IFFA 2025 live: ICL Food Specialties eyes plant-based price parity with “revolutionary” soy protein
07 May 2025 | ICL Food Specialties
At this year’s IFFA in Frankfurt, Germany, Karen Emerson, Alternative Protein sales and development manager at ICL Food Specialties, talks to us about the company’s alt-protein concepts. These include hybrid products that offer sustainable, cost-efficient, and nutritionally optimized solutions, as well as a vegan calamari and tuna salad based on ICL’s Rovitaris SprouTx textured soy protein.
This is Anvisha with food ingredients first.
I'm here with Karen Emerson, alternative protein sales and Development Manager at ICL Food Specialties.
Karen, what are you presenting at IA this year?
Hi, it's nice to meet you and thanks for having me.
And so this year we're presenting a range of different alternative protein concepts that are based on and inspired by the latest consumer insights and market trends.
So on one hand we're seeing an interest and an increase in interest in hybrid products or balanced protein products.
So this offers customers a cost optimized, nutritionally optimized, and sustainable solution without any compromise in terms of taste and texture.
And then on the other hand, we know that plant-based seafood is one of the fastest growing plant-based categories in Europe.
So for this reason we've developed a vegan calamari solution and a vegan tuna salad based on our Rovitara Sproutex, which is our latest innovation at revolutionary textured soy protein.
So with Roviterra Sprout X, you've used germination technology in a new way.
How does this approach shift the formulation possibilities for plant-based products?
Consumer research tells us that taste and texture are still the main barriers to entry and the primary pain points in this category.
So Roviterra Sproutex is unlike anything else on the European market currently in that it addresses these challenges specifically.
So it has an improved amino acid profile which boosts umami notes and it also reduces off notes, and then it has an optimized phospholipid content which improves succulents and juiciness as.
So what this means for formulators is that they no longer have to use like expensive masking flavors or Lots of expensive like other types of flavors, ultimately creating a better finished product.
Great.
Speaking of umami flavors, sodium reduction is becoming a bigger priority globally.
How are you helping manufacturers balance functionality with regulatory demands?
So nutritional optimization and sodium reduction is key for meat producers and plant-based meat producers if they want to futureproof their product.
And there are certain regions and countries in Europe that are really leading the way with salt reduction programs like the UK and like the Netherlands.
Our primary salt reduction solution is Salona, which is a natural mineral product from the Dead Sea.
It can be used as a partial replacement for salt, and it means that producers can reduce their sodium content by up to 30% in the finished product.
Super interesting.
Where do your ingredient systems deliver the most value when it comes to Cost savings.
So this is particularly important for the plant-based meat category.
We know that we need to be reaching price parity with meat, and what we can see across Europe is that countries that have a smaller difference in the price of plant-based meat versus conventional meat actually have higher plant-based meat consumption.
And so we have a range of different ways that we can achieve this.
When we did our cost analysis of the hybrid meatball solution that we.
Showcasing at what we can see is if consumers reduce or replace 35% of the meat with Rovtara Sproutex, it offers significant cost savings.
And then we also have our emulsion solutions as , which are tailor-made solutions that can be made along with any cost or nutritional guardrails for a producer.
Thanks for that comprehensive answer.
How is the definition of clean label evolving in meat and alt protein?
So traditionally clean label just meant a short list of recognizable ingredients, and now that definition is expanding, so consumers are becoming more nutritionally aware and more environmentally aware.
So what this means now is clean label also includes the sustainability and then the healthfulness of those ingredients.
And the primary clean label concern for plant-based meat is that methyl cellulose, which is an E number, needs to be used as a binding solution in a lot of these products.
I see.
Food specialties in the US have just launched a new innovation based on lemoprotein, which can be used as a methyl cellulose alternative, and currently that's going through the novel novel food approval status in Europe.
So watch the space over the next 18 months for a disruptive launch in Europe for sure, for sure.
What's the next big shift?
You expect in protein innovation.
So what I expect to see over the next 18 to 24 months is really the scaling up of alternative protein technologies such as cultivated meat, fermentation made proteins, and then the integration of these technologies into the existing value chain.
I expect developers to continue to look for white space in terms of development and developer products in emerging plant-based categories such as plant-based seafood, plant-based deli meat, hybrid products, and then what I hope to see.
Is the acceleration of key regulatory processes, so like the novel Food approval system, so that means that innovators can bring solutions that are answering market needs to the market quicker.
Thanks so much for your time today.
Thanks for having me.
