Llorenç Freixenet i Garriga

The replication of processed meat products in vegan products presents an important difficulty due to the very different characteristics of animal and vegetable fats.

In the last two years, Metalquimia's QDSnacks technology has provided high-productivity industrial solutions for the production of this type of product in continuous processes, with the application of different strategies, but always based on this technology, which basically consists of the application of air in different temperature and humidity conditions directly on thin layers of the product, whether slices or thin pieces. The QDSnacks technology offers vegan product designers new development tools that can allow both the expansion of the range and the reduction of the level of additives needed to obtain some of the existing ones.

It is estimated that by 2040, 60% of the meat we will consume will not be of animal origin.

The macro trends of population growth and global food demand, combined with greater sensitivities towards sustainability, animal welfare and health, will pose great challenges that will make us rethink what we eat and how we produce it. 

In this sense, from ACCION - Generalitat de Catalunya - we promote this session together with INNOVACC - the meat and alternative protein cluster, which aims to:

. Publicize these trends and the conclusions of the study: "Alternative protein as a driver of change in the food industry in Catalonia: mapping and analysis", prepared by the General Directorate of Industry of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

. The action plan promoted jointly by ACCION and the INNOVACC cluster

. Case studies of innovative Catalan companies with alternative protein

The practical cases are gathered in the program of activities under the theme ''The alternative protein to Catalonia"

The alternative protein boom is a trend that is on everyone's lips; where modes of consumption, technological and financial interests and, clearly, new business opportunities and categories of mass consumption are interposed. The strategy consultancy Loop New Business Models organizes a round table with different key players in the sector (representatives of the technological vision, Retail, brands, classic protein, different alternative proteins -plant based, algae, insects , fungi, etc. -) to analyze, with a cross-sectional and applied vision, what are the business opportunities that the food industry has at its disposal and how it can develop new product categories around the concept of alternative protein. In addition, Loop will present an extensive recent report on alternative proteins and their commercial chiaroscuro.