Leveraging chicory root fiber and pea protein to align with consumer trends
21 Aug 2023 | Cosucra Inc.
At IFT FIRST, Cosucra Inc. presented a creamy oat and almond beverage and a biscuit cookie. The prototypes address key consumer needs, such as increasing the protein content of plant-based dairy alternatives and the desire for “permissible indulgence.” Frank Truong, general manager, explains how the company is tapping into synergies between pea protein and chicory root fiber.
This is Missy Green at IFT 2023 for Fit ingredients first.
I'm here with Frank Chuang, who's the general manager at Kasuer Inc.
So, Frank, what are you showcasing here today and how does it fit into today's consumer trends?
Thank you, Missy, for the privilege of hosting you at Kosuka Booth at IFT12023.
So, what we like to do is share with you 4 prototype concepts that align towards consumer trends that our customers are facing.
First, let's talk about our creamy oat almond milk beverage.
So we recognize that plant-based milk beverage in the USA represents, even though it has a 41% household penetration and 76% repeat purchase, unfortunately today, plant-based milk.
Only represents 15% on a dollar basis of the USA meal category.
And how do we try to unlock more growth for our consumer base?
We have to address two key unmet needs.
Number one, We have to increase the protein content and number 2, we have to increase to provide a dairy-like texture.
So what we did was we combined our pea pea protein and our fribuloin chicory fiber to raise the protein content to 6 g, plus we also have dairy-like texture and based on the last two days of customer meetings.
We've been able to, customers have validated that this meets their needs and that helps address their unmet needs around those two areas, and we would love for our customers to come by and taste that themselves.
Second prototype concept is around, so this is the creamy old almond milk beverage.
What better way to dip a creamy old almond in a milk beverage is a sandwich biscuit cookie.
So, we went to the Sweets and Snacks Expo in May this year.
What we learned from talking with customers is that post-COVID, consumers still desire for healthy, permissible indulgence.
That's not going to go away despite we're, we're moving past COVID.
So what we designed is a 30% sugar reduced cookie using our chicory fiber in both the biscuit and the filling.
And and for that you can also dip the biscuit cookie into the milk beverage.
Moving to the third prototype concept is that at IEBIE last year, Doctor Lynn Carson stated in her presentation that the keto consumer trend will continue to evolve in a very positive way, even though there's a slight slowdown of keto consumption in this recessional environment.
It's not going away.
So therefore, to help customers address reducing their net carbs, what we did was we incorporated our ribline chicory fiber into a keto bread to reduce net carbs.
And you know, customers and consumers are asking for a net 3 to 6 carbs today, and that's how we can achieve that.
What better way to apply a buttery spread on the keto bread than with a plant-based buttery spread.
And the reason why the combination of plant-based butter spread works on the keto bread is because it includes our pisa pea protein, and it gives you the highest level of emulsification in the marketplace today.
It combined 500 g of oil for each 1 g of our PA P protein, and that's what you get in this plant-based buttery spread, great addition to the keto slice.
And are these chicory root fibers new to the Cosura group, the super inc?
Yeah, the chicory, we are very excited to be able to integrate the chicory fiber into with our PAP protein because, since starting last year, we've now have like a ability to offer customers, even though chicory fiber has been around.
Historically, for Kusticer Inc.
It's really the first time in 2022 is when we've been able to introduce.
PAP proteins and fribuline, frivolousse, chicory fiber to achieve unmet needs in the marketplace today.
And that's what's exciting is that we are the only, Ingredient manufactured an entire world that manufactures both pea protein, bean, and Chickory fiber, and those will help us to deliver the technical points of differences for our customers and consumers.
So is there a synergistic, you know, is there a synergy between these two types of ingredients?
Yes, thank you, Missy.
There's great synergies around certain applications where we're trying to provide.
Improvement in protein fortification, fiber fortification, and achieve a dairy-like texture, fat mimetic properties.
How we can do that is we combine the two because of the high level of emulsification, very clean mouthfeel, and fat memetic properties, and that's how we can incorporate the two ingredients, and we're very privileged to be able to do that.
We've worked with customers to launch exciting new products last year.
To provide dairy-like texture, we're working with customers right now to launch in the next 6 months products that have a dairy-like texture.
OK, thank you very much.
It's a privilege to host you today, Missy.
Thank you for the opportunity.
