Within a few years, the plant protein market has touched the sky. According to management consulting firm Mckinsey, the valuation of the global alternative protein market is US$2.2 billion. The market is steadily rising and is expected to reach US$ 17.9 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 9.5%.
Innovations have been pouring in across the globe to provide an ultimate plant-based product focusing on taste, texture, and overall sensory appeal. Consumers are looking for more tasteful options in alternative protein space.
Food giants are bringing unique products, especially meat and dairy-free products, with the rapid shift in demand towards vegan beef, chicken, bacon, sausage, and cheese. Various partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions are happening in the sector to meet the demand for meat-mimicking products in the market.
In 2018, Unilever acquired the United Kingdom-based ‘The Vegetarian Butcher’ as a part of the company’s expansion of plant based product line. This acquisition took place after both companies worked together in 2016, launching products such as ‘Vegetarian Meatballs in Satay Sauce’ and ‘Vegetarian Meatballs in Tomato Sauce’ under the brand, Unox.
With the more health-conscious consumers of the new age, the demand for plant-based products soared up high. In 2020, Unilever’s brand ‘The Vegetarian Butcher,’ which offers a wide range of meat products, received much success with almost 70% growth and caters in 45 countries as per the company.
The brand, which recently produced innovative products such as vegan Raw Burger using a diverse blend of plant-based proteins, received much appreciation. The company even partnered with Burger King and came up with plant-based whopper, plant-based nuggets, and Vegan Royale.
With the strategy of developing a unique, sustainable product portfolio, Unilever, the food giant, partnered with Scotland-based Enough, the food-tech company, in May 2021 to use the company’s technology of producing high-quality protein using a zero-waste fermentation process. Enough produces a mycoprotein named Abunda, which contains all essential amino acids and dietary fiber. The company uses natural fungi fed with wheat and corn to produce this mycoprotein.
Initially, Unilever plans to use Enough’s Abunda in its alternative meat brand ‘The Vegetarian Butcher. But the company intends to use the sustainable ingredient in other more products such as non-dairy ice cream or healthy snacks in the long run. This will put the company ahead in the competition from its rivals as the company thinks this technology has a lot of potentials that can be used as part of the toolbox in producing meat-like substitutes.
As per Enough, the production of 1 million tonnes of Abunda can replace 5 million cows, more than 1 billion chickens, and reduce more than 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, fermentation is far more efficient than any animal and plant farming. The mycoprotein uses 97% lesser feed than beef, 80% lesser feed than chickens, and 40% lesser feed than soya beans. The process requires 93% less water than beef, 55% less water than chickens, and 29% less water than soya beans. Even carbon dioxide emissions would be 97% less than the beef used, 80% lower than chickens used, and 53% lesser than soya bean used.
Unilever is constantly exploring new sources of sustainable protein apart from plants, including mycoproteins from other fungal species and proteins from microalgae. For instance, in July 2020, Unilever and biotech start-up Algenuity announced a new partnership for developing innovative plant-based ‘future food’ using microalgae as a sustainable protein source.
