‘Hello Hybrids’ was one of the Top Ten Trends identified by Innova Market Insights last year and it is also an apt description of a new retail product segment. Meat and milk products that contain greatly reduced amounts of animal ingredients but appeal to confirmed carnivores as well as consumers who want to reduce the amount of animal products they eat for reasons of climate protection, animal welfare, sustainability or health, but who are unwilling to make any compromises on flavour or consistency. This is where combinations of animal and plant proteins come in. For this new category Planteneers has developed stabilising systems that already contain the plant component. They make it easy for meat producers and dairies to cut the animal ingredients in the final products by half. Thus, they can profit from the plant-based hype without completely eliminating meat or milk from their formulations.
Plant-based benefits for dairy products
Flavour, texture and appearance are advantages for hybrid products in the dairy space as well. With the compounds from the fiildDairy+ range and normal cow’s milk, dairies can make blends that reduce the amount of milk by 50 percent, replacing it with plant components. The final product might be a drink consisting of half milk and half oat drink, for example.
Said Katharina Schäfer, Product Manager, Planteneers: “In the development of our fiildDairy+ range we paid special attention to getting the original flavour of the milk products. The new compounds form the basis for drinks, pudding, fermented milk products like yogurt, and cheese preparations. The final products can naturally be enriched with proteins, vitamins or minerals. In this way it’s possible to appeal to the steadily growing number of consumers who want to eat healthier.”
A survey carried out for an in-house master’s thesis shows the potential that the combinations offer. Of 2000 respondents, most of them students, just under half would try a combined milk and plant-base beverage, for example. A third would even buy it. 46% would like to see further hybrid dairy products. Thus, the combinations offer many new possibilities for dairies as well as for the meat industry. For more visit planteneers.com
