Over 50 percent of consumers are “skeptical” that plant-based foods will ever look or taste as good as their animal-based counterparts, according to research from Motif FoodWorks. For the plant-based movement to positively impact global sustainability efforts, products have to be as satisfying as their analogs in every sense, urges Jonathan McIntyre, CEO of the company.

“Science will make or break plant-based contributions to global sustainability efforts,” he tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

With more consumers turning to plant-based foods, he flags the need for improved and faster science to bring better plant-based options to consumers. 

McIntyre says in 2021, consumers will become familiar with food science, “as long as the industry doubles down on transparency and tastier plant-based product options.”

Innovations across industries will always take time to earn widespread acceptance, he warns. 

“Already, we’re seeing consumers willing to pay premium prices for food innovations. This year, we’ll see the general public continue to become more informed and open to food science than ever before,” he explains. 

Supporting health and the planet
Consumers are increasingly turning to plant-based foods to benefit their own health and the health of the planet. 

“Incorporating more plant-based foods into our diets is absolutely a step in the right direction,” McIntyre continues. “But there’s a problem,” he stresses. “Many current plant-based foods aren’t meeting, let alone exceeding, the expectations of consumers.”

“2021 will be the year that plant-based innovators realize that to truly make a difference for our planet, plant-based food has to be craveable. And that means the industry needs to nail taste and experience and lean into the potential of food science to get us there.”

Accelerating the plant-based movement
2021 will be the year of speed, according to Mike Leonard, chief technical officer at Motif FoodWorks.

“The food industry has a speed problem. As it stands, ‘urgency’ often translates to two or three-year R&D timelines. That means if we want to solve critical challenges in taste, texture and nutrition facing today’s plant-based foods, we’re already behind schedule,” he comments. 

“We simply can’t wait that long with consumers and retailers alike looking for new, more and better options.”

This year, Leonard anticipates food players across industry will make a concerted push to accelerate innovation timelines. 

“We’ll see more partnerships with experts outside the industry – from academic research institutions to agile and experimental start-ups – to develop plant-based food breakthroughs and demonstrate that innovation in the industry can be both revolutionary and fast.”

The emotional side of food science 
“Taste is subjective, and in the mouth of the beholder,” says Leonard. 

“An integration of emotional and physiological responses combined with complex physics, taste is something that is hard to measure. Yet it ultimately decides whether a new food product becomes a consumer favorite or a flop.”

For too long, food scientists have overlooked or set aside the emotional, cognitive and cultural components behind taste because they are so hard to quantify, he argues. 

“But in 2021, we’ll see the food industry come around to plant-based food innovation as both an art and a science,” he concludes. 

“That means using science and data in new ways to decipher the emotional components of taste – and translating them into experiences that resonate not only on a sensory and values-based level but on emotional and personal levels as well.”