Plant-protein blends continue to make inroads into traditional animal-protein markets, but fermentation, too, promises to open up many more protein opportunities of its own. Paul Gander reports
Consumer food fads and fashions come and go and, naturally enough, those helping to bring to market non-animal proteins worry that this particular party may be drawing to a close. According to Dr Jaakko Paasi, principal scientist at Finland’s VTT research centre, they have nothing to worry about. “Consumer interest in plant-based and other alternative proteins is increasing,” he states. Nor is this some sort of uninformed shot in the dark, given that VTT is working as part of the EU’s multi-partner NextGenProteins project. As a researcher on the business rather than the science side, Paasi admits that many—if not most—companies starting out in the plant-protein area suffer from a lack of profitability. “But this does not mean that the boom is over,” he cautions. “It just means that the food business is not an easy one.”
He goes on: “Many of these companies have a good niche kind of ‘hit’ product with plant-based protein, and have done good, small-scale business.” If problems arise during the transition from a niche to a volume business, those issues are not specific to their type of product. At the same time, formulation and NPD can pose some particular challenges. At Dutch research company NIZO, expertise group leader for protein functionality Fred van de Velde says: “When developing products for sports, active nutrition products or for healthy ageing, the overall protein content and balanced amino acid profile is crucial.” To create that profile, the level of plant proteins, in whatever combination, needs to be high. In this respect, he contrasts the relatively low content levels in many ‘plant-based’ beverages currently on the market. “Increasing the protein content has complications for the sensory profile of these products,” van de Velde explains. “This can be about the flavour (beany or ‘green’), the taste (bitter) or the mouthfeel (gritty or astringent). Thus, for these specific products requiring high levels of plant proteins, [ensuring they] have a good taste and mouthfeel can be challenging.” NIZO is among those developing strategies to improve the quality of ingredients and end products—and regarding this as a crucially important endeavour. “In our view, fermentation is a powerful tool to obtain ‘cleaner’ products,” he adds. More on this later. But just how significant is the more established—and growing—plant protein sector?