So-called ‘alternative proteins’ – from upcycled barley and canola protein to animal-free whey made in fermentation tanks using genetically engineered microbes – were a hot topic at IFT First in Chicago. But with US retail sales of some meat alternatives – a key market for many of these proteins - slowing down, there was also some soul-searching about where we go from here. Best viewed on a laptop.
In a packed education session on alt proteins, fermentation, and cultivated meat, Abena Foli, regulatory affairs chief at cultivated meat co Orbillion Bio said she understood the imperative to issue a press release about every small development at your food tech company, but that firms probably needed to “under promise and over deliver."
Dr Sergiy Smetana at the German Institute of Food Technologies added that sustainability claims based on estimates from lab- or pilot-scale production did not necessarily reflect the realities of industrial scale production when you’re dealing with microbes or mammalian cells, for example, and should be viewed with caution.
When it comes to precision fermentation, Kraft Heinz principal scientist Dr Franny Gilman added that firms will need to valorize waste streams and co-products from their production processes, and find more sustainable feedstocks, both for economic and environmental reasons.
“In a lot of fermentations, you're using a sugar source that’s coming from corn, which is being fed nitrogen from the petroleum industry, so it’s not the most sustainable thing. But the price of sugar is so low, it's very hard to find a more sustainable feedstock that is as inexpensive as corn sugar.
“So I think we need advancements in waste stream valorization, enzymatically converting forestry products to release free shudders as one example, but we need more research on this.”
Picture: GettyImages-sabelskaya
It should go without saying, but putting out a product that is not as good as the product it is trying to replicate, and then charging a premium for it, arguably where meat alternative companies are right now, is not a winning business strategy, observed IFF product marketing lead Cintia Nishiyama, who noted that “For any product launch, what I would be thinking about first of all, is what is driving consumer demand?
“And in the case of alternative proteins we know from all the market research and consumer research that the main driver is health. And they are not willing to sacrifice taste and texture, and there must be value for money, which doesn’t necessarily mean price parity.”
While the long-term rationale behind making meat without animals is pretty clear from an environmental perspective, she said, firms need to think much more about immediate consumer purchase drivers for products.
Image credit: Kroger
Chicago-based startup Back of the Yard Algae Sciences (BYAS) is developing multiple high-value ingredients from spirulina provided by DIC Group (which invested in BYAS in June), including a stable blue food coloring extracted using a proprietary solvent- and pressure-free process; and a Non GMO heme-analog with exciting potential for meat alternatives, said CSO Leonard Lerer.
“We do a chemical conversion of the some of the algal protein and it tastes like blood and has a meaty odor when you cook it. It is greenish but turns brown when you cook it, like meat. This is much cheaper than [making heme proteins via precision] fermentation.”
Separately, BYAS – which is committed to using the whole biomass of spirulina to produce a range of high-value ingredients - is also making a yellow colorant with an umami flavor, and has also developed techniques to improve the taste and color of the algae, said Lerer, who is also working on a flurry of other projects including algae based bio-stimulants for vertical farming and growth media components for cell-cultured meat.
Triton Algae Innovations – which utilizes Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a single-celled freshwater green algae species that can grow in fermentation tanks – sampled a variety of algae-fueled innovations at its booth, from meatballs featuring its Essential Red algae, and pork-free vegetable dumplings with a green algae wrapper and red algae filling.
The green algae (for use in juices, snacks, smoothies, pasta, noodles, protein/energy bars or bites, breads, crackers etc) comes with an FDA GRAS no questions letter; while the red algae (which is self-GRAS) is made using UV light, a widely used technique in plant breeding, to induce mutagenesis, stimulating the green algae to turn red.
The red algae, which contains 40-50% protein, minerals such as calcium and potassium, and carotenoids such as astaxanthin and beta carotene, has particular potential in plant-based meat and seafood alternatives, said co-founder Dr Miller Tran.
“Our algae produces a very small amount of heme, but the key component - that which imparts meat-like properties to meat and seafood analogues - is protoporphyrin IX (PPIX), which is a precursor molecule in the heme pathway."
A spinoff from Northwestern University in Chicago, Opera Bioscience deploys precision fermentation with a “unique” bacterial host (not E.Coli) to make proteins for the food industry, from whey and casein to growth factors for cultivated meat and seafood, said CEO Gerry Sapienza: “No one else has anything even close to our strain on the bacterial side; it can fully secrete the proteins [which means you can significantly cut downstream purification costs].”
He added: “We're early stage, so we're not in the production phase yet, we're testing a lot of these proteins to make sure we can get the yields that we think we can, and then it's a case of scaling up.”
Florida-based Lemnature (formerly known as Parabel) makes a 65% protein concentrate and a 60% fiber product from a fast-growing free-floating aquatic plant called the water lentil (also known as duckweed and Lemna), that it grows outdoors year-round in raceways on 600-acres on non-arable land.
The ‘water positive’ firm, which is currently going through an ISO compliant comparative lifecycle analysis with a company called Earth Shift Global, does not use pesticides and herbicides, and has designed its raceways to prevent nutrient runoff.
While the bright green color of the ingredient – which is FDA GRAS - is not for everyone, the protein concentrate, which also contains iron, vitamins and minerals, has attracted interest from firms making green beverages and smoothies, while the higher-fiber powder works well in everything from vegan mayo to muffins, said the firm.
Israeli firm InnovoPro - which opened a US subsidiary in late 2020 – launched with 70% chickpea protein concentrates and has since developed a textured vegetable protein (TVP) combining chickpea and pea protein for the meat alternatives market, and an egg white alternative.
The firm – which processes chickpeas in Canada using a water extraction process - has multiple new launches in the US market coming up in categories from dairy alternatives to sports nutrition, said CEO Taly Nechushtan, who recently attracted investment from Ingredion.
A neutral-tasting chickpea starch “with the functionality of a modified starch” will also launch in 2023, say the company, which recently teamed up with Milkadamia to develop a plant-based soft-serve ice cream.
From a functional perspective, InnovoPro's concentrate is a “strong emulsifier that combines water and oil together, which is what all R&D managers are looking for; but they are also looking for a very soluble protein, especially for beverages,” added Nechushtan.
It also performs well in low pH beverages, in which plant-based proteins such as pea can sometimes precipitate out of solution, or are not able to solubilize, she added. “Plant proteins in general are very sensitive to pH and you can get flakes of the product floating around in coffee for example, but we can prevent this.”
From a sensory perspective, InnovoPro’s chickpea protein concentrate is neutral-tasting with a smooth creamy mouthfeel (no ‘beany’ or ‘earthy’ taste or grittiness), which makes it particularly attractive for manufacturers of products such as plant-based milks, she added.
Nutriati – which is now part of Tate & Lyle – was also showcasing its Artesa functional chickpea ingredients at the show, including protein concentrates and the co-product from the protein extraction process: a protein and fiber packed functional flour, which means you don’t have to find separate markets for starches or fibers, said founder Michael Spinelli.
“We didn't scale another isoelectric precipitation process where you create a protein isolate and a whole bunch of starch. We make a concentrate that is high in protein and very low in carbs but has 28% fiber, that can be used in everything from extruded snacks to sheeted bakery or plant-based meat, dairy or supplements.”
The protein concentrate has a very small, uniform particle size that helps it function like dairy proteins in food, supplement and beverage applications. It also has high water binding capacity and foaming and emulsification properties that other plant proteins don’t – which can be critical to processing efficiency, shelf-life and final product quality, claimed Spinelli.
The co-product, functional chickpea flour, has 1% fat, more than 12% protein, good oil and water binding capability and a small, uniform particle size that works well in pasta and other extruded applications, showing elasticity and product cohesion similar to that available from premium semolina flours, said Spinelli, who said Nutriati’s technology could also be applied to other pulse crops in addition to chickpeas.
Israeli startup ChickP, meanwhile, is making 90%+ chickpea protein isolates, which it is manufacturing in China, and says its IP covers multiple legumes. It is also developing products from co-products including starch, fiber (which ChickP believes may have potential as a prebiotic), and albumin, said founder and CSO Professor Ram Reifen.
The firm currently supplies two white colored neutral-tasting protein isolates – G910, which is has high solubility, high viscosity, good water and oil retention, and strong emulsification and gelling properties, and is ideal for dairy and meat analogs and baked goods; and G930, which has high solubility but low viscosity, and good foaming properties, and is ideal for beverages, bars and dairy analogs, said senior application manager Maor Dahan.
“It works really well in hot beverages; the foam is very stable compared with oatmilk,” added Dahan, who said has developed a barista chickpea milk with the same level of protein as cow’s milk (8-9g/serving) without off tastes.
According to CEO Liat Lachish Levy: “We have customers working on multiple projects and applications in several markets. Some products are already on shelf such as yogurt, but we also have projects in chickpea milks, ice creams, cheeses, ready to drink beverages and nutritional products.”
One particularly attractive aspect of using ChickP’s chickpea protein in some plant-based ice creams and milks, for example, is that you may be able to remove some gums and stabilizers, said the firm.
DSM is gearing up to launch commercial quantities of upcycled canola protein isolate extracted from Non GMO rapeseed at a new facility in Dieppe, France, later this year, said Samah Garringer, VP protein for the future at DSM.
CanolaPRO is a soluble protein with functional properties “very close to whey protein,” said Garringer, who said it also has good foaming and emulsification capabilities, and a light, tan color and neutral flavor that works well in combination with other proteins in a wide variety of applications from meat and dairy alternatives to high protein beverages.
The acquisition of Vestkorn Milling, which makes pea, fava bean and chickpea proteins, among other things, has also enabled DSM to play with combinations of plant proteins, she said: “For example, we’re finding that combining canola protein with pea in protein bars, you get a softer chewier product compared with pea and rice.”
She added: “There is a lot of demand for faba proteins – although they can have some bitterness issues – but we have techniques to improve the taste when we texturize it. There is also a lot of excitement around chickpea protein,” added Garringer, who is also working with the DSM Venturing team to identify the next generation of proteins.
“In the medium and long term we're looking at the different technologies out there and looking at where we could partner and or have a strategic alliance with companies that are into fermented protein; we’re interested in biomass fermentation and precision fermentation.”
While the market is pretty saturated with plant-based burgers, there is a huge amount of white space in other categories from tuna and jerky to chicken, said Anke Golde, head of customer technical services for food & proteins at Roquette Americas, which supplies pea, rice, fava bean, and wheat proteins.
But with lackluster repeat rates in some categories suggesting many products are not delivering, more work is needed to improve texture and flavor, although technologies such as high moisture extrusion are helping to deliver a meatier experience, she said.
ADM - which supplies a wide range of ingredients used in meat alternatives, from plant-based proteins to colors, flavors, oils and fats, starches and texturants – showcased several prototypes at its booth including snacks featuring prebiotics, probiotics, and its heat-treated BPL-1 postbiotic.
Meanwhile, ADM is still feeling pretty bullish about the meat alternatives space, despite slowing numbers in the fresh meat case in US retail, said Allyson Fish, president, global plant and alternatives proteins.
“There are challenges the industry needs to address around taste, texture, and price, but we’re not really seeing any downturn in the market from where we're sitting. And we don't expect there to be a significant change in the trajectory or our expectation of growth in this industry in the next 10 years.” Photo credit: ADM
Read our recent interview with Fish HERE.
Dairy ingredients specialist NZMP - part of dairy co-op Fonterra – showcased lactoferrin, probiotics, and phospholipids such as Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM), an ingredient that has traditionally been targeted at the infant nutrition market, but has potential in the adult nutrition market, said Peyton Rudy, global active living marketing manager (pictured right).
“Phospholipids have been a big player in infant nutrition for cognitive development for many years and they're starting to make a play in adult nutrition in areas such as resiliency and performance under stress, and improved state of clarity of mind. We’ve trialed them in bars, ready to drink products, ready to mix products, ice creams and cookies.”
In the probiotics space, the firm is highlighting its LactoB HN001 product for immunity and its BifidoB HN019 product for immunity and digestive health, said Rudy.
“I think people now just expect another pandemic and I think proactive nutrition is going to continue to grow, with a focus on immunity and food as medicine.”
