Biofach 2025: Austrion elevates plant-based proteins with clean taste and performance nutrition
17 Feb 2025 | Austrion
Gabor Klauser, CEO of Austrion, discussed the company’s latest plant-based protein innovations at Biofach. He highlighted Austrion’s pea protein concentrates, known for their cleaner taste, and the Ayaca protein bar, an organic, vegan, and no-added sugar snack designed for health-conscious consumers. The conversation also touched on patented microencapsulated vitamin D and botanical curcumin, emphasizing Austrion’s focus on technology. Plus, the brand’s plant-based goulash and Bolognese was showcased at the event.
So hello and welcome to Nutrition Insight's interview.
My name is Beya Patel, and I'm a senior journalist at Nutrition Insight, and I'm so happy to speak to you today.
Can you please introduce yourself?
Hello, it's my pleasure to have this interview.
My name is Gabo Clauser.
I'm the CEO of Austrian Innovative Food Service.
With Austria Limited.
We are based in Vienna with our international team, and you can see our main points for this expo.
Thank you so much for being here.
My first question for you today is to start with.
Plant-based proteins are becoming increasingly popular.
But they can sometimes have challenges with taste and texture, like having earthy flavors.
So how do you approach making sure your products are delicious and also nutritious?
Absolutely, this is indeed a challenge, but we have good news how to overcome these challenges in the short term in the technological process.
These tastes can be overcome by certain heat and the right temperature and also.
By the extrusion manipulation, which means the structure can be changed, and also we discovered something that when we blend different proteins and then we extrude those, there is a synergistic effect, synergistic effect, absolutely.
And last but not least, with the spices we can influence the flavor and the taste as.
For when you're developing plant-based products, it takes some time, but how do you balance the innovation and the need for faster product launches?
This is also a good question.
Innovation always takes time.
We work with First class world manufacturing companies who are having very robust laboratories and R&D facilities with whom we are in deep contact over 30 years in this business.
So this is key to have the best quality of ingredients, raw materials, and we also take care about the supply chain.
Which are sometimes very costly and time consuming.
And last but not least, we work with a chef, cooking chef in Vienna who is helping us to find new recipes, make some formulations.
Often we cook together because we would like to understand the interactions between the proteins, starches, carbohydrates, sweeteners.
And also during the cooking process, how these different meals can be prepared and as you see the textures are completely different.
We need a wide range of from powder to mince or flakes.
In order to find which are fitting best for the finer consumers.
Yeah, and I heard that your microencapsulation technology is something that's new.
So how does it improve the effectiveness of the vitamins and omega threes in food?
Micro encapsulation is a newly recently patented process where a polycarbohydrate is like a cell is protecting the vitamins or the botanicals, and during this protection it cannot be damaged by food processing.
Like in a food technology there are acid and high temperature which are.
Destroying the vitamins.
So these capsules, micro capsules with the size of less than 100 microns, so very small, they are protecting fully these vitamins or omega 3 or botanicals, and In our body when we are eating them, it doesn't it doesn't.
Destroyed in our stomach, so it goes through our stomach in the small intestine, the vitamins can be absorbed.
So this is, this is key.
And another point is new here that these micro capsules are very, very tiny and the same size, so no big deviations are there.
And to add on to that, what are, what are they used in?
For example, here you can see vitamin, vitamin D in this white.
And this is a botany curcumin.
Which has an anti-inflammatory effect.
So when you can have this in your body, in your small intestine, the absorption is practically perfect.
And also you cannot feel the taste when you are eating it.
So also we can act through the taste interaction, which is also for many people is important.
Yeah, and so this powder is used in preparing food, or is it for like capsules?
These are already the micro capsules.
These are the micro.
So these are already the less than 100 microns, and you can see the curcumin has a very strong color, but otherwise it's already protected in the cell.
And my last question for you today is that your Ayaka, Aya protein bar is clean label and healthy, and how do you keep it competitive in the crowded plant-based market while ensuring it stays nutritious?
We have two prototypes.
One is this one with oligo fructose.
The other is without oligo fructose, but with pea proteins.
So yes, we need to be flexible and our small, but the international team is proactive.
We are working with international companies with very good planning and Carefully sourced and selected raw material cost-wise, quality wise are crucial.
And last but not least, the human interaction, how we cooperate, how we work with each other, these are determining.
And of course from Spain, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Scandinavia, Israel, last but not least, US, where our partners are located.
So in this world.
We are then hopefully competitive.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Thank you.
