No longer considered niche, the growth of plant-based alternatives has been fuelled by rising consumer desire for food products that are healthier and have less impact on the planet. To meet the demand both in volume and in desired product characteristics, constant innovation and new technologies are necessary.
To further explore this, Givaudan has launched its latest white paper entitled ‘The Protein Horizon: the landscape of alternative protein technologies enabling future food experiences,’ its fourth collaboration with the University of Berkeley, California. This paper provides cutting-edge information on current, emerging and future technologies for manufacturers producing meat and fish alternatives.
The research takes a future perspective, highlighting the benefits of emerging 3D printing technology, the ‘near future’ techniques of cultured meat, and Mycelium biomass fermentation producing fungi-derived protein. It also looks further over the horizon to lab scale technologies such as shear cell, which is set to attract significant investment. Given no single technology is the ‘silver bullet’, collaboration across companies and organisations is essential for creating delicious and nutritious meat alternatives.
“The rise of meat alternatives is significant. The market is poised for rapid growth. While the existing technologies offer a major opportunity for innovation, the main challenges in this sector remain cost and scale,” according to Sudhir Joshi, product development programme coach at the University of California, Berkeley.