Roundtable on overcoming plant-based challenges in nutrition industry

01 Jun 2020 --- Despite the booming demand for plant-based ingredients, the nutrition industry is still overcoming a variety of challenges in the quest to create a product that is just as effective as animal-derived forms. This is according to a number of industry players, who continue their conversation with NutritionInsight about how the sector can help address nutrition needs unique to people consuming less meat and dairy.

“The technical challenge behind crafting a winning plant-based product is complex. It’s no easy task to deliver a winning formulation that ticks the sensory boxes during the eating experience, delivers nutritional value, and performs efficiently and consistently during production, distribution, and consumer handling and preparation,” explains Outi Armstrong, Head of Global Marketing Communications at Human Nutrition and Health at DSM.

The evolution of plant-based
“The nutrition sector faces its fair share of challenges within the plant-based space. The major issue facing most companies revolves around pleasing the consumer with a product that behaves at least as well as previous animal-based options,” adds Vaughn DuBow, Marketing Manager, Americas CHI at Lonza. 

He uses the example of plant-based burgers’ evolution from inferior “veggie” burgers to today’s iterations, which offer near-identical flavor and feel of beef burgers. “Although we are excited to see plant-based options becoming more widely accepted, we’re less concerned about hamburgers in the nutrition sector. Instead, we are looking into ways to create true plant-based options for consumers by having plant-based capsules that not only meet, but exceed their traditional gelatin counterparts.”

In this space, Lonza offers VCaps Plus, which is made from plant-derived hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). Meanwhile, its Plantcaps capsules are made from pullulan, which is naturally fermented from tapioca.

“We have spent countless hours and dollars making these options capable of not simply being a plant-based ‘knock-off’ of the original, but offering them with the same beautiful color richness that our Capsugel capsules have always been known for. They also have certain advantages such as quick and predictable dissolution at various pH levels, a lower moisture content, and less brittleness or breakage,” he adds. 

Andie Long, Marketing & Sales Manager at AstaReal, also highlights capsules as a key space for the plant-based sector to address. “Another challenge is the development of plant-based delivery formats instead of traditional dosage forms such as gelatin capsules, for instance. There has been some improvement in terms of stability and pricing in recent years, but there is still some way to go, to a certain extent.”

Players in the plant-based section must also grapple with offering key nutrients to consumers who may have traditionally received these through animal-derived products.Addressing nutrition gaps
Aside from formulation obstacles, players in the plant-based section must also grapple with offering key nutrients to consumers who may have traditionally received these through animal-derived products. According to Fiona Sweeney, Strategic Marketing Director of Europe and Russia at Kerry notes that protein quality can be a challenge in this space.

“Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the composition of various protein sources. A measure known as the ‘protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score’ (PDCAAS) is widely used to determine the digestibility and the amino acid composition of a protein source. Animal-derived proteins generally score a higher PDCAAS of 1, while plant-based proteins can score anywhere from 0.4 to 0.9. Using a blend of plant-based proteins can optimize the PDCAAS and, therefore, the overall protein quality,” she explains. 

However, Sweeney also flags that many people are adopting a flexitarian diet in an effort to eat and live healthier. “However, when looking at the market, especially in the foodservice sector, there are a lot of products with high levels of calories, fat, sugar and salt. This is being picked up in the media, which further deteriorates consumer trust in these products.” 

Indeed, earlier this year, it was revealed that two in five plant-based and vegan meals available in British fast food outlets and coffee chains contain more than 3 g of salt. In January, NutritionInsight also reported that many plant-based meat alternatives are more processed and contain more salt than traditional meat.

New launches with vegan claims have seen a substantial rise and are becoming mainstream. Innova Market Insights notes a 23 percent annual growth of food and beverage launches tracked with vegan claims (Global, 2015-2019). Moreover, the demand for vegan food is becoming more significant, with more than one in four global consumers saying vegan alternative food launches are most sustainable (Innova Market Insights Survey Global, 2019).

Armstrong of DSM adds that a number of nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, zinc and omega 3s are either difficult or impossible to get in adequate amounts from plant foods. According to DSM’s 2019 Global Health Concerns study, 85 percent of consumers recognize that following an elimination diet means they are at risk of missing out on essential vitamins and minerals. “Therefore, it’s important to find ways for these consumers to get these nutrients via fortification or supplementation,” she concludes. 

Read more about what the term “plant-based” encompasses, as well as the potential for marine ingredients, in the first part of NutritionInsight’s coverage of plant-based nutritionals.

By Katherine Durrell

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