Texture, mouthfeel and taste are among the most significant challenges in the plant-based space, and formulators are continually working on overcoming them to create indulgent, decadent dairy and desserts that are derived from plant-based ingredients but do not compromise on their nutritional and tasty profile.

Developing nutritionally equal or even better-for-you plant-based products – which often means formulating with less sugar and fat – resonates well with consumers concerned about sustainability, health and wellness characteristics, and other important issues planetary health, and the overall environmental footprint of their food.

The desire to eat nutritionally is coupled with a growing need to “feel good” about what we consume to nourish the body and mind. 

Plant-based revolution and journey toward mainstream
According to a recent Innova Market Insights survey, plant-based eating is moving from trend to food revolution status. The survey found three in five global consumers claiming to incorporate more plant ingredients in their diets.  

Average annual growth in F&B launches with seleced claims (Global, CAGR 2015 to 2019) shows an 8 percent rise for vegetarian claims, a 23 percent increase for vegan claims. However, the most significant jump is in plant-based claims, which have gone up by 57 percent. 

Plant-based innovation is also diversifying and seen in more subcategories than a few years ago – and this includes dairy and desserts. 

“We have seen significant growth in the requests we get from our clients regarding vegan products and vegan product formulations, the dairy and dessert segment is no exception to this,” Inge Anderson, technical sales support at Sensus, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“We believe that the naturally healthy halo surrounding plant-based eating will continue, and we have seen no signs that this widespread enthusiasm for plant-based diets is slowing down. Especially when products are being developed with equal or improved taste, texture and nutrition compared to animal-based products,” she says.

The company’s recent developments include improving the nutritional profile of plant-based dairy and desserts through its chicory root fiber (Sensus Frutafit inulin and Frutalose oligofructose). Anderson explains how it’s possible to reduce sugar and/or fat in plant-based products while simultaneously improving the taste, mouthfeel and nutritional profile. 

Sensus has developed a vegan custard, a plant-based fermented drink and is currently working on a vegan ice cream.

“With our plant-based ingredients, we contribute to the health of the next generations: plants powering people. Together with our clients, we keep innovating in the area of plant-based and vegan product formulations,” Anderson continues. 

Overcoming distinct flavors and mimicking mouthfeel
Overcoming some of the distinct flavors of ingredients, and texture and mouthfeel also propose a big challenge, says Anderson. 

“Frutafit chicory inulin and Frutalose chicory oligofructose offer a solution here; their technological properties, which can be characterized as texturizing, sugar and fat replacer, water binder, mouthfeel improver and gelling agent, are very helpful in improving the taste and texture of plant-based products. 

“For example, when you are developing a vegan ice cream, it can be hard to mimic the exact mouthfeel of a dairy ice-cream, Frutafit inulin can be used to improve this, plus it can also be used to replac fat at the same time,” she notes. 

Mouthfeel, alongside taste, is an essential factor to consider in plant-based formulations, echoes Sophie Davodeau, innovation director for sweet goods and dairy EAME at Givaudan.

“Our focus is on making sure those products taste fantastic, and we do that by helping our customers with the different elements of taste. Moreover, the masking of off-notes is often associated with different plant-bases, and whether it’s a single plant base or whether it’s a blend, and it’s not always the same. Still, the challenges remain,” she explains.

“There’s a lot of work happening on continuously improving the products currently on the market with better taste. There are new flavors, maskers and mouthfeel components that constantly help those products to get better and better,” Davodeau adds.

Besides, Givaudan recently carried out research in six countries across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East about plant-based dairy. The company surveyed earlier this year and then slightly later. 

It found that plant-based food was an underlying trend before COVID-19, but the focus on health has become much more pronounced following the pandemic, and that means categories like plant-based dairy have become more attractive. 

Dairy-free indulgence 
Dairy-free indulgence is the hallmark of Barry Callebaut’s Plant Craft range of vegan chocolate, cocoa and nut products for food and beverage manufacturers. 

Earlier this year, the cocoa and chocolate giant launched a 100 percent dairy-free milk chocolate coined “M_lk Chocolate” as part of the Plant Craft portfolio, which has been developed to satisfy the growing demand for plant-based indulgence, particularly among Millennials and Gen-Z’s. 

“Plant-based products are definitely fitting the needs of the younger generation – the Centennials. They look for products that are good for them and good for the planet. Good for them from a nutritional point of view, but most importantly good in taste,” Camille Lannoy, brand development manager at Barry Callebaut, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Consumers increasingly recognize the influence of texture
Texture is also a significant component in plant-based desserts as globally; more consumers are recognizing its influence. Texture is becoming a unique selling proposition for brands and companies who foster their creativity in texture – and this is showing up in NPD.

Seven in ten global consumers told Innova Market Insights that “texture gives food and beverages a more interesting experience.”

“When it comes to indulgent food, taste and texture are very important, and this is what we are looking for when developing plant-based products. When creating a plant-based product, I really like using nuts – they are so diverse and bring a very nice combination of flavor and texture,” says chef chocolatier Joël Perriard, who recently demonstrated a decadent plant-based recipe from Barry Callebaut’s Chocolate Academy kitchen during a webinar entitled “How to create indulgent plant-based treats.”

Understanding plant-based preferences
Earlier this year, Kerry also carried out research into understanding plant-based preferences, and the dairy-free ice cream category is also in particular focus, which continues to strive towards overcoming “limiting” flavor varieties and textural hurdles. Meanwhile, nutritionally boosted functional offerings continue to spark demand.

The report stresses the growing consumer appetite for plant-based NPD that does not sacrifice taste, texture or functionality. As the category continues to expand beyond plant-based meats, Kerry notes that the proliferation of plant-based products is driven by ballooning emerging categories – including the burgeoning plant-based ice cream category.

Here, Kerry highlights that meeting consumers’ flavor curiosity is key for successful launches of these “frozen novelties.” Plant-based ice creams have been “limiting” in flavor variety.

According to Kerry’s survey findings, consumers described plant-based ice cream as “less creamy,” “gritty,” “grainy,” even “sawdust,” while taste was described as “flavorless,” “weird,” “off” and “takes a while to get used to.” Solving these associated texture and taste challenges can significantly boost appeal in NPD.

There is a need to overcome the limiting flavor opportunities and various textural hurdles in the dairy-free ice cream category. 

Perfect Day, a start-up engineering flora-made dairy protein, is one of the major success stories in dairy alternatives this year, recently seeing its Series C investment round grow from US$140 million to US$300 million thanks to a new tranche. The company has doubled its ability to produce its real dairy protein – without the use of animals – in recent months, while substantially reducing costs several years ahead of expectations.

May saw Perfect Day bring its protein to US consumers after a partnership deal with Smitten Ice Cream. Dubbed Smitten N’Ice Cream – is touted as being a clean label, lactose-free, hormone-free and “unparalleled” in texture and taste.

The process for producing the protein used in the ice cream involves adding genes essential to producing milk protein to Trichoderma – a type of microflora – and letting the dairy flora ferment plant sugar into whey and casein.

The ice cream base consists of water, sugar, coconut oil, sunflower oil, non-animal whey protein, pectin, calcium, potassium, phosphate, citrate and salt. However, there is no coconut or nutty aftertaste and Perfect Day stresses that the texture is “rich, creamy and luxurious.”

What’s next?
There remains plenty of opportunity in plant-based dairy and desserts, especially as plant-based food’s revolution status is forecast to branch out and grow into next year and beyond, buoyed by the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. A wide variety of plant-based alternatives are poised for disruption with dairy and dessert categories ripe for growth.