Join us at Course Europe 2023 to hear more from Fatemeh Piroozian and gold partner, IFF!

IFF has been operating since 1958. How has the company adapted itself to a changing market, particularly in alternative proteins?

IFF is continuously tracking consumers and evolving market trends to proactively develop technologies and products adapted to the requirements of the industry. Alternative proteins are not any different. A good example is the creation of a specific innovation program to develop new plant-based food and beverage products to create solutions and to support the industry in quickly launching successful new products.

What are the main challenges that the plant-based industry currently faces and how could those be tackled with IFF’s help?

We are adopting new products to meet the diversity of new consumers; consumers who are decreasing their animal-based intake are requesting fabulous and tasty plant-based products at parity with animal-based ones. Plant-based drivers differ, depending on consumer segments. Taste stays key, and is the most important driver to keep consumers in the category and to ensure re-purchase. Health is an important driver. Sustainability is also pushing demand. Awareness of climate change has never been higher and consumers are trying to positively impact the environment through their everyday actions. This drives them to purchase sustainably produced items (according to a survey from Mintel, 30 per cent of consumers are already doing so.) Interestingly, more than 40 per cent of consumers are looking for label information from companies that they can easily understand (such as carbon emissions or water use) on a product's direct impact on the environment and that will drive them to buy more of an item that benefits the environment — an area of opportunity for plant-based beverages.

How does IFF’s product design aspect best benefit customers?

IFF has a broad portfolio to apply in any plant-based category. Starting with soy and pea proteins, our portfolio allows our customers to combine the benefits of plant proteins with their desired functionality (eg. high-protein shakes with low viscosity.) And paired with our maskers and flavour tools, it offers the good taste that consumers are looking for! Much more than just good taste and “flavour,” our technologies address the entire experience, examining the three distinct phases of the taste experience: upfront impact, mouthfeel and body, and lingering taste to support reformulation or new formulation for a healthier product. In addition, our facilities, pilot plant and deep sensory labs are key tools to better test technologies and ingredients in action and to allow IFF to work closely with the industry standard facilitating the scale-up of new products, which translate to faster product development and higher success in the market. For binding, mouthfeel and stability, IFF has a vast number of offerings in the stabilizing and emulsification space, with options from excellent stability of nutritional shakes, which tend to have a number of ingredients added that need to remain stable over shelf life, to the clean-label requirements of refrigerated plant-based milk alternative beverages.

How do you see the future of the alternative-protein space?

• Fantastic
• Endless opportunities
• An ocean of potential creation

What can you tell us about your presentation coming up at Course Europe?

In our upcoming presentation and workshop at Bridge2Food we will cover the challenges and opportunities in creating delicious and sustainable plant-based foods and beverages. We will look into what consumers are demanding and what does that mean for your NPD priorities. We will also touch base on the “science of delicious,” how taste and texture are related, and how to use flavour technology for optimized taste design.

Join Piroozian and the IFF team at Course Europe March 22-23 in Wageningen, Netherlands. Buy your ticket!