The Science of Alt Protein: From prototype to production — scalable technologies for protein texturi

Event description The texture and taste of plant-based meat alternatives are key attributes for consumers’ acceptance. Additionally, a high level of manufacturing efficiency is required to make products affordable and successful in the long term. The transfer from prototyping to production scale is often recognized as a major challenge. Particularly, high-capacity solutions for the texturization of plant proteins using high moisture extrusion have long been considered a bottleneck. This talk will focus on a step-by-step approach to the development and process design of meat analogues. Robust extruder solutions at throughput rates of up to one metric ton per hour will be presented. Furthermore, industrial-scale methods downstream of the extruder are illustrated, including cutting, shaping, and marinating. Tasty examples of successful implementation will be provided.