The Demand for Food Stuffs that Promote Environmental Health

  • Mar 09, 2023

In 2023 we witness increasing global concerns around climate change, single-use plastics, and pollution. In addition, food waste is an accelerating global concern, with an estimated one billion tons of food lost annually1. Instead, conscious businesses focus on food waste as a valuable ingredient in fresh products and other materials.
 
Upcycling and a circular economy are among the new buzzwords. Environmental awareness of resource protection and preservation solutions promotes more conscious product creation and consumption. This lean towards foodstuffs promoting environmental health includes upcycling food and agriculture industry by-products such as natural fertilizers, plant-based meat and dairy alternative ingredients, and increasing product life cycle transparency.
 
By-Products as a Natural Fertilizer
The latest fertilizer innovations rely on organic agriculture and food industry waste to nourish crops and protect soil, air, and water. For example, ag-tech company Anuvia Plant Nutrients has developed SymTRX – a process to create more sustainable fertilizer granules from manure, wastewater treatment organics, and agricultural crop waste.
 
The solution adds carbon and slow-release nitrogen, reducing volatilization and leaching for healthier soil, better water quality, a smaller environmental footprint, reduced greenhouse gases, and increased yield. In addition, the fertilizer product is manufactured in a zero-waste facility.
 
Food By-Products as Plant-Based Alternatives
Happily, more natural Substances are in demand, while vegan and vegetarian Foods are super-hot.
 
Meat alternatives rely on mimicking the physical sensations of meat – its appearance, taste, texture, and nutrient profile. Approaches include top-down methods, where the dough is formed and structured, such as extrusion, and bottom-up approaches, where individual fibers are created and assembled, such as mycoproteins.
 
Common ingredients are textured or non-textured plant protein, water, oils or fats, binding agents, and flavorings and colorings – usually of natural origins. Processing encompasses grains, pulses, and oilseeds, including soy-based tofu, seitan, and tempeh.
 
In addition, for future-forward manufacturers, increasing sustainability and reducing waste is vital. For example, a business-to-business food technology startup, The Mushroom Meat Co., uses upcycled plant proteins, mushrooms, and fermentation to yield vegan burger patties and pork shreds.
 
Other brands joining the sustainable plant-based revolution and relying on upcycled food waste include:

  • Algrow Biosciences – uses algae biomass from animal feed post-extraction.
  • Bygg Foods – uses upcycled barley to produce plant-based milk.
  • ChicP Ltd – upcycles surplus restaurant food to deliver veggie bites and hummus dips.
  • The Fooditive Group – upcycles vegetable and fruit side streams to produce vegan casein, sweeteners, and a fat replacement.
  • Kern Tec – upcycles fruit pits into plant-based protein, dairy alternatives, and food oil.
  • Nibs etc. – upcycles leftover juicing pulp to develop nutritious high-fiber granola snacks.
  • ProteinDistillery – the first to create customizable vegan protein from industry by-products such as brewer’s yeast.

And the list goes on.
 
Adding Product Life Cycles to Labels
According to The Regeneration Roadmap, nearly nine out of ten consumers consider ingredient transparency crucial2, with a Label Insight survey reporting that over a third of consumers would go as far as to switch brands for one that offered more information3.
 
Sustainability success is enhanced through compliance checks at each product lifecycle stage, from conceptualization to launch, and any recycling phases. Transparency should include disposal plans, raw material sourcing, controlled and hazardous material identification, and supply chain traceability.
 
Hence, users are looking for ever-cleaner, more detailed labels to satisfy their need for more natural, less harmful product components and production methods. At the same time, regulators and industries are introducing increased scrutiny and regulation around ingredient and production disclosure.
 
In addition, according to Vitafoods Insights, the global upcycled ingredients market is valued at $275.3 million, with a predicted yearly 6.4% annual growth rate. So, to enhance your upcycled plant-based or other food and beverage products, turn to reputable molecule producer Advanced Biotech for pure, natural, well-documented flavor and aroma ingredients.
 
Choose Superior Ingredients From Advanced Biotech
Advanced Biotech provides pure, natural, plant-based, and EU-certified flavor and aroma molecules produced using industry-approved, advanced, and greener technologies and techniques. Please contact us for more information.

1 https://www.fao.org/3/mb060e/mb060e00.htm
2,3 https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/asset-management/economics/article/11313120/product-lifecycle-achieve-the-transparency-consumers-demand