Track: The alternative protein in Catalonia

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"

In the new world that is developing from alternatives to meat products, we must not only dominate the technology or the ingredients, but we must also know the possibilities of evolution of each ingredient and each technology to create "living" formulas that allow us to improve all products. the days. The concept of a stable traditional product on the market loses a lot of meaning in the world of "Future Food" and we need to move forward every day to create on the existing base. This can only be achieved by studying all the technologies, ingredients, products, processes, market trends, cooking each ingredient. How to choose the ingredients, how to study them, how to apply technology every day to "perfect", how to combine all this, how to cook them... Only a dedicated, multidisciplinary team with technicians, scientists and chefs and having all the industrial and culinary technologies can make Futur Food become Today's Food every day with perfect mimetic products of traditional meat products.

Future food demand, especially meat and protein-rich products, is one of the most worrying aspects in view of population growth figures. In recent decades, the global consumption of animal protein has increased considerably. By 2050, the FAO forecasts a world population of 9 billion and a necessary meat production of 410 million kg per year.

In this sense, the search for new alternative sources of protein to animals and suitable for human consumption, animal consumption as well as to restore the quality of the soil will constitute one of the most relevant avenues of research in the future. These new sources of protein will come both from de novo proteins and from assessments of different by-products, giving a new use to materials that are not currently being used. Therefore, the solution to these great challenges must come from a renewable, sustainable source that is part of a zero waste strategy

In the framework of current challenges, climate change, population growth and optimization of resources, the need to find alternative proteins at a local and circular level may be strategic at European level. Nature has developed and perfected this system over millions of years, and insect protein can be a useful tool in meeting many of these challenges.

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.

Offering a greater variety of plant-based and quality products will be essential to facilitate the transition of the large volume of consumers willing to reduce meat consumption. Current production techniques pose a limitation that can only be resolved with a change in technological paradigm, such as microextrusion.

Explanation of the strategic reflection and conception of the Zyrcular Foods business model. From the leaf to the table to the plate to the table.

A response where innovation plays a crucial role in being able to offer the markets a diversity of protein-based products from different sources, with the common denominator of doing it under the highest standards of quality and food safety with which the company is recognized, and with a solid productive and supply capacity. In this way Noel gives consumers the possibility of choosing from a multitude of proposals with which to decide how to configure a diet that allows them to lead a lifestyle based on a healthy diet, in what is a clear commitment to balance, sustainability and protein coexistence.

Within the framework of a company where tradition and innovation are highly linked to its own DNA, we will see what has been the strategy to enter and add value to the vegetable protein market.

Heura Foods, founded in 2017 by Marc Coloma and Bernat Añaños, is committed to the future of food with its pillars based on one of the best-known gastronomic cultures in the world, the Mediterranean, creating solutions that make the current food system obsolete and accelerate the protein transition.

Heura focuses its R&D on achieving holistic solutions to the challenges facing the world in terms of food. In his work, he is committed to vegetable proteins as a technology to face these challenges. The company represents a new generation of vegetable proteins based on legumes, using innovative techniques based on the high-moisture extrusion process and achieving such meaty textures that even butchers and renowned chefs think they eat meat when they try it