KANSAS CITY — Nutrition, taste, texture and clean label ingredient lists all represent areas for potential improvement in the plant-based protein category, according to several consumer surveys. Potential solutions may be coming from a combination of plant protein ingredients, fermentation and an aquatic plant called lemna.
Research done by FMI – The Food Industry Association and 84.51º, the market research arm of Kroger Co., shows consumers think there is room for improvement related to taste, texture and on shortening lengthy ingredient panels.
Another challenge is plant-based proteins have difficulty in achieving a balanced amino acid profile comparable to meat and dairy. The best protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) is 1.0. Eggs, whey protein and milk all score a perfect 1.0. Alone, pea protein and rice protein fall short of 1.0, but when combined…
