Collaborating through partnerships and collective projects is not only beneficial from a business or food system perspective, but also to best address consumer demands. So, what is it that consumers are looking for in alternative products and how can the value chain meet those needs through connectivity?

Summit Europe demonstrated that the plant-based and alternative proteins sector is here to stay, as outlined in Bridge2Food’s article The Plant-Based Industry is Not Dead. Although, there is still plenty of room for improvement within this relatively new industry to keep progressing and growing in order to solidify its position within the food sector, in grocery stores, on restaurant menus, and to keep the negative media attention at bay. Summit Europe presentations highlighted areas of improvement including taste, cost, sustainability, accessibility, and educating consumers about the products and benefits.

Stacy Pyett kicked off the plenary session with “Plant Based Foods Industry: The Business of Driving Food Systems Change”. In The Netherlands, ⅔ of consumers are trying to eat less meat. On a global scale, an S-curve adoption trajectory for plant-based foods is forecasted, where the current global market share is still growing “slower than expected”, which is predicted to be followed by a “faster than expected” growth period in roughly 10 years [Source: Synthesis Capital]. This data supports the need for continuous collaboration, along with growth and development of plant-based products, to encourage food system change.

Dr. Pyett provided three examples of the value chain collectivity to increase EU protein supply. The first, which also contributes to the industry’s sustainability goals and strengthens the economic basis for farming, involves recovering agricultural side streams from farms to produce green leaf protein isolate. Wageningen University & Research and Cosun are working together to produce sugar beet leaf protein. Another example highlighted a cost-effective solution, where existing ingredients and standard food processing technology can be repurposed for other uses, such as bakery equipment being used to produce alternative meats. Lastly, the importance of collaboration was demonstrated with the EPPIC plan: Economically-Powered Protein transition through Innovation in Chains. 87 partners jointly applied for financing, including farmers, researchers, and industry partners, to support a diet shift towards 50:50 plant:animal protein sources in The Netherlands. This collective project would provide greater funding opportunities as well as a larger reach potential within the population.

Next, a panel discussion titled “From Protein Cultivation to Ingredient Quality: How can Vertical Integration and Supply Chain Connectivity Promote High Quality Protein Ingredients?” brought together experts from agriculture, research, and food manufacturers. The panelists focused on the top considerations for consumers: cost and inflation, taste, diversity of ingredients (plus where they come from), and nutrition. The steps of growing crops, processing, producing, manufacturing, and then selling to consumers goes through every part of the supply chain. How can these actors work together to produce new, and also improved, alternative proteins for consumers? Melanie Luangrath (DSM) and Maaike Nieuwland (WUR) both highlighted the importance of using diverse crops for biodiversity’s sake and diversity in the diet - it is not just soy and pea. For example, potatoes are typically used for starch, but they are a very good, protein source when extraction issues can be solved economically, says Nigel Moore from KWS Group. Similarly, different crops that are commonly used for other purposes can be valorised to convert the by-products into high value protein for human consumption. An example is canola meal, a side stream of canola oil production, which contains 30-40% complete protein, meaning the nutritional quality is equivalent to that of animal proteins. This makes it an optimal alternative in the meat & fish alternatives market. After purification, an isolate with a protein content of over 90% can be obtained. The panel emphasised that the supply chain can work together to identify new crops that can be used to produce easy-to-cook and familiar protein sources for consumers.

Image 1: From Protein Cultivation to Ingredient Quality Panel

The panel circled back to the importance of cost and taste, arguably the two biggest factors consumers consider when buying alternative or traditional products. Nigel pointed out that consumers go for better cost options. There are many cost drivers in a product, not only the raw materials but also the extraction technologies used, number of ingredients in the final product, and many more factors along the way. The supply chain will need to continue working together to identify these factors and work to include lower cost options. Taste is another example that requires the entire supply chain, as plant breeding will play a role to grow crops in a certain way with desirable flavour profiles that can be used downstream. The extraction process for protein can also influence the taste profile, which will go into the food formulators’ recipe. Improving all of these steps throughout the supply chain, will hopefully provide consumers with even tastier products to sway more people to incorporate alternative proteins into their diet.

The final example from Summit Europe covered in this article is an EU-funded project called PLENITUDE, which is a consortium of partners coming together to “change what we eat, not the way we eat”. The underlying goal is to create a sustainable future by using mycoprotein in food and other bio-based products. 11 project partners, across 5 EU countries, have come together with this common goal, including a research institution and small, medium, and large companies. The project is re-engineering protein production using sustainable feedstock for biomass fermentation to produce mycoprotein, which is rich in protein and fiber. The mycoprotein, named ABUNDA®, is then used to create delicious and sustainable food products and other bio-based products.

Image 2: ENOUGH ‘chicken fillet’ made with ABUNDA® mycoprotein

ABUNDA® is produced under the Scottish food tech company, ENOUGH, in their new processing plant in Sas van Gent, NL, designed for scalable production of sustainable protein. ABUNDA® protein is great for sustainability as it is much less resource-intensive than the production of animal protein. Funding from Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) provides actors across the value chain of the project an exciting opportunity to collaborate on innovative ideas and bring them to life to make an impact on our food system. Many delegates have tried ENOUGH’s ABUNDA® at Bridge2Food events - join us to try this delicious alternative protein!

Image 3: ENOUGH samples of ABUNDA® at Bridge2Food’s Course Europe 2023

At Bridge2Food, we are pleased to provide multiple means by which the value chain can come together to strengthen the plant-based foods and proteins sector. Our Summits, Courses, online EcoSystem, and participation in EU Projects fosters these relationships - we are here to build the bridge! In conclusion, forming partnerships and working together allows companies to go much further than if they had acted alone. We invite you to join our community and facilitate the global food system change together.