Motif FoodWorks has found a way to make plant-based cheese melt and stretch mimicking real dairy cheese. Additionally, they also improved the texture, taste and nutrient profile of plant-based meat using new technology.
The company is on a mission to make plant-based food taste better and provide consumers with more nutritional value in these alternatives than what has previously been available. Motif FoodWorks announced that they have access to two new technologies that will change the consumers’ experience of plant-based meat and cheese.
“Today’s plant-based meat and cheese alternatives lack the pleasure associated with eating the real thing. We want to change that at Motif,” said Stefan Baier, Motif’s head of food science, in a press release.
Motif FoodWorks is working in collaboration with Dr. Alejandro Marangoni, founder of Coasun, Inc., and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Food, Health and Aging at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada to continue to improve products in the plant-based cheese and meat industries.
“Leveraging two exclusive technologies through our collaboration with Coasun and the University of Guelph, Motif will enable performance in plant-based foods previously unheard of — from plant-based cheese on a sandwich or pizza that actually stretches and melts to plant-based meat with marbleized fat just like a ribeye or a NY strip,” Baier continued.
Motif FoodWorks is acquiring commercial rights to the technologies they have to protect their ground-breaking developments.
According to the statement, Motif FoodWorks will have access to extrudable fat technology, which will replicate animal fat, creating more authentic texture and marbling in plant-based meats. The technology does this by allowing the fat to run through an extruder which is then combined with the protein, ultimately linking the fat and protein together as one. This results in a better-tasting product with the texture and moisture retention that mimics marbleized meat.
“We have optimized the technology, so you do not get fat separation from the protein. This is all about getting the fat and the protein to be integrated, and the result is a lot more like a marbleized piece of meat,” said Jonathan McIntyre, CEO of Motif FoodWorks, to Forbes.
Motif FoodWorks will also have access to prolamin technology which uses plant-based ingredients, like natural corn protein, to improve the melt, bubbling and stretch of vegan cheese. By using prolamin technology the cheese can be used in a variety of consumer-favorite applications such as pizza and burgers, creating the stretchy feel, which is often missed in plant-based meals incorporating cheese substitutes.
“I think the gap between the performance of dairy-based cheese and plant-based cheese is large. We are developing technologies that are going to close that gap significantly and hope to bring those to market very soon,” said McIntyre.
One of the main challenges in producing plant-based meat and cheeses is perfecting the products’ texture, taste, feel, and experience. Consumers want products that replicate a non-vegan experience, but in a plant-based form.
Related: New and Upcoming Vegan Cheese Brands for 2020
Many products have been popular in the market as plant-based consumers grow; however, they are often high in saturated fats, which can have negative impacts on health.
The global plant-based cheese market is expected to have a CAGR of 12.8 percent through 2027. In 2019 the market was worth $1.01 billion. This increase is due to the growing trend of veganism and the vast array of vegan cheese options available at a consumer’s local supermarket.
Additionally, in 2019 the plant-based meat market size was valued at $3.3 billion and has a CAGR of 19.4 percent for the 2020 to 2027 forecasted period. With the rise of animal rights and ethical concerns of consuming animal meat, the plant-based meat industry is growing in popularity and different technologies are being to developed to create mock-meat worldwide.
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