NETHERLANDS- Agricultural commodities trading giant, Cargill has announced that it is investing in Bflike, a Dutch-based start-up with a portfolio of solutions for meat and fish alternatives as part of its effort to bring tasty plant-based products to market quickly and affordably.
Cargill’s 50 percent investment in Bflike is realized through a JV with Blue Ocean Xlerator NV (BOX), a Dutch private incubator focused on sustainable innovations in the food sector.
Bflike has developed a range of technologies and premix ingredient solutions for meat and fish analogues which includes patent-pending vegan fat and blood platforms that reportedly enables manufacturers to create plant-based alternatives that look, feel and cook like their animal-based counterparts.
The partnership combines Cargill’s extensive food ingredient solutions with Bflike’s recipes and technology to allow food manufacturers and retailers to bring plant-based products to market quickly and affordably.
Bflike will license its proprietary technology and ingredient solutions to food manufacturers and retailers, supporting them to commercialize their meat and fish alternative products.
According to Cargill’s Belgin Köse, Bflike offers a technology that utilizes machinery that is commonly used for meat products, as a result, licensees do not need to buy expensive equipment or use expensive technologies.
This makes the entire process of bring to market high quality plant-based alternatives a lot quicker and considerably cheaper compared to existing meat and fish analogues.
“BOX and Top have spent years developing a pipeline of diet enrichment solutions, allowing manufacturers and retailers to offer affordable meat and fish alternatives that truly mirror the sensory experiences of traditional animal-based products,” said Koos van Haasteren, CEO of Bflike.
“Now together with Cargill as a development partner, we can help expand the possibilities with a new generation of nutritious products that will continue to revolutionise the plant-based marketplace.”
Bflike’s currently market-ready products are the hamburger and the minced meat, both in a vegan and a vegetarian edition. “However, we have ambitious plans for 2021 with a whole range of meat and fish analogs,” van Haasteren confirms.
As global volume consumption of protein is expected to double by 2050 amid a worldwide ballooning population nearly, the F&B industry continues to explore sustainable alternative proteins – and the alt-meat and fish space are poised for significant growth.
This year alone, the plant-based food segment has seen increased investment from major food companies including JBS, Bunge, Nestlé, and Benson Hill.
Food Ingredient suppliers have also expanded their plant-based capabilities to help meet the rising needs of ingredients for this rapidly expanding sector.
Most recently, Givaudan and Bühler opened a Protein Innovation Centre in Singapore to accelerate plant-based product development on a global scale.
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