Karla is a food scientist and culinologist currently working for Quorn Foods in product innovation. Her passion for understanding and building relevant experiences for the consumer is evident in the most recent launch for the company in the US: the vegan meatless pineapple chipotle chiqin dippers. Development that she led from the culinary gold standard to the translation of a scalable product and production. With a background in Human Nutrition, Gastronomy, and published research in bioactive compounds present in plant proteins from chickpeas, Karla continues to look for opportunities to integrate science and culinary experiences to deliver sustainable food alternatives."ì

Presentation Description

There will always be the need to offer sustainable alternatives that can, in addition, provide nutritious foods for our planet and our people. Mycoprotein is a sustainable option that performs like a blank canvas in terms of flavor, has incredible texture, and a highly nutritious profile because of its fungi origin. There are endless application possibilities for mycoprotein, and we are excited to see how the plant-based category can expand to include fungi options as it grows. “Mycoprotein, a fungi-based ingredient has more biological similarity to animals than plants” The meat alternative category is dominated by plant-based options, so it is easy for the consumer to assume that all the available options come from plants. Nevertheless, fungi-based proteins are a fast-growing meat alternative in the US sparking the need to have conversations about how it is different and what benefits they provide to the consumer in terms of nutrition and sustainability.