Entirely within its vision “protein-rich food of the future”, Future Food Group (FFG) has expanded its product development. Literally by investing in new technology resulting in realistic fibrous structures “like chicken” and “like beef”, but also by focusing on a wider variety of end products. Where FFG, for its plant proteins, initially concentrated on the production of meat substitutes the company now maintains a wider scope. For example, it has recently developed a plant-based burger like fish and vegan alternatives based on cheese. FFG has also realized a series of organic meat substitutes and the range of fully vegan meat substitutes continues to expand.
- New technology
- No longer just meat substitutes
- More vegan products
- Organic range
- Customization
Future Food Group focuses not only on vegetarians and vegans with its plant-based alternatives. The organization believes that if we want to make real progress in making consumption more sustainable, meat eaters should be involved and convinced. This is only possible by offering them real delicious alternatives for a tasty dish without meat. Jos Havekotte, Sr. Innovation Manager at Future Food Group: “If that is a completely vegan product, that is even better. Then everyone can be served the same product.”
New technique for fibrous structures
The company is constantly on the move with the continuous development of really good and affordable substitutes, while keeping an eye on healthy nutritional values. To this end, FFG has also acquired and further developed a new technology. The product innovation team, which also includes (former) butchers, now has its own FFG 3D Extrusion Technology at its disposal. With this, realistic fibrous structures can be made, such as strips ‘like chicken’ or strips ‘like beef’. Havekotte: “It is fair to call it a new generation of meat substitutes. Due to the technology, the appearance, taste and texture of meat are reflected so well that you wouldn’t think that the products are plant-based. During cooking, for example of a stir fry dish, the structures absorb the juices of the other ingredients and / or gravy. These absorbed juices are released during eating, creating a tender, juicy effect; an experience similar to eating meat. “
With this technique, the organization has now developed plant-based, fibrous strips and dices “like chicken” and “like beef”, both vegetarian and vegan. In addition to natural, FFG also offers these products in various taste styles that match the most popular world cuisines. To provide the best taste experience, the recipes have been refined based on feedback from tasting sessions with consumers and some customers in the food industry. A plant-based ‘stew’ has also been created with the fibrous structures.
Shifting focus
Compared to 5 years ago, vegetarians and vegans already have so many more products to choose from, but this range is not as broad as for the average consumer. Havekotte: “Certainly for vegans, there are no fully-fledged alternatives for many daily products. Chicken egg protein, for example, is often used in vegetarian meat substitutes for a good consistency, but that is not for vegans.” It is a challenge to develop good, very flavourful and affordable vegan products. Future Food Group has already succeeded in this for various products and wants to further expand the vegan range. Havekotte: “Fortunately, technology is progressing and we can do more and more. Rome wasn’t built in 1 day either. Step by step, with every new product we develop, we are moving towards more sustainable protein use in our food.” Therefore the organization no longer limits itself to only meat substitutes and produces more completely vegan products. A plant-based fish burger and vegan variants of cheese are ready to enter the market.
Raw materials; soy free and organic
Future Food Group also focuses more on which raw materials are used. For products with soy as protein source, only soy from European soil is used. There are also more and more soy-free variants of existing plant-based products. A completely new line in the FFG range is a series of organic products. For this, too, the raw materials come from European soil. Havekotte: “Taking human health into account, the final nutritional value also determines which ingredients, and to what extent, we use in a product. After all, we aim for sustainable and healthy.”
Tailor-made product range
All these developments lead to a significant increase in available products in a short period of time. Vegan cheese slices, vegan cheese Schnitzel, Burger like fish, Schnitzel like chicken, Vegetarian and Vegan strips like chicken and like beef, are just a few items of the new range that Future Food Group will be able to deliver from February.
The products are offered to retail and food service under the own brands PLNT and The Veggie Lovers, but can also be supplied as a private label. Buyers can indicate themselves which combinations of structures, flavour styles, calibrations and protein source they want.
Future Food Group is slowly but surely gaining ground in the retail sector. In addition, it can supply (private label) to Cash&Carry and Foodservices and there are conversations with large industrial partners. With its range, Future Food Group can provide the retail, food service and industry across the full breadth with worthy meat substitutes and more.
Organisations who would like more information about the products and pricing, can contact Future Food Group via telephone +31 412 257 770 or mail contact@futurefoodgroup.nl.
