Yeast proteins could be answer to plant-based challenges, says Biospringer

01 Apr 2021 --- Biospringer has produced nutrient-dense proteins from yeast in line with market demands, which it says can answer today’s major food trends, and are “ideal for developing plant-based foods.”

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst ahead of the company’s webinar next week, Christelle Mouteyen-Migaud, marketing manager at the company, says: “Yeast extracts, inactive dried yeasts, yeast-based flavors and our yeast protein are all animal-free. They can bring basic, specific flavor notes or proteins to a formulation.”

Niche to mainstream
According to Mouteyen-Migaud, the plant-based food movement is constantly evolving. 

“What started as a niche is now mainstream. More and more industrials are launching vegan products, including historical processed meat manufacturers. We see that vegan alternatives or substitutes are developed in all food categories, one by one,” she explains. “These foods are here to stay and maybe become part of all diets.

Innova Market Insights supports this notion and says that plant-based innovation is moving beyond established categories. 

This year, Innova Market Insights’ number two trend is “Plant-Forward,” a natural evolution of previous trends: The Plant Kingdom in 2019 and The Plant-Based Revolution in 2020. 

Biospringer’s yeast ingredient is a neutral-tasting ingredient that makes it a highly malleable and easy-to-use building block for plant-based foods.Over the years, plant-based innovation has continued to diversify across many areas of food and beverage. Plant-powered snacks, probiotic drinks, egg and dairy alternatives and ready-to-eat meals are all prime examples of this. 

Eye on yeast
Mouteyen-Migaud says yeast ingredients are a great tool to formulate healthier food, reduced salt, sugar or fat, thanks to their rich organoleptic profiles. 

“Our yeast protein is high in proteins and essential amino acids, which can balance the protein content of a formula,” she continues. “They also answer the clean label trend, as they are natural, and we have an organic range.”

In line with this, Mouteyen-Migaud expects the need for yeast ingredients to increase in the next 12 months as consumers continue to opt for tasty, healthy and nutritious food.

Biospringer’s yeast ingredient is a neutral-tasting ingredient that makes it a “highly malleable and easy-to-use building block for high-protein foods,” she affirms. 

Plant-based applications
According to Mouteyen-Migaud, there is a growing potential for using yeast as an ingredient across several plant-based application areas. 

“All plant-based food categories are applicable starting with meat substitutes, dairy substitutes, then fish and egg substitutes, which are emerging but growing fast. Last but not least, protein enrichment can be in all these categories but also beyond, for instance, in cereals, pasta, pastries and snacks,” she further explains. 

“In France, for instance, it is forbidden to use meat-related vocabulary to label a meat substitute, as it is considered misleading consumers. Since the judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2017, in the EU, dairy substitutes cannot be labeled with dairy-related terms,” Mouteyen-Migaud concludes.

You can register for Biospringer’s webinar entitled “Yeast protein: an answer to the growing demand for plant-based foods” here. 

During the webinar next week, company experts will take a deep dive into the market trends of plant-based foods and explain how their yeast protein can help develop meat and dairy substitutes.

By Elizabeth Green