Demand for vegetable proteins is exploding. Both stores and restaurants offer more and more plant-based products. Consumers are, in fact, increasingly concerned about their health but also about the impact of their food on the environment. They seek to diversify protein sources by choosing those that minimize the negative impacts on global warming and biodiversity. They also want products that respond to their changing lifestyle.

Innovation encourages farmers to develop quality plant sectors by improving seeds, cultivation methods and short supply chains. It allows the food industry to better promote production: ingredients or finished products with new processes that respect nutritional and organoleptic qualities. For the consumer, innovation also means mouth-watering, easy-to-cook or ready-to-eat food products that promote plant-based alternatives. Innovative start-ups play an essential role in leveraging creativity and new solutions to meet these challenges. The partnership between start-ups and traditional players (farmers, food industry) is win-win: it accelerates the development of the former and the transformation of the latter.

At the last Institute of Food Technologists conference, a speech was shared by all speakers, namely the strong trend in consumer demand for foods based on plant proteins.
From tomato extracts used to reduce sodium levels to legumes used for flours, milks and alternative “meat” products, the various food stakeholders agree to define the consumption of plant-based foods such as a major challenge for the food industry.
For consumers, this change in eating habits stems from two main reasons: the desire to consume food more in tune with their health and the desire to participate in a civic act linked to the sustainable development of the planet.