To prove the theory that food tastes better with fat Motif FoodWorks are working to improve fat performance in plantbased products. As the article says “fat is a critical property to get right in plant-based products because it is at the heart of how consumers experience many of their favorite foods, from burgers to cheese.” Motif will investigate three main areas.
- “Replacing saturated fat with an animal-free emulsion system that exhibits the physical properties of saturated fat at room temperature.
- Replicating critical animal fat structures, such as the pockets of fat in meat products that produce marbling.
- Improving the texture of plant-based cheeses to be more meltable and elastic.”
Dairy Industry
Most interesting here is point 3 on improving plantbased cheese performance. The dairy industry is under severe stress at the moment with COVID-19 resulting in millions of litres of milk being disposed of and coming on top of other problems, including major industry bankruptcies. If plantbased cheeses can replicate the success of plantbased milks then this will be another bite out of dairy profitability.
Just how many shocks can the dairy industry absorb?
Supply Chain
This also again demonstrates the maturing of the plantbased supply chain as it breaks up into blocks of expertise. No longer do companies developing plantbased meat products in particular need to do everything themselves. Consequently it’s becoming easier and easier to develop products via a plug ‘n play approach.
Will this mean that in the future plantbased startups will need a more compelling point of difference than ever? They’ll certainly need to do more than just have a great tasting product, there’s many of those already.
It’ll be interesting to see what type of companies VC’s like Big Idea Ventures fund in the future.
