trending toward protein diversification as a way to remain competitive in a shifting market as consumers demand healthier food .
The Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger — products entirely derived from plants but formulated to mimic the taste and texture of meat — launched in 2015 and 2016 , respectively , and went mainstream . That ’ s when Todd Robertson , director of RTC Foods Innovation , a global meat company in Australia , looked for innovative alternatives in the meat space . After extensive research , Robertson reached out to The Better Meat Co .
“ The attraction to The Better Meat Co . is its products are specifically made to blend with meat ,” says Robertson . “ And they ’ re so flexible , and that ’ s key .” The Better Meat Co . quickly adapted one of its formulas to meet the level of fiber RTC Foods Innovation required . The Australian company purchased 1,500 pounds of The Better Meat Co .’ s plantbased protein , equivalent to 2,400 pounds of meat once hydrated . In May , the company began its rollout of blended burgers , featuring 35 percent plant protein , the first product of its kind in Australia , where meat consumption rivals that in the U . S . While Australian burger chains expressed interest in the new product , RTC Foods Innovation shifted its rollout focus toward retail as a result of the pandemic and an interest in leading the messaging around its blended products . Those products — blended beef , lamb and chicken — are expected to hit the shelves of Harris Farms Markets , a highend grocery chain in Sydney this month , followed by additional retailers .
“ A meat eater who wants to do a little bit better is going to struggle to go directly to a plant product ,” says Robertson . “ That ’ s where blending is going to be successful . At least then people can do better for themselves , and they can do better for the environment , without having to completely give up what they crave .”
Making a better chickpea
NuCicer , which means “ new chickpea ” ( Cicer is the genus of chickpea ), aims
“ A meat eater who wants to do a little bit better is going to struggle to go directly to a plant product . That ’ s where blending is going to be successful . At least then people can do better for themselves , and they can do better for the environment , without having to completely give up what they crave .”
TODD ROBERTSON Director , RTC Foods Innovation
to disrupt the current thinking about available plant-based proteins , such as pea and soy , that come with limitations in terms of nutritional and functional properties , says Kathryn Cook , cofounder and CEO of NuCicer .
Today ’ s chickpeas have lost 95 percent of their genetic diversity . But NuCicer is crossing them with their wild relatives that have retained their genetic diversity . That produces a range of new traits and occasional genetic combinations , called transgressive genes , that exceed the potential of either parent . Protein content is one of those .
That ’ s the kind of research that could address what Huang says is one of the fundamental technological hurdles facing plant-based proteins . “ We don ’ t know what the best plants are to use . We have our soy and our pea and our wheat , and that ’ s really where most of our plant-based protein comes from so far , but there are so many opportunities in the plant kingdom … that we haven ’ t even explored .”
NuCicer ’ s intellectual property evolved from technology and research at UC Davis , where Douglas is a professor and plant and microbial geneticist .
“ I think very few people are looking specifically at chickpea , and to my knowledge , there ’ s no one who has the breadth of genetic diversity that we ’ re currently playing with ,” Kathryn Cook says .
NuCicer has a long list of desired traits it ’ s targeting in novel varieties . For example , a chickpea with double the protein content and the appropriate amount of essential amino acids could produce a complete protein for improved nutrition . While the company is primarily targeting the alternative-protein market in the U . S . and Europe , developing regions in the world such as India that already depend on the modern chickpea ( an incomplete protein ) for a large percentage of its protein could benefit as well . That thinking aligns with what The Good Food Institute sees as an opportunity to leapfrog industrial animal agriculture in regions like India , where it isn ’ t yet a ubiquitous practice , says Huang .
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