dsm-firmenich: Plant-based protein innovation on the rise as consumer awareness drives NPD
22 Jan 2024 | dsm-firmenich
Melanie Luangrath, director new business development, Plant-Based Platform / Taste, Texture & Health at dsm-firmenich expands on the plant-based protein evolution over the last five years. She talks about greenwashing around sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of nutrition and highlights the company’s VertisCanolaPRO plant protein isolate. Luangrath also points to the two trends set to dominate the plant protein space in future — innovation and agile NPD.
Hi, this is Inha Noreen from Food Ingredients First.
Today we have with us Melili Luanggra, director, new business development, plant-based platform, taste, texture and health at DSM Firmanage.
She is here with us to discuss the latest innovations and the future of plant-based proteins at DSM.
It's a pleasure to have you with us.
Hi, Isha, thanks for having me and thanks to Food Ingredients first to have this interview and chance to share the latest about plant-based area.
So, why don't we start with you telling us about the changes you have observed in the plant-based protein space over the last 5 to 10 years.
This is such an on-point question, because the plant-based space has changed a lot, and it's, it is very different, even if we're looking at just 5 years ago.
We see 5 major movements noteworthy.
Health and -being, the rise of flexitarian, the emergence of climavore, the diversification of protein sources.
And last but not least, taste and texture.
Firstly, health and -being.
This no doubt has been the most significant shift in the consumer behavior and the market research is telling us that around 3-quarter of global, global consumers Shift are now prioritizing healthier eating.
What does that mean?
They look at plant-based being at the part of that shift with many of them adding more plant-based products to their diets because they are perceived to be healthier, but also we see an increased.
Scrutiny at the ingredients of, on the product they are buying and consuming and hence the unexpected rise of plant-based sports nutrition, for instance.
At the same time, a lot of consumers, about 25%, are describing themselves as flexitarian.
And we have seen that this figure is even higher in different parts of the world, what we would coined as more mature markets, but that's no surprise because if I can give one statistic figure, that would be the 1 302% increase in new plant-based product launch in the time frame between 2018 to 2022.
And obviously, we see that the industry and market has been working hard to support this growth and this demand coming from this type of consumers.
The 3rd 1 that I mentioned next to flexitarian is climate war, and this is a trend that is really gaining momentum.
Because there is clearly for consumer more association with their diet, individual diet, and the individual contribution towards the environment and sustainability.
So the adoption of plant-based lifestyle with the goal to have an impact in reducing carbon footprints really support and underscore that trend.
And let's call it climate diet.
It has grown at the same time along the questioning of some consumer, rightfully so, where is there some greenwashing around sustainability and very concrete metrics and hardcore evidence.
By food companies, and I believe the transparency is now being more and more in place as there is a crucial role for ingredient sourcing to play in reducing the environmental impact of nutrition.
The next point is sources of plant protein.
We very known, the common ones, but that has also been seeing a significant movement where fueled by consumers, always fueled by consumers around where variety, perception and sustainability, and they are increasingly looking at the nutritional quality, so.
First was how much protein does it contain?
Now, what is the quality of the protein and what is the allergen concerns it may bring.
So the challenges of the industry around plant-based supply chain is the demand for key ingredients.
We all know pea and soy protein, but we also need to emphasize the need for further protein diversification.
And that at the same time is coupled with upcycling of ingredients, which our our organization DSM FH is very much looking into.
And the last but very important one is taste and texture, as I mentioned earlier, because you can care about the, your diet, your health, the environment, but we would like also to enjoy the food you are eating and especially in new areas where we see a rise of more consumer looking into , Seafood alternative, but others like the increasing variety of plant-based options availability.
So in a nutshell, Poor taste, , poor texture is no longer accepted by consumers.
They do want to have, better options, and we, as an industry player want to be part of that.
So, Melanie, what are the latest innovations and plant-based solutions of DSM that you want to highlight, and, any way by which they can help the manufacturers and brands overcome their formulation and label challenges?
Thanks Incha.
This is such a relevant question because at D SM Firmenic we feel a tremendous responsibility to lead in the plant-based space and diversify protein source.
And this is why we are actively developing our plant protein portfolio in order to focus on more sustainable, high quality nutrition while bringing excellent functionality that brings also enable free from major allergens to the food and beverage manufacturers.
And to tackle the need for more nutritious and sustainable proteins, we have developed Vertiscanopro, which is a complete protein and free from the major allergen with a PDA of 1.
What does it mean?
It's a protein with the highest digestibility score with all the essential amino acid we need.
And this also means that you can combining and build synergies with other plant protein or vegetable protein that may be deficient in 12 or 3 amino acids, but still rich by incorporating incorporating fertis canoaro, a complete protein score overall.
And we do want to leverage our portfolio and expertise in the full range of solutions we can bring in the space of plant-based products while ensuring that labels remain as short and concise as possible, but still bringing the high quality nutrition that consumers are still demanding on about the products they buy and consume.
And last point, which is, noteworthy is that the formulation expertise to bring all these solutions, , with good nutrition, good taste and texture is, is very important to help manufacture bring those products to the market to this consumer that are mindful about the health and the sustainability and impact on the environment.
So, Melanie, when you talk about your Vus canola plant protein product, can you tell us a bit about the technology that goes behind it and its potential application in the food and beverage products?
Yes, thanks for the question, Nia.
DSM really prides itself in bringing to the market Vertis Canararo because it's manufactured via a safe and sustainable process using just 22 raw materials, non-GMO canola or rapeseed.
And water.
And the starting point is the canola cake or meal that we use to crush canola seeds in order to produce the canola oil for cooking.
And this is one of the world's leading sources of vegetables, and this is done by DM without the use of any solvent, and our patented process technology extracts the high quality protein from the press cake that was previously unsuitable for human consumption.
But manufacturing of verti scanner isn't the only thing.
In our process, I It is very important to mention that we make it as circular as possible, meaning that the water use is being recycled directly on site by a wastewater treatment facility in order to cut down on water and energy use, so we convert all this organic matter into the wastewater, into biogas to keep, to make it as circular as possible.
And finally, the non-protein part of the rapeseed cake is then going again still to the farm animals, and this way we strive for a secret production process with minimal waste and lowest carbon footprint possible.
Thank you, yeah.
And in the future, as we are just entering 2024, what opportunities do you see in the plant-based protein space, and what can we expect?
In the plant-based protein industry, we see two pivotal trends that will dominate.
The space, innovation.
And the agility in product development.
And the rise, with the rise of consumer awareness around what the food consumption will do on the health and the environment is really fueling the demand for protein alternatives.
And food and beverage manufacturers must prioritize creating those plant-based foods that are free from the major allergen, nutritionally complete, and still flavorful, and have the appealing texture that align to the demands of the market.
Much of the evolution seen in the plant-based meat is also expanding to the seafood alternative.
One example I can give is our canned tuna concept that has been particularly received by our customers so far.
We are also expecting growth in the plant-based egg substitutes due to the avian flu and the inflation that impacts this market, and Albertis Canararo is ideally placed to support there as , given its nutritionality and function excellent functionality properties.
But we also see other applications that are gaining momentum, especially in the space of snacking, where cereals and bars are coming in new formats and new and textures like crispies and on the go bites.
The consumer education will continue to be important in 2024 and moving forward.
There are still remaining some consumer misconceptions that will, hinder the industry growth, and we can play a role as an industry player in addressing these challenges by providing clearer ingredient information and support consumer education about the benefits of blended proteins in their diet.
We clearly see there is a need and desire for more transparency from the market, and we believe we are playing and should continue to play a role in that area.
OK, thank you so much, Melanie, for the wonderful insights into the world of plant-based protein, and have a nice day and good luck.
Thank you, thank you, Chad.
Bye-bye.
