sweet potatoes, radishes, beetroot and more.

“Exberry has always been plant-based, but that doesn’t mean we can be complacent about sustainability,” Wilms tells us.

“Creating any ingredient can carry a significant carbon cost, so we need to work on everything from agriculture to production to transport. We’ve set out 17 targets over the current decade to optimize our environmental and social impacts and have been making good progress. We also offer customers environmental information and provide independently verified data on our greenhouse gas emissions.”

For Planteneers, clean labels will be a prominent feature in the company’s upcoming innovations, especially products that are free from methylcellulose.

“In addition, plant-based foods with enhanced nutritional and health benefits will be among the most important innovations. Hybrid products incorporating mycoproteins or ingredients derived from precision fermentation will also become more visible to the consumer,” reveals Meinlschmidt.

ADM says hybrids and blends will be key in achieving consumer acceptance as the gap between the familiar and new lessens.

“Global plant-forward consumers stated they’re most interested in trying novel plant-based ingredients like chickpea, sunflower and algae within plant-based alternatives (to meat or dairy). Hybrid/blended options followed this, followed by fermentation-derived sources and, lastly, cell-cultivated products.”

“Whatever the blend, it must meet consumer taste requirements to support acceptance of this emerging category,” Schuh concludes.

By Anvisha Manral