PLANT BASED DAIRY ALTERNATIVES 2021
Harnessing plant power
How ingredient innovations can help create appealing dairy
alternative drinks
The market for plant-based
dairy alternatives presents exciting
and attractive growth
potential for food and beverage
manufacturers, as it continues to gain
pace alongside the traditional dairy
sector. A significant rise in flexitarian,
vegetarian and vegan lifestyles has
led to a thriving market that is currently
valued at an impressive EUR
17.5 billion.1 The category’s upward
trajectory also shows no signs of slowing
down, with recent research across
10 countries globally demonstrating
that 53% of consumers will be looking
for more plant-based alternatives in
the coming three to five years.2 Producers
face complex challenges, however,
in formulating plant-based dairy
alternatives. It is not enough anymore
for products to just be plant-based,
they also need to offer the great taste,
sweetness, texture and — crucially —
nutritional profile that are increasingly
a prerequisite for consumers today.
Taste and texture barriers
The sensory properties of plant-based
solutions remain a strong influencer of
consumers’ purchasing decisions, with
62% of people reporting that taste is
their number one priority when buying
food or drink products.3 Consumers
have come to expect an appealing flavor
from their dairy alternative drinks
too, with the right amount of sweetness
– without adding sugar – as well
as a great mouthfeel.
But with certain beverages, such as
the increasingly popular starch-based
drinks, achieving this sensory profile
can pose significant formulation challenges.
Since starch-based drinks do
not initially possess consumer-friendly
properties, they require additional
steps in the production process to create
an appealing taste and texture
profile. Starch must be made soluble,
the often undesirable flavor off-notes
of plant protein have to be masked, and
the natural sweetness in raw materials
like rice and oats has to be unlocked.
Meeting varied preferences
Formulation challenges, however, extend
beyond simply adjusting the natural
sweetness of plant-based raw materials
to a pre-determined level. How
can producers also meet the varied regional
preferences for the sweetness of
plant-based dairy alternatives? Northern
Europeans, for instance, look for
plant-based varieties with less sweetness
and a heightened focus on cereal
flavors, compared to their southern
European counterparts, who typically
prefer sweeter products.
Solutions that can easily adjust the
natural sugar profile of dairy alternatives
present in the starch base – by
leveraging the glucose (high sweetness)
and maltose (low sweetness) inherently
present in the oat or starch – are therefore
becoming popular. This allows producers
to deliver the ‘perfect’ sweetness
profile for their target regions
without, or with limited, added sugar.
Achieving balanced
nutrition
In addition, producers need to consider
the growing appeal of products with a
high-quality nutritional profile. Traditional
dairy products are a rich source
of calcium, protein and other nutrients,
which makes them well placed as part
of a healthy, balanced diet. Unfortified
dairy alternatives, however, typically
have a lower nutritional value than
dairy products – often lacking essential
vitamin B2, vitamin B12 and calcium.
This nutritional gap has not gone unnoticed
by health-conscious consumers,
with research showing that 44% of
(Photo: DSM)
12 · January/February 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com
/international-dairy.com
