Future plant-based foods will go beyond mimicking animal products, according to Griffith Foods, a specialist in texture, sauces and coating systems. The company flags that as more consumers grow up without meat as a reference, industry will proliferate with creative and cleaner label protein innovations. 

“Ford’s first Model T car directly tried to mimic a horse and carriage. That was phase one,” says Wim Van Roekel, president of Griffith Foods Europe.

“Similarly, we see a lot of our customers mimicking the original meat product in their plant-based concept. People recognize ‘schnitzel’ or ‘chicken wing’ and look for the meat alternative in the same form.” 

In the next phase of plant-based, Van Roekel envisions that alternative protein sources will be used to design completely new food concepts. 

“It’s already happening if you go to more innovative restaurants. Culinary chefs are bringing new protein concepts to the center of the plate.” 

Innova Market Insight cited “Plant-based: The Canvas for Innovation” as its second Top Ten Trend of 2022, signaling an uptick in creative offerings and culinary-inspired offerings. 

Griffith Foods’ vegan BBQ chick’n ring provides crunch and flavor on all sides. As Griffith Foods enters more into mom and pop restaurants, in addition to its traditional presence in quick-service businesses, Van Roekel says the cross-fertilization between foodservice and retail channels will become even more evident. 

New shapes for new foods
Jumping onto the next phase of plant-based movement, Griffith Foods introduced a “vegan BBQ chick’n ring” at Food Ingredients Europe 2021.

The concept is an extruded plant-based protein coated in a smokey, crunchy Never Fry coating. 

“The vegan ring is not a chicken nugget, it’s not a fish cake, it’s not a burger. It’s something else. In the long run, the market will evolve to these kinds of concepts,” says Griffith Foods’ head of marketing Europe and Africa, Rochelle Schaetzl. 

“It’s really an exciting space because, with animal protein still a reference at the moment, we are forced to use things like methylcellulose or functional ingredients with E numbers to mimic the texture and eating experience. 

The moment meat is not the gold standard, brands will be free to focus on developing vegan, clean label products, she says. 

“This is wher I believe plant-based eating or non-meat eating is going to go in the next three or four years.”

Wim Van Roekel, president of Griffith Foods Europe. The race for replicating the experience 
The alternative protein market is evolving with product launches reaching “sky high” levels, says Schaetzl.

“There are so many new players on a daily basis pushing products into the market that the consumer is fickle and spoiled. Every time they go to the shop, there’s something new that they can try, and next week, there’ll be something else.”  

once launches have reached a plateau, she forecasts that the products that deliver the best eating experience will be the ones that remain in the marketplace. 

“These are the ones that consumers will go back to and at the moment – we’re all scrambling for what that will be.”  

Too early? 
Amid rapid market transformation, Schaetzl admits it is a challenge to bring customers onboard with protein concepts that stray from mimicking meat. 

“We are watching the market as it’s evolving, but we’ve also got to bring our customers along on that journey and many are not yet prepared to make these bold bets,” she adds. 

“A lot of what’s happening in the market is still trying to grab market share that historically was meat-based and looking for one-to-one substitutes. It’s what’s gonna come after that, which will be interesting.”

Griffith Foods spotlights culinary chefs and start-ups as the main drivers of innovation in the next phase of plant-based.Tapping into start-ups 
One area rife with innovation is the start-up sector, wher creative entrepreneurs are pushing the boundaries of conventional foods. 

Schaetzl says this “non-conformist” mindset is what will propel start-up innovations in the long run. 

“Companies that are exploring innovative technologies will be able to do much more than what we’ve seen at the moment with extrusion type systems. Right now it is carte blanche,” she says. 

“The companies getting big funding at the moment are doing things in their labs that we haven’t even seen yet.”

Edging in on emerging tech
Griffith Foods through Nourish Ventures takes small stakes in start-ups, providing most support in the form of go-to-market capabilities and know-how. 

“There’s a lot of start-ups that have wonderful technology, but they don’t know how to scale it. They don’t know how to market it or reach customers who could potentially be interested,” says Van Roekel. 

“That’s the part that we have and that’s how we get access to early new and emerging technologies.”

Schaetzl adds that as the future of plant-based evolves, Griffith Foods is ready to meet new taste challenges with its coating systems which are versatile for any type of protein, whether it’s plant-based, fermented protein or lab-grown meat.