Today in the spotlight: The Future of Food Institute, Agua Foods, and Moulins Kleinbettingen! We are very happy to welcome these three organizations in The Protein Community. They bring expertise, innovation, and dedication to the industry, just like our other (new) partners. 

The Future of Food Institute helps sustainable food companies to innovate faster and communicate with greater impact by providing insights into consumer behavior. Agua Foods specializes in plant-based seafood products and aims to alleviate the strain on unsustainable aquatic food systems by gradually transitioning consumers to plant-based alternatives. Moulins Kleinbettingen, with their heritage in grain milling, produces high-quality plant-based protein ingredients.

These new partners will shape the future of protein, driving sustainability, diversity, and nutritional excellence. Watch the videos below to learn more about these organisations, what their challenges are and what they bring to The Protein Community. 

Functional ingredients play a crucial role in creating high-quality plant-based protein products. However, navigating the landscape of functional ingredients can be challenging, as it involves finding the perfect blend that optimizes your product’s taste, texture, and sensory experience.

That is why The Protein Community is organising the Acceleration Session: Functional Ingredients in Action. This session aims to delve deep into the essential role of functional ingredients and collectively translate their potential into tangible actions.

Programme

During the afternoon, experts like Nizo and Avebe share their expertise on the transformative power of several functional ingredients in creating innovative, plant-based protein products. Participants will have the chance to network and collaborate with other attendees while engaging in hands-on activities involving real-life scenarios. On-site participants will also enjoy an exclusive tour of the Avebe Innovation Center, providing a unique opportunity to observe the forefront of research and development in action.

Date: 20 June 2023
Location: Avebe Innovation Center Groningen + online MS Teams.

Time: walk-in 14.00 – 14.30.
Programme: 14.30 – 17.00
Networking & tour: 17.00 – 18.00

Partners of The Protein Community have received a personal invitation with a link to register. Are you not a TPC-partner yet but would you like to participate? Send an email to Leo.koning@foodvalley.nl

Avebe Innovation Center

On 18 April, 700+ entrepreneurs, brands, as wel as policy- and other change-makers gathered at the international conference PlantFWD in Amsterdam. At the event, Foodvalley NL’s Protein Shift Innovation Lead Jeroen Willemsen presented the term, Plantification, on the main stage, while The Protein Community hosted a meeting during one of the break-out sessions.

Plantfication

Redefining the protein industry refers to the process of transforming the way we produce, distribute, and consume protein-based foods. Plantification – the creation of a plant-based variant of a widely known animal product, recipe or brand – plays an important part in this process. A plant-based Chocomel variant, a vegetarian version of the iconic Ikea meatballs, McDonalds’ McPlant, a sweet curry with seitan from Bumi are all examples of this phenomenon. “Plantificiation is an in-between step towards a more balanced meal on our plates. Less animal- and more plant-based proteins”, according to Jeroen Willemsen.

Jeroen’s presentation at PlantFWD ended with the question to the audience: what is your best example of plantification? Some interesting examples that show that plantification is everywhere: Plantbased bacon by La Vie, the product of Gro and the plant-based eggs from Kipster.

Acting local, going global

The focus of The Protein Community meeting was on Smart Scaling with Local Protein. Local supply chains can play an important role in ensuring the availability and sustainability of plant-based protein resources. However, there are challenges such as limited availability and diversity of local plant-based protein sources, limited market access and distribution channels and consumers’ unfamiliarity with local plant-based protein sources and their benefits.

During this session, 10 TPC partners took to the stage and shared their local cases and challenges: Willicroft, Rival Foods, MCL Europe, Time Traveling Milkman, Phycom, The Greenup Company, Biobite, NoPalm Ingredients, Boon and Greenfood50.

4 learnings

• Achieving widespread use of sustainable local protein sources can be challenging due to issues related to price and quality. Several discussions arose: How do you balance the need for sustainability with the goal of reaching a larger audience, and what strategies do you employ when producing clean label products?
• Success cannot be achieved in isolation. It requires leads, contacts, and assistance. During this session, several new collaborations were formed. Entrepreneurs in need of recipe optimization got in contact with an innovation centre for support and ingredient producing companies got in touch with buyers.
• At times, it is necessary to think beyond the obvious to identify the full range of application possibilities. Through exploration of local protein sources, new ideas for their application have emerged. Algae, for instance, has the potential to be an excellent ingredient for chips. Similarly, quinoa can be used in snack products, while no-palm oil can be leveraged in the cosmetics industry.
• Valuable concepts for producers can be developed by examining the entire value chain, from farmers to consumers. It is important to occasionally take a step back and view the bigger picture to gain a broader perspective.

The next event of The protein Community will be an acceleration session on Functional Ingredients at the innovation center of Avebe in Groningen on 20 June.

The Protein Community and the network organization FoodDelta Zeeland are collaborating to support companies in Zeeland in their protein transition. The shift from animal to more plant-based and aquatic proteins offers various possibilities and opportunities. Combining the triple helix collaboration of FoodDelta Zeeland with their ambition to make Zeeland a Protein Delta, along with the international network and activities of The Protein Community, is a significant step forward.

Under the name Protein Delta Zeeland, Zeeland is positioning itself as a province where collaborating food-producing chains fully utilize the possibilities of combining sea and land, and plant and animal as a source for sustainable proteins. Zeeland is making a visible contribution to the change in the consumer’s (protein) menu.

Johan Dourleijn, director of the network agency of FoodDelta Zeeland, says, “Within FoodDelta Zeeland, companies, knowledge institutions, and governments work together to bring innovation in the entire food-producing chain. With our ambition of Protein Delta Zeeland, we want to encourage the use of sustainable proteins from land and sea on the consumer’s plate. I am delighted that we have a partner in The Protein Community, who wants to use their expertise and activities to support provincial collaborations.”

The aim of The Protein Community (TPC) is to facilitate companies in their activities in the protein transition. “This includes connecting companies to share knowledge and accelerate the development of new and tasty products. It can also involve finding suitable production locations and sharing knowledge about technologies, suppliers, and customers. This happens in mutual consultation and confidentiality, where TPC works to import and export both knowledge and products from and to companies in Zeeland via this international network,” says Leo Koning, Community Manager of TPC.

The collaboration will involve concrete activities for relevant companies. For example, participation in the international food conference Plant Forward, which will take place on 18th April in Amsterdam, will be offered at a strongly reduced rate to FoodDelta Zeeland participants. TPC is a co-founder of PlantFWD. One-on-one conversations are also held with companies to clarify their specific needs and to increase the impact of the protein transition together.

On 28 March an online recap of the workshop: Opportunities in Germany took place. This online recap provided the chance to ask questions about entering and growing on the German plant-based protein market. Jochem Wolthuis discussed the most important findings of the previous workshop. 

Germany is by far the largest market in Europe for plant-based meat-, fish- and dairy alternatives and an important catalyst for product development and sales in the protein transition. Entering the German market can be difficult due to differences in regulations, consumers, and ways of doing business.  

Insights online recap Opportunities in Germany:

• Locality is very important. If you have a ‘local’ product, it is likely to do well in the German market.
• There are creative business opportunities. One participant asked, “how do I sell my ready-made meals in Germany?” You could think about online supermarkets like Picnic, maybe Oda. But there is also the possibility of getting in touch with this young German entrepreneur. He made a good deal with a delivery service and now sells potatoes online through his own web shop. That might also be an option, Jochem suggests.
• Animal welfare  is more important to most consumers than in The Netherlands. 
• Packaging remains an issue as the rules in Germany is different. Fortunately, guidelines can be found online. 

“If you want to be succesful in this day and age, you need to have a digital strategy”, states Jasper Shouten of 1-2-Taste in this masterclass – a collaboration between The Protein Community and 1-2-Taste.

By 2025 it is expected that 15% of the B2B food ingredients sales will go through online channels. This might doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you look at the total sale, this involves a lot of money.

Get inspired by the innovative businessmodel of 1-2-Taste, learn more about the consumerization of B2B buyers and the opportunities of e-commerce. Do you have questions for Jasper after watching the video? Feel free to get in touch: jasper.schouten@12taste.com

We are very proud that one of our TPC-partners and former colleague Floor Buitelaar, Managing Partner at Bright Green Partners (BGP), has been recognized in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. 

Bright Green Partners is a global consulting firm focused on transforming the meat and dairy production industries to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. The company is founded in 2020 to help large food and biotech companies as well as governments win in the complexity of alternative proteins. Bright Green Partners is thereby dedicated to advancing the plant-based, fermentation-derived and cultivated meat industry.

Forbes highlights Bright Green Partners’ role in accelerating the protein transition, emphasizing their focus on alternative proteins and their capability to deliver profitable and sustainable solutions for their clients. The unique power of Bright Green Partners is the in-house build expert network of over 2000 experts globally, connected to a strong team of strategy consultants.

Floor believes that this recognition by Forbes not only enhances Bright Green Partners’ visibility but also underscores the potential of the industry, reinforcing the importance and relevance of companies operating in the alternative protein sector to create a sustainable and profitable future.

On March 8, TPC, OostNL and GO4EXPORT organised the workshop: Opportunities in Germany,  to successfully enter and grow your company in the German plant-based protein market. 

Germany is by far the largest market in Europe for plant-based meat-, fish- and dairy alternatives and an important catalyst for product development and sales in the protein transition. Entering the German market can be difficult due to differences in regulations, consumers, and ways of doing business.  

Insights workshop Opportunities in Germany 
More than 30 TPC partners joined the workshop. Six keynote speakers shared their knowledge of the German plant-based protein market; Dennis Kraaijeveld, Fred van der Velde, Martijn Bosmans, Dr. Professor Guido Ritter, Jochem Wolthuis and Jeroen Willemsen.  

 Key take aways:   

• Germany has a ‘Eiweißpflanzenstrategie’  in place since 2012. The focus is on improving primary production through research. 
• Germany faces challenges: Edible insects products have a low consumer acceptance. It is difficult to retain consumers when they no longer buy plant-based substitutes out of curiosity, which is now the main driver. Regional origin remains a key buying argument while Germany is far from self-sufficient.
• In Germany, the retail looks different. There are four big retailers on the market and a lot of private label: that make organic and vegan products more affordable.
• The Protein Transition is urgent. There wil be “only 27 harvests till 2050″, says Dr. Professor Guido Ritter. Maybe we should not only focus on plant-based proteins, but also alternative proteins. Interesting question arises from the public: “Why are Germans so scared for the Umami taste? All products can be full of salt or sugar, but MSG or other flavour enhances are very scary to them.” Ritter agrees, he sees possibilities for fermentation, that can create the umami taste as well.
• “Germany is not that far and not that different, it is not China, they are our neighbours”, says Martijn Bosmans. Should we combine the Dutch Inventiveness and Creativiness and the ‘Deutsche Gründlichkeit’?  Would that be the holy grail?

A question to the audience:  Is it difficult to export to Germany? 
“Yes, you need endurance and the right contacts”, the audience concludes.  

That is why this workshop is only the start of the Germany programme. More will follow this year:  

• Wrap-up Workshop: Ask Questions / Online
  March 28th (16.00-17.00) 
• FoodHubub NRW – Startup Fair in Düsseldorf
  September 13th 
• Anuga in Cologne, the world’s largest food fair (pavilion or visit)
  October 7-10th 
• Food Ingredients in Frankfurt (pavilion or visit)
  November 28-30th 
• 3 day ‘trade mission to Germany’ with RVO and Embassy, around FI in Frankfurt.
  November 
• Join a 1-day tour to visit German retail + plant-based protein companies
  To be expected in the next quarter (Q2) of 2023

The activities of the Germany Programme are open to everyone. Partners from The Protein Community will find more information in the upcoming newsletters. Please contact eva.berends@foodvalley.nl if you don’t have access to this information but are interested to join.  

In the spotlight today: Sjakes! We are very happy that they have joined The Protein Community. Dylan, founder of Sjakes, begins his presentation with a not-so-fun fact: ”In the Netherlands, only 15 percent of people get their necessary daily dose of fruit and vegetables”. Sjakes wants to make it easier to eat healthy. That’s why their nutritious shakes consist of fruit and vegetables, plant-based protein and a superfood. Watch the video below, to find out more about Sjakes and their role in The Protein Community.

Happy World Pulses Day! Have you spotted the Golden Bean yet?

In 2022, The Protein Community awarded The Golden Bean to a select number of game-changers. They all played an important roll in accelerating the protein transition. Their efforts deserve an award. They are the game changers in the field of plant proteins and are leading the way towards a more sustainable food system.

Today, on ‘World Pulses Day’, we celebrate the bean and our Golden Bean laureates. In 2023, we continue to select new Golden Bean nominees. More information will follow soon!