NEW TECH FOODS

Developer and international supplier of food stabilisers and texturing systems for meat, dairy, and alt-proteins, Hydrosol is offering its product development services and ingredient solutions to improve the functional properties of hybrid products.

According to the company, due to cost considerations, cell-based meat companies are likely to introduce products made with a mix of cultivated and plant proteins to the market first.

Hydrosol argues that closely resembling the texture, frying behaviour and mouthfeel of conventional meat is crucial for consumer acceptance of cell-based meat and thus, these hybrid products.

According to Hydrosol’s team lead product management Katharina Schäfer, consumer acceptance is the biggest challenge facing the industry. Her research has found that public awareness and knowledge, ethical and ecological concerns, and emotional and personal factors will influence the acceptance of cell-based meat.

However, the nutritional advantages and close resemblance to traditional meat will significantly impact positively on its adoption. “The composition of cultured products can be adjusted,” explained Schäfer. “For example, it might be possible to configure the production of cultured fat in such a way that it contains omega-3 fatty acids, for a healthier product”.

With its focus on improving the functional properties of products and its experience in the meat and plant-based protein industries, Hydrosol says its services will be invaluable in developing and improving these innovative products. Additionally, the company says that its expertise with its sister company Planteneers will allow Hydrosol to offer comprehensive solutions to its cultivated meat customers.

Schäfer added: “Studies show differences in consumers’ willingness to try cultured meat. While in Brazil and Switzerland about three-quarters of people would be willing to try meat from cell cultures, in Germany and India the number is not as high but still over half. In the US and Great Britain, on the other hand, it is only about 40 percent. What’s more, willingness to try something can only be considered the lowest level of acceptance. Making a purchase is the next highest, and the highest is consuming something regularly and thus replacing a familiar product with it."

She continued: “There are initial small-scale sales in high-price restaurants in Singapore and the US. In addition to those markets, Switzerland and the United Kingdom could smooth the way for cultured meat in Europe. The first applications for approval were submitted to regulatory agencies there in recent weeks. Cultured meat will probably become a mass market product between 2028 and 2030.”

“Acceptance of this disruptive innovation will be critical to achieving this kind of market success. There are various factors that can favour future sales growth. The most important ones are government and regulatory measures, investment, and innovations that make scaled production of more varied products possible."

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