Source: shutterstock.com / Aleksandr The Second
Accelerating the demand for sustainable food and drinks
by the Novozymes team
Novozymes is dedicated to developing enzymes and microbes. For more than 70 years, we’ve been working with these biological problem solvers to make a big difference to our shared world.
But we can’t do it alone. Which is why Novozymes works closely with customers, governments, academia, and clever purpose-driven organisations such as the Smart Protein project – to make a real impact on the well-being of the planet and all who live on it.
Novozymes develops sustainable solutions for a range of industries, including bioagriculture, and the detergents and pharma sectors. When it comes to food and beverages, we’re aiming to accelerate the demand for products that have the least possible impact on the environment and provide consumers with their daily protein in a smarter, but still scrumptious, way. Enter plant-based foods!
Accelerating demand one bite at a time
As partners in the Smart Protein project, we’re looking to grow the demand for plant-based proteins. Through dedicated teams across our organisation, we’re investigating how we can continue to improve plant-based foods while contributing to reducing the footprint of consumers.
One of the main concerns for producers in the plant-based food and beverage sector is how to achieve the kind of eating experience that will make consumers hungry for more. The product has to have the right taste and texture – so that consumers will continue to come back. This is where enzymes have huge potential.
“Our main goal is to create solutions that help our customers make their plant-protein foods so good that consumers will buy it, try it, and love it,“ says Janne Ejrnæs Tønder, Business Unit Director of Plant Proteins.
“If they don’t like it when they sink their teeth into a plant-based burger, they may just get a regular burger next time – and we won’t get the sustainability impact that we want. That’s why enzyme solutions that enable producers to create foods that hit texture and taste spot-on are essential to driving change.”
Turning legumes into the preferred breakfast
Novozymes’ focus area in the Smart Protein project is to provide different texturing solutions for yogurt analogues, using legume proteins such as lentil, fava bean, and chickpea.
We explore solutions that meet various customer needs, ranging from providing a satisfying texture for plant milk while matching the protein content of dairy milk, to solutions for high-protein yogurt analogues. In fact, we have already shown that enzymes enable lentil- and fava-bean-based fermented products to contain up to 10% proteins and still maintain a nice, smooth texture – so that consumers can enjoy a nutritious plant-based breakfast.