Sustainability - the hot spotlight

The concept of "sustainability" is gradually penetrating into the food and beverage industry along with consumer concerns, becoming a hot spotlight.

According to Innova Market Insights research, the top three food ingredient upgrades that consumers are most concerned about are sustainability, healthy nutrition and freshness. Also 35% of consumers worldwide say they are more likely to recognize and be attracted to products made up of multiple ingredients that support sustainable recycling than other products.

Driven by both global social sustainability goals and consumer environmentalism, sustainable production and recycling in the food and beverage industry is the way to go on the ingredients side this year.

The popularity of the global sustainability concept has created more demand, and many companies have incorporated it into their purchasing as well as development decisions. Among them, agricultural waste reuse, fermentation technology, and biosynthesis have become paths for companies to achieve sustainable development.

In terms of waste reuse, a U.S. company promotes mushroom-derived protein production by recycling and upgrading waste dates. A research center at Wageningen University in the Netherlands extracts high-value proteins from tomato leaves. A company owned by global beer giant Budweiser upgraded barley used in breweries to a value-added functional ingredient, barley protein.

In terms of fermentation technology for sustainability, a U.S. company has introduced postbiotic cultured protein food ingredients that are grown in fermenters at a very small cost investment compared to that required to grow traditional food crops or to raise and slaughter animals.

Another U.S. company has introduced a new ingredient called "LK-01 Pure Rhodiola Rosea" through biosynthesis.

In the face of the growing demand for plant-based foods, companies can keep up with the trend and develop more high-quality ingredients. At the same time, companies also need to make efforts in sustainable development, through technological innovation, to maximize the use of various resources, reduce production costs and enhance their competitive advantage.