Glanbia Nutritionals highlighted its plant-nutrition portfolio at the recently held Vitafoods Europe, in Geneva. A particular showcase was the BevOat Low Viscosity launch, designed for ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages. Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst at the show, Yves Vantomme, Product Strategic Manager Grains, Glanbia Nutritionals, emphasized the growing potential oat ingredient holds for companies interested in riding the oat-milk wave.

“The plant-nutrition market, in general, is growing and oat drinks are a particularly big trend. It all started with soy milk, but people are increasingly moving to almond or oat drinks. We also see combinations of oats with juices too, as well as with coffee,” says Vantomme.

Innova Market Insights has pegged The Plant Kingdom as its number two trend for 2019, denoting a market that is increasingly interested in balancing ethics and health. Plant-based growth has been a key theme for several years, but the extent to which it grew into the total mainstream with both vegetarian and vegan options became clear throughout 2018. According to data from the market researcher, there has been more than 45 percent average annual growth in food & beverage launches with a vegan positioning (CAGR, 2013-2017).

Within this growth, beverages have been a stand-out application area. Between 2013 and 2017, soy continued to be the top ingredient for plant-based dairy alternative drinks, however, the market penetration is decreasing. Almonds and oats also show strong growth over the years, with a CAGR of 39 percent and 36 percent, respectively (2013-2017).

However, working with oats comes with its challenges. While oat is a big ingredient for the RTD market, it is a tricky ingredient to work with, the company explains, as congealing upon heat exposure is a big issue, limiting how manufacturers can use it.

“There are some technical challenges that arise in the production of an oat drink, mainly in the heating step which will guarantee the shelf-life of the drink. Standard oat flour congeals at a certain temperature due to the starches present, meaning you will get some gelatinization, so viscosity increases,” Vantomme explains.

“Our R&D team had to look into how to avoid gelatinization. We have experience with other proteins, so we knew the process behind this was happening. So, finding a solution was quite easy. The new flour is hydrolyzed,” he says.

“Not all companies have the equipment to produce oat drinks and now we are in contact with many beverage companies, such as juice companies, who are interested. For them, adding an oat flour to their products opens new doors for partners and also consumers,” he adds.

Moving forward, Glanbia will continue to focus on developing pea protein for its plant-based portfolio, but it will be looking into hemp and potato protein in the future.

Glanbia was also introducing two plant-based sports nutrition prototypes at the Vitafoods Europe. The first designed for pre-workout is FitNox Fueled RTM, featuring FitNox, a source of 100 percent plant-based Nitric Oxide (NO) that has been shown to deliver a 336 percent boost in NO for superior performance with no added stimulants. 

Driven by patent-pending plant-based matrix technology, FitNox contains three key botanical ingredients designed for pre-workout – Moringa Oleifera Leaf extract, pomegranate extract and black ginger extract. High in vitamins C, B1, B3, B5 and B12 the FitNox Fueled RTM is the perfect pre-workout drink to protect cells from oxidative stress and boost overall performance, shares the company.

Also at Vitafoods Europe earlier this month, Lonza launched its new Vcaps Plus White Opal capsule in a bid to address the growing demand for opaque capsules that do not include titanium dioxide, DSM unveiled the top NPD-driving consumer health concerns and DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences put forward its hydrocolloid portfolio as a key solution to providing appropriate nutrition to those suffering from dysphagia – the medical term for swallowing difficulties. Personalized nutrition technologies also took center stage. 

By Laxmi Haigh, with additional reporting by Robin Wyers