FiE 2024: Cargill showcases Abunda mycoprotein for evolving plant-based demands
04 Dec 2024 | Cargill
At Fi Europe 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany, Cargill served up prototypes of its Abunda mycoprotein, a fermented protein developed with strategic partner Enough. Kevin Lemeilleur, global Meat & Dairy Alternatives managing director at Cargill, explores the latest consumer demands in the plant-based space, including the rising focus on human and planetary health.
OK, we're live at Eber.
I'm joined by Camille van Beek from Cargill.
Hi there.
Good afternoon.
Can you tell us a bit about what Cargill has got on display this year?
Yes, yes, we have many things to show to our customers in the show.
We actually divided our stand in two sections.
One is more the essential range, where we see more of the essential solutions for our customers.
On the other side we've got more of the innovative section.
We've got a lot of innovations for our customers.
So the essentials range, when you think about fillings.
For American pastry which we have here available, all kinds of colors, all kinds of textures, all kinds of flavors for you.
And on the innovation side, we have things which are more related to decorations, inclusions to make the bakery products look much more attractive.
And of course the jewel in the crown is our what we call indulgent redefined, which is an alternative for chocolate confectionery.
It's a filling, and coating, also an inclusion.
How do these products fit in with general trends that you are seeing consumer demands and so on many, many, many ways.
One thing we see is consumers want a much more sensorial dimensions, so the consumer is not looking after a normal traditional sweet product anymore.
The products should do much more.
It should really trigger all the senses, the visible, the taste, but also the texture.
So what we are trying to showcase.
On the show are all kinds of applications which are doing that by providing many, many different colors but also many different textures or combinations, which is a combination between a doughnut and a croissant.
These kind of things is what consumers look for because it has a very nice combination of textures and flavors which are really exciting the consumers.
So that's a very important component.
The other part we think is important is that we Give our customers affordable solutions.
So we have Vova on the standard that is one of our more affordable chocolate range, which is basically a basic range for our customers with the good chocolate solutions which work , really essential input focus which enable them to be very efficient in the formulation of the products.
Also very important.
Finally, as I said, sustainability is something that we see.
Getting every year stronger and stronger, the request for sustainable solutions.
Consumers are really getting more critical about what they eat and where it comes from, etc.
That's why we've got this indulgent redefined solution which helps our customers to significantly reduce the footprint of their products up to even 90%, and this is, I think, really helping our customers to really respond to the need for sustainable solutions.
What are the big challenges there in achieving more.
Sustainability.
Any innovation, when you come with new news, you have to make sure that the products remains on its quality, so the products will still have the same sensoric appeal or shelf life or processing capabilities.
So it means you can have an alternative for a current product, but it has to have the same taste and texture and experience as consumers are used to.
At the same time, you should also not make make the life.
Of our customers more complicated.
So when they need to use in their manufacturing lines, it should not cause a lot of problems for them.
So for us it's been very critical to have solutions available which our customers can easily use as a plug and play and at the same time give the same experience for the consumers that they are used to in the normal bakery products.
What would you say are the other major challenges that the bakery industry is facing at the moment and what is Cargill doing to many, many challenges, of course it's the increasing the amount of demanding because they are getting more and more consumers are getting more and more demanding on what they want for bakery products.
So as a result, our customers need to innovate so fast and so extreme with the combination of many different flavors and colors and textual layers.
If you take the muffins we've seen.
Muffins have 15% more innovation year on year out than anyone else, so you need to be there very fast with all the innovative solutions.
So the challenge of the bakery industry is really to be able to respond fast to what the consumer wants to see at acceptable cost.
So our industry, like any other industry, is facing a lot of increasing costs.
I think also energy, raw material pricing, and the sourcing of raw materials is going to be more and more difficult for for for for this industry.
So the things that we are helping our customers with is finding solutions for things that are difficult for customers to source.
As I said, the cocoa could be some things or chocolates, so we have an alternative for that.
There could be other things.
Think about eggs which could be very expensive and difficult to find, so we have alternatives for that.
When it comes to the first thing being agile and finding new innovative solutions.
We have a lot of ready to go solutions for our customers with a lot of prototypes.
You will see the understand, welcome you to have a look.
Lot of new ideas where the customers can quickly plug and play, get recipes, formulation, advices, etc.
To fast respond to those, so they don't need to start from scratch.
They can fastly respond to the consumer trends and needs over the next few years, what will be the big developments for Cargill and for the sector?
The big development, I think it will be building on what's happening today, but it will go further.
I think the consumers of the future.
If you're 5 years ahead, we are so used to getting personalized service, whether it is via your jet or whether it is you're ordering your coffee online.
All this can be very personalized, and I think what that will consequently have is that our customers need to have solutions available which are even more tailored to the consumers, almost personally what consumers want to have.
So that means that the magnitude of formulations and Innovation is going to be even more and where the consumer will have even more requirements when it comes to sustainability, but also on health, more healthier solutions are going to be having a more increasingly impact on our product development areas.
So I think it's going to be more personal, it's going to be more faster and more diverse, and I think that will be the key thing moving forward.
Camille, thank you.
