Author & Protein Application Specialist, Henk Hoogenkamp, gives his expert opinion on the potential of soy protein. SOYBEANS are known to contain specific proteins that cause allergic reactions or inhibit the absorption of other nutrients such as the so-called anti- nutritional proteins like trypsin inhibitors and lectins (carbohydrate-binding proteins). Humans and some animals have intolerances […]

For most people, meat happens to be incredibly tasty and nutritious, and perhaps the
only way to successfully replace it is to develop a superior plant-based product that is equally good in organoleptic performance, such as taste and texture. Plant-based burgers such as those marketed by Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, and Nestle’s Garden Gourmet, are well on their way being at par with the beef burger equivalent.

Although plant meat companies like to paint a different picture, it is a fact that – except for the food service sector – sales in the US and some EU countries have decreased by double digits since 2022. Plant meat sales are stagnating, and that is quite a departure from the mega- growth numbers in the years pre- ceding 2022.

The transformational journey from animal protein nutrition to plant protein nutrition is a long and winding road. It has taken years of trial and error to create a plant-based meat analog product that is almost indistinguishable from animal meat. The science and technology are not quite there yet, but a little progress is made every day.

The term “soy protein” was changed to “vegetable protein”, as a strategic move o ease the consumers’ concern and improve their negative perception of soy in the early 1990s.