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Unilever Pushing for Plant-Based Meat

posted by janrinok on Friday December 06 2019, @03:12PM   
from the can-i-have-ketchup-with-that dept.

quietus writes:

"A meat-eater with a bicycle is much more environmentally unfriendly than a vegetarian with a Hummer."
--Dr Mark Post

The world's largest food concern, Unilever, has opened a new research lab at the world's most prestigious agricultural university, the University of Wageningen (the Netherlands). Unilever will locate all elements of its foods R&D there. A spokeswoman on Dutch radio stressed plant-based meat alternatives as an important research subject.

Wageningen University has strong credentials in that respect, with the development of shear cell technology.

Shear cell technology strings plant proteins together in tightly controlled fibers, resulting in a meat substitute where texture (fibrousness, bite, mouthfeel) can easily be controlled, and changed at will. This, combined with 3D food printing, offers the possibility of creating multiple meat (substitute) variations in future.

Unilever's food campus is open to startups, innovators and partners. One of the first to have build its own lab on the same grounds is Symrise, an industrial flavours and scents group.

About half of Dutch people call themselves 'flexitarians'. This means that they don't eat meat with their main meal at least three times a week. The proportion of vegetarians is stable, at just under five percent of the Dutch population.

Wageningen researchers believe, however, that feeding 9 billion people with animal meat will not be sustainable for the planet.

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Original Submission

• Flexitarians Flexitarians (Score: 2) by Snospar on Saturday December 07 2019, @12:13AM (1 child)

  by Snospar (5366) on Saturday December 07 2019, @12:13AM (#929198)

  I'm just amazed that no one took the piss out of "flexitarians" for basically being the omnivores they have evolved to be. What do they want, a participation medal?

  This means that they don't eat meat with their main meal at least three times a week.

  Does that make me a "flexaholic" or an "alchotarian"?

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• Re:Flexitarians (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Saturday December 07 2019, @12:39AM

  by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday December 07 2019, @12:39AM (#929215) Journal

  It's marketing/analyst terminology. I don't think many people are identifying as "flexitarians", they are just being quantified by industry reports.

  Oh yeaaah, found this after I wrote that:

  https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/power-plant-based-food/317167 [adage.com]

  While the fast-food menu additions are geared toward people who are reducing the amount of animal-based foods they consume, brands should avoid the "flexitarian" jargon, Demeritt says. "Flexitarian is very much an industry term. We rarely, if ever, hear consumers describe themselves that way." Instead, marketers should be transparent about ingredients, without getting preachy, Demeritt advises. While pure vegans remain a small part of the total consumer market, their ranks are growing. Gallup says the percentage of vegans jumped 50 percent in six years.

  The rare April 1 article that is not full of bull.

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