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BRAVE NEW WORLD OF ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN

They have been called the future of food but a sudden and radical shift to plant-based products is not feasible, FoodHQ’s Amos Palfreyman tells Tina Morrison.

Innovators of meat and dairy substitutes and new plantbased foods are tapping consumer demand for alternatives to animal-based production, and New Zealand is not immune.

The country is delving into plant protein ingredients, labbased animal proteins, new plantbased consumer brands, and hybrid models where agricultural producers include plant ingredients alongside their animal proteins.

With about 40 per cent of New Zealand goods exports coming from the meat and dairy sectors, the rise of alternative proteins is an area the Ministry for Primary Industries is keeping tabs on.

While an expanding global population is expected to continue to stoke demand for animal proteins, a growing desire for more sustainable and healthier lifestyles is driving uptake of alternatives.

Amos Palfreyman, a business development manager at food science and innovation hub FoodHQ in Palmerston North, sees a place for both.

‘‘The food system is complex. What happens in one part of the system can’t be isolated from the rest of the system.

‘‘The idea that there would be suddenly a massive and radical abolition of all animal livestock to plants is just not feasible, regardless of your personal feelings around animals and whether they should be farmed.’’

He expects there will be more of a balance in the future and greater emphasis put on understanding the true cost of production for protein systems that is then reflected through pricing or regulation.

Although there may be shifts to non-animal protein foods in some parts of the world, both are likely to co-exist, he says.

That’s not to say industry groups won’t continue to fight for their corner, with meat companies criticising plant-based foods for their lack of nutrition and claims of sustainability while plant-based food advocates play up their health and environmental benefits.

‘‘My position is that there’s room for both,’’ Palfreyman says. ‘‘If more parties would come to the table and explore the opportunities to co-exist, I think it would be better for the New Zealand food system, better for the planet and better for the world.’’

He would like to see New Zealand look again at its regulations for the production of food via genetic modification or gene editing to ensure they are up to date with current technologies and knowledge, saying the system is archaic and holding the country back from innovation.

While United States company Impossible Foods was able to last month launch its plant-based Impossible Burger in New

Zealand, complete with genetically engineered imitation blood, it’s not possible to grow or modify the ingredients here.

That’s because Food Standards Australia New Zealand approves products but the Environmental Protection Authority regulates the process.

‘‘It’s well past the time for us to open that regulation up,’’ Palfreyman says. ‘‘At least from a research point of view, there should be ease of access for working with these technologies.

‘‘The ultimate goal for New Zealand is to move from not only being a food producer but to being an innovator and creator of food technologies that can be used worldwide and licensed.’’

Such technologies could be scaled quickly to generate a huge amount of revenue and would lead to a more diversified

workforce, he says.

The opportunities in alternative proteins have also caught the eye of the Ministry for Primary Industries, as it monitors trends that could affect the power base of New Zealand’s economy.

It has invested in alternative proteins such as snail farming, spirulina farming from algae, and plant leaf protein through its Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures Fund.

But not all new innovative ventures are successful.

Wairarapa baker Breadcraft is no longer selling its Rebel Bakehouse wraps that contained cricket flour. The company introduced its cricket wraps in September 2018, creating a flurry of media interest.

But Breadcraft general manager Mike Fisher says that despite 2 billion people around the world consuming edible insects as part of their diets, the New Zealand market ‘‘wasn’t quite ready for crickets in their wraps’’, so the company stopped making them last year.

‘‘Alternative plant-based proteins are still at the heart of Rebel Bakehouse,’’ Fisher says, noting all of the company’s wraps are plant-based with ingredients such as hemp, linseed, poppy, chia seeds and quinoa to give consumers a nutritious plantbased protein offering.

‘‘We will keep exploring and innovating with alternative plant-based proteins to meet the increasing consumer demand for food that helps people live and eat well,’’ he says.

Meat and dairy companies are also looking at how they can meet demand for plant-based diets by developing hybrid products or plant-based alternatives.

Green Meadows Beef is selling ‘‘angus beef and beetroot burger patties’’ designed by celebrity chef Michael Van de Elzen with beetroot and carrot, which it says are a great way to ‘‘sneak’’ vegetables into your diet.

Meanwhile, Silver Fern Farms, the country’s largest meat company, is in the early stages of exploring meat-plant hybrids as it looks to respond to customer demand.

‘‘One thing that will dictate our approach to these products is our core philosophy of natural ingredients and minimally processed products,’’ says Silver Fern Farms group marketing manager Nicola Johnston.

‘‘We also need to navigate this space very carefully to avoid consumer confusion and potentially undermining the key proposition behind our other red meat products.’’

In the dairy industry, Synlait Milk is developing an Auckland manufacturing facility for a new multinational customer’s plantbased adult and paediatric products. The company has been tight-lipped about the details, citing commercial confidentiality.

When discussing the move into plant-based products last year, former chief executive Leon Clement said a food revolution was under way and the company could not ignore it.

Its larger rival, Fonterra, has said that while it is a bovine dairy company at its core, and that’s unlikely to change, the company has an open mind about complementing its products with plant-based milk if consumers want it. It’s unlikely to be as a standalone product, though.

Palfreyman notes consumers can be fickle, with strong opinions about the types of foods they want when they are surveyed but essentially narrowing down on a few key elements when they come to make a purchase: Price, taste and convenience, closely followed by health, and then conscious consumerism factors like sustainability and food origin.

‘‘There has to be a reason why they would buy a product that’s above and beyond a vague notion that it may be better for the planet,’’ he says.

Many plant-based proteins have tended to mimic existing animal-based products, offering familiarity for those who want more non-animal foods in their diet.

Palfreyman believes that in the future, alternative proteins may move away from trying to copy their animal counterparts, and celebrate their own flavours, nutrients and other important elements.

Investment is also being directed to precision fermentation where animal proteins are produced using biotechnology, and cell-cultured meat where animal stem cells are grown in a bioreactor outside the animal.

New Zealanders may question whether that production method is the future of food for the country and may be curious but hesitant to try lab-grown foods, he says.

‘‘If more parties would come to the table . . . it would be better for the New Zealand food system, better for the planet and better for the world.’’ Amos Palfreyman

The Monitor

en-nz

2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282853669235971

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