UMass professor says taste, look and nutrition will drive plant-based protein market

Investors are flocking to new plant-based protein food products, but will the general public follow suit?

University of Massachusetts Amherst professor and food scientist David Julian McClements says yes when they know they are replacing meat with tasty, healthy, and nutritious alternatives.

“There is a belief that plant-based foods are healthier, but it depends on what we eat,” said McClements, who leads a UMass team that studies various aspects of plant-based protein products.

Do herbal substitutes ensure a healthier diet? Not always, says McClements. But he said that will change with further development.

“(Plant burgers) can be salty, which is not good. It’s not just taste that consumers consider, it’s nutritional value, and it’s good that many companies are paying close attention to this. “

McClemens said the plant-based protein industry is growing, but it won’t thrive if it only relies on the 5% of American consumers who are vegetarian or vegan. It needs to attract “carnivores,” as he put it – the meat-eating public that is contributing to higher meat consumption around the world.

Convincing American consumers to try plant substitutes in the hope that they will like them enough to no longer consider them “substitutes” is a multi-faceted challenge.

“Appearance is always the first judgment. If a food doesn’t look good, people won’t buy it. But if it looks as good and tastes as good as meat, why not buy it? ”McClements asked.

The UMass team investigates which components of amino acids, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients give the best results. This also includes the physiology of the breakdown of food in the mouth.

The team receives funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Good Food Institute.

Investors see an industry of the future in plant-based products. Federal funding is available for research and development, and private companies are also seriously involved.

In 2019, the U.S. plant-based food market was valued at nearly $ 5 billion, with 40.5% of sales in the dairy category and 18.9% in plant-based meat products. This corresponds to a market value growth of 29% compared to 2017.

“It’s a hot topic. Almost every week I get calls from reporters, companies, or students to meet or learn about me, ”said McClements.

More needs to be done to make up for the progress that has been made.

“The first generation solved the problem of providing burgers (suitable replacements for) burgers,” he said. The textures of steak, chicken, and fish have different properties that are much more difficult to imitate, he said.

The UMass team isn’t into marketing, but McClements believes private company interest will bring new quality products to the mainstream.

In 2020, the emergence of plant-based protein substitutes attracted national attention, highlighting the willingness of companies to innovate and also the challenges they face. A federal judge in Florida dismissed a lawsuit filed by customers against Burger King alleging the chain’s popular Impossible Whopper was not a purely plant-based alternative to meat, as advertised.

Vegans said the promise of a pure product was violated because it was cooked on the same broilers as beef and chicken products. Some advocates of herbal alternatives said the complaints were legitimate, while others expressed concern that if companies faced such legal challenges, they would simply stop offering alternative products.

McClements saw both sides. He praised Burger King’s interest in new products, but also pointed out that plant-based alternatives should ideally be prepared separately and not mixed with meat products.

It seems certain that plant-based foods will remain. Research will expand the range of products. As consumers become more familiar with them, their resilience will weaken, as has every new and successful American food product in more than a century.

“We’re trying to make processed foods healthier,” said McClements. “Our goal is to make them have all the vitamins and minerals you need (so they taste good), they’re practical, they’re cheap, and you can easily incorporate them into your life. That is the goal for the future, but we have not yet reached the goal for most products. “

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source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/umass-professor-says-taste-look-and-nutrition-will-drive-plant-based-protein-market/