Plant-based and alternative proteins took center stage at this year’s IFFA event in Frankfurt, Germany (May 3–8), wher global food suppliers and producers showcased their latest innovations. 

As the global food system reels from climate change, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty, exhibitors demonstrated a broad industry effort to achieve plant-based price parity and scale in alternative meat technologies to feed a growing, increasingly health-conscious population. 

“We have a global problem. Soil degradation, water pollution, water supply, climate, and hunger are global issues. There needs to be a global answer,” says Jeff Tripician, CEO of cultivated meat company Meatable.

In conversation with Food Ingredients First, exhibitors and leading experts highlighted hybrid and flexitarian offerings, functional proteins derived from fermentation or fungi, stronger clean label positioning, and practical sodium and additive reduction strategies.

Hybridity for cost and sustainability

Hybrid meats were placed front and center as companies highlighted their growing appeal as an entry point for flexitarian consumers seeking to reduce meat consumption without giving it up entirely.

“We define hybrid meat products as those containing 30 to 50% vegetables. These are intended for consumers who are health conscious as they are reduced in fat but enriched with fibers, for instance,” says Dr. Katharina Burdorf, team lead product management at Hydrosol.

The company presented three samples: hybrid turkey meat with 17% vegetables, a kebab with about 25% veggies, and a hybrid nugget with 28% plant-based ingredients.

“It is important to understand that this is still a meat product. We reduce the amount of meat between 15 and 50%, so that a lot of taste and texture still comes from real meat.”

Revyve brought a yeast-derived protein used for texturizing across meat, hybrid, and plant-based products.

“It functions like an egg — it emulsifies, gels, and firms,” says Arianne Douwma, sales director. “In hybrid products, it is really about giving the texture a firm bite, like other additives like methylcellulose can.”

Tapping consumer interest in “balanced protein,” ICL Food Specialties presented a meatball solution, with the soy protein Rovitaris SproutX replacing 35% of the meat for cost savings.

“We need to be reaching price parity with meat, and what we can see across Europe is that countries that have a smaller difference in the price of plant-based meat versus conventional meat have higher plant-based meat consumption,” says Karen Emerson, Alternative Protein sales and development manager at ICL Food Specialties.

The conversation on price parity or hybridity is incomplete without weighing what cultivated meat has to offer.

“Cultivated meat can dramatically decrease the time it takes to produce a product and do it much more efficiently from a feed conversion standpoint. [These are] two big issues for the meat industry: lead time and balance,” says Tripician.

“You’re not raising an entire animal to get the part you want in cultivated meat. We do it in 11 days. Most of the cultivated meat industry takes about 45 days. And obviously, the livestock industry takes a year or two or longer, depending on the protein.”

Fermentation for functionality

Mounting pressure on global food systems has spurred a wave of innovation in modern biotechnology, wher techniques like fermentation are touted as sustainable alternatives to produce foods that complement existing options.

“We don’t know how much influence biotechnology has on food. We haven’t yet uncovered the development times of biotechnology for the future, [which can bolster] clean labels and nutritional health values. There’s a huge potential,” says Dominik Scheffer, chief sales officer at M Food Group.

At IFFA, fermentation or fungi-derived proteins stood out for their environmental advantages and high performance in binding, texture formation, and gelling, all critical for reformulation and innovation.

“We are able to produce starter cultures ourselves through our bioreactors and add them specifically to final products, improving the taste, the texture, and shelf life,” says Scheffer. “We also have protective cultures, and there are different ways to protect a product, like with bacteria strains during the fermentation or competitive exclusion, wher a big range of starter cultures push everything else away.”

Planteneers highlighted the role of mycoprotein as a raw material capable of delivering texture at scale.

“Mycoprotein is a game changer in the plant-based world. It’s a clean product, sustainable, can be produced on a big scale, and brings natural nutritional value. And that’s very important in the food world,” says the company’s Paulo Canelas, food application technologist.

Meanwhile, Douwma says Revyve sources its yeast protein from upcycled or fresh brewer’s yeast, converting fermentation by-products into functional food ingredients. “It has about a 95% lower CO2 footprint compared to eggs and therefore is super sustainable to use.”

Clarifying clean label

The term “clean label” continues to evolve, with exhibitors clarifying its meaning and aligning technical formulation with transparency for enhanced consumer trust.

“Clean label used to be interpreted as a short list of recognizable ingredients, and now that definition is expanding. Consumers are becoming more environmentally aware and nutritionally astute. So it [now] also encompasses sustainability and the healthfulness of the ingredients,” notes Emerson.

She adds that the primary clean label concern for plant-based meat is that methylcellulose, an E-number, needs to be used as a binding solution in many of these products.

Jörg Senkel, technical sales manager Food & Nutrition EMEA DACH at Brenntag, highlights the need for transparency when it comes to clean labels.

“One of the biggest misconceptions is that clean label means the same thing for everything. From an R&D standpoint, we must differentiate clean label products, clear label products, or simply free-from products.”

Clean label convenience was a portfolio highlight for Planteneers, reflected in a plant-based salami alternative made from wheat protein. Company representatives agreed that shorter ingredient lists are “the next big thing” in the plant-based sector.

Revyve’s applications also indicated how allergen-free, regulation-compliant ingredients can bolster clean label claims without complicating reformulation. 

“We don’t have [a regulatory] problem because yeast has been used forever in Europe and worldwide in bread, beer, etc.,” says Douwma. “You can just serve it without compromises to everybody.”

Clean label expectations are changing at varying degrees around geographies, with enhanced scrutiny of sodium content. As a result, manufacturers are under pressure to reduce salt and other functional additives in traditional meat and snack products, while still delivering on shelf life, texture, and cost.

Brenntag presented several products reflecting this balance, including a nitrate-free salami, phosphate-free ham, and salt-reduced sausages.

Hydrosol also showcased a phosphate-free high-protein chip, developed as a convenient, E-number-free alternative to traditional protein snacks.

While there is immense room for innovation for alternative and plant-based proteins to become fully mainstream, it is evident that the industry is no longer focused on binaries but on complementary innovation.