Cargill has entered a joint venture (JV) in Bflike, a Dutch start-up poised to be a new technology leader in the rapidly evolving meat and fish alternatives categories. This move illustrates how Cargill collaborates with the start-up world to speed up the process of bringing innovation to consumers amid rising flexitarian and meat-reducing trends. Cargill’s 50 percent investment in Bflike is realized through a JV with Blue Ocean Xlerator NV (BOX), a Dutch private incubator focused on sustainable innovations in the food sector.

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, both companies spell out the synergies of this JV, which focuses on plant-based alternatives that look, feel and cook like their animal counterparts. 

“Today’s start-ups face a number of issues when trying to scale up. Partnering with a global company like Cargill removes a lot of these hurdles when it comes to critical ingredients availability and multi-country supply chain deployment,” explains Belgin Köse, segment director enrichment & renewability for Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturizers Europe.

“Bflike comes to the table with great innovation and an established product pipeline. On the other hand, we bring our strengths in ingredients and global supply chain structures. We will truly provide increased supply availability and reliability for critical ingredients. When both benefits are brought together, you create a real solution for the final customer.”

Meat-like experience 
The partnership combines Cargill’s extensive food ingredient solutions with Bflike’s recipes and technology to allow food manufacturers and retailers to bring tasty plant-based products to market quickly and affordably.

Proprietary technology creates plant-based alternatives that look, feel and cook like their animal-based counterparts. 

Bflike will license its proprietary technology and premix ingredient solutions to food manufacturers and retailers, supporting them to commercialize their meat and fish alternative products.

“The crux of Bflike’s products is the combination of ingredient composition, patent-pending technologies, and the fact that products can be manufactured on standard machinery,” continues Köse.

Two patent applications have been filed; one for a proprietary vegan blood composition (applied in 2021) and one for a vegan fat analog platform (applied in 2020).

“Further, Bflike offers a technology that utilizes machinery that is commonly used for meat products. As a result, licensees do not need to buy expensive equipment or use expensive technologies,” she says.

“It is the unique combination of their proprietary processing methods and their premix ingredients formulation that sets Bflike products apart from other meat analogs. The advantage is excellent texture, taste and cooking behavior as well as cost reduction.”

Alternative proteins 
Köse says that there is an existing pipeline at Bflike, so the focus for this JV will be on commercializing the different products already in development.

“These products all offer excellent taste, texture and cooking features and provide nutritional value comparable to that of meat, all attributes that will enable them to stand out in the marketplace.”

“This JV will enable our customers around the globe to offer the next generation of nutritious and delicious meat and fish alternatives. Whether they are alternative protein brands or foodservice operators expanding into plant-based, this is truly an enabling technology for our customers,” Köse says.

Meanwhile, Bflike CEO Koos van Haasteren welcomes Cargill’s investment and the trust such a major player has put into Bflike, which has headquarters and production facilities in the Food Valley, the Netherlands.

“We are looking forward to offering a new generation of plant-based meat and fish alternative products to the food industry,” he tells FoodIngredientsFirst. “Not only are our products developed with excellent taste, texture and cooking features, but the nutritional value is also comparable to that of meat.” 

“Having said that, we want to go even further, and we will continue our work in optimizing the nutritional value of our offer.”

He explains that it’s the combination of processing methods and the ingredients that characterize Bflike products, and it’s what sets them apart from other meat analogs. Bflike’s vegan fat and blood substitutes help overcome two major challenges in developing tasty meat and fish analogs; a juice bite and a “raw” look.

“Bflike offers a technology that utilizes machinery that is commonly used for meat products, ensuring a high output. Our licensees do not need to buy expensive equipment or use expensive technologies. Bflike products will be more affordable than current meat and fish analogs since our technologies are not expensive or high in energy consumption,” he says.

Bflike’s currently market-ready products are the hamburger and the minced meat, both in a vegan and a vegetarian edition.

“However, we have ambitious plans for 2021 with a whole range of meat and fish analogs,” van Haasteren continues. 

Synergies of the JV 
This investment underlines the role that Cargill plays in the value chain, which spans from B2B to B2C, van Haasteren points out.

“So for Cargill, this move is just a continuation of wher we already operate within the value chain. It’s another part of Cargill’s strategy to bring innovation to customers and consumers in a safe, responsible and sustainable way,” he says.

“Bflike comes to the table with great innovation and a product pipeline,” he continues. “On the other hand, Cargill brings their strengths in ingredients and global supply chain structures.

“Cargill will truly provide increased supply availability and reliability for critical ingredients. When both of these benefits are brought together, you create a real solution for the final customer.”

Total meat experience targeting flexitarians
As global volume consumption of protein is expected to double by 2050 amid a worldwide ballooning population nearly, the F&B industry continues to explore sustainable alternative proteins – and the alt-meat and fish space are poised for significant growth.

Consumers are thinking about what’s in their food, wher it comes from, and its ethical and environmental impact more than ever before. These ongoing trends mean more brands and companies deliberately target consumers outside of the traditional vegetarian and vegan categories.

Instead, they focus on capturing the market share of meat-eaters looking to incorporate alternative options regularly.

“We are targeting flexitarians and others who aim to replac meat and fish a few times a week. Our products will provide consumers with affordable diet-enrichment yet still deliver the total meat experience,” says Köse.

“We are always searching for ways to help our customers feed a rapidly growing population safely, responsibly and sustainably. That’s why we have supplemented our significant investments in traditional animal protein with investments and innovation in plant- and cell-based protein.”

“As with the food and agriculture landscape in general, we will continue to monitor trends and evaluate opportunities in this rapidly growing segment and strategically review opportunities to expand our broad plant-based ingredient portfolio in line with our inclusive approach,” she concludes.