In recent years, the development of plant-based food ingredients has focused on proteins and their production processes. The RETHINK project by VTT and the Finnish food industry shows that achieving profitability in the sector requires a new way of thinking: value should be created from every stream generated in plant ingredient production, new ingredients need to be developed to suit their targeted end use, and companies and other operators must strive for closer cooperation. The project also produced several tangible inventions.

One of the key development goals for food system operators is a sustainable shift toward more plant-based diets. This shift will yield positive effects on public health, the environment and resilience of the society.

In the RETHINK project, funded by Business Finland, VTT and Finnish ingredient and food companies examined how profitable business can be built around the production of plant-based ingredients in the Finnish operating environment.

Plant-based ingredient production refers to the processing of plant raw materials, such as oats and faba beans, into various ingredients used by food manufacturers in food production.

“Globally, food production is shifting towards more local and distributed production models, as companies and societies strive to strengthen their resilience. Finland is in a great position to create new plant-based production chains and profitable business, leading to growth in the industry. We have plenty of active farmers and capacity for regional raw material production, as well as growing interest in plant-based products from the food industry and retail sector,” says Emilia Nordlund, responsible leader of the project at VTT.

Complete raw material utilisation and closer collaboration will lead to profitability

Many current business models focus on plant protein production, which means a significant share of the raw material value is not maximally used. For example, peas yield protein for meat substitutes, but their carbohydrate-rich side streams often end up as animal feed with a considerably lower economic value than that of protein products. According to the experts working in RETHINK, profitable production models require creating added value from every fraction generated in ingredient production.

“It is especially critical to find the high value use cases for carbohydrate-rich fractions, as they often comprise the largest share of the raw material. We should be boldly looking for uses beyond the food sector too. In cosmetics, for example,” Nordlund notes.

According to the project's experts, growth also requires closer collaboration among food system operators. Farmers, ingredient producers, food companies, investors and decision-makers need to build shared practices that reduce supply risks and enable production to scale. Investment-ready production models enable planning for raw material availability, quality, processing, end-use applications, and commercial routes as a unified whole.

One example of cross-company collaboration in the RETHINK project is the shared development work by Viking Malt and Valio, which produced a solution made from germinated faba bean protein granule for the plant-based and hybrid meat product market.

“Our collaboration is based on a shared goal: to maximise the value of Finnish plant-based raw materials by drawing on Finnish expertise and our best practices. Viking Malt’s experience with germination and Valio’s commercialisation know-how made it possible to create an entirely new kind of food product,” say Susanna Kallio, Vice President, Plant-Based Business at Valio, and Xin Huang, Group R&D Manager at Viking Malt.

New inventions enable more effective use of grain and legume proteins and fibre

The new solutions developed by VTT during the project are geared towards securing locally profitable production as well as manufacturing nutritionally valuable ingredients and end products without complex processing. For example, enzyme-assisted processing methods reduce chemical use and improve the functionality of ingredients.

“In RETHINK, we patented an entirely new way to concentrate and apply oat dietary fibre, beta-glucan. This invention makes it possible to add fibre to liquid products so that the fibre stays intact while the liquid remains pourable and without a paste-like texture,” Nordlund describes.

VTT researchers also developed a new pretreatment technique for the protein separation process, which prevents the unpleasant off-flavours typical of legume-based ingredients and expands the possibilities for using legumes in food products.

New spin-off company Happy Plant Protein upscales plant protein production

Research carried out under RETHINK also helped advance the technology commercialised by VTT spin-off Happy Plant Protein from the development stage toward commercial readiness. The new technology separates protein from carbohydrates and texturises the protein using only a single process step.

“Happy Plant Protein is reshaping the market with its production process. It's also an excellent example of a company with international ambitions making use of existing food industry infrastructure and local raw materials,” Nordlund says.

The company has progressed from research innovation to international commercialisation, and its technology is now being used in industrial production projects in both Latvia and the Netherlands.

VTT White paper: How to build investable plant-based ingredient businesses

Project facts

• Public 3-year co-innovation project with 5 parallel projects from the Finnish food industry
• Duration: June 2023 to August 2026
• Funded by Business Finland, totalling €3 million
• Research partner: VTT (responsible leader of the project: Emilia Nordlund)
• Industrial partners: Anora, Apetit, Fazer, Helsingin Mylly, Raisio, Valio, Viking Malt