The intensifying drum beat of ‘more, more, more’ that propelled protein’s rise in recent years may no longer be enough to protect the ingredient’s premium place – prompting manufacturers to rethink how they frame the macronutrient to cut through the cacophony of claims and competing consumer priorities.
Rather than focusing primarily on concentration, purity and price, manufacturers are beginning to highlight benefits, which may require reformulating products to include different types of protein and other complementary ingredients, like fiber, to help consumers meet their health and dietary goals.
Several suppliers – old and new – are rising to the challenge. At IFT FIRST in Chicago earlier this month, startups and established players showcased a range of ingredients that deliver better benefits beyond grams, including support for metabolic health, satiety, nutrient density and product performance.
Beyond isolates: Pear Foods promotes holistic benefits
For some companies, protein’s future requires moving away from the long-standing race to isolate and concentrate quantity, and instead preserving or enhancing the way it functions in the body alongside other nutrients.
That is the approach being taken by Pear Foods, which argues that the next generation of plant-based proteins should focus less on protein percentage and more on the structure and behavior of the ingredient.
“For years, the only thing everybody has focused on is ‘What is the protein percent?’” said Ramesh Keshavaraj, co-founder of Pear Foods.
He explained that singular focus spurred a race to isolate and optimize the quantity of protein – sacrificing the quality of the ingredient and the body’s ability to absorb the nutrient and its full benefit potential.
“The market has lost what matters most: the structure that Mother Nature created in the legume,” including the combination of fiber, starch and micronutrients with the protein, which influence absorption and the body’s ability to reap protein’s promised benefits, he explained.
“We are not isolating or concentrating the protein. Our objective is actually to take the structure that Mother Nature created in the legume and deliver on needs of the future,” he said.
Through a proprietary process, Pear Foods “creates a co-gel matrix in which all macronutrients remain physically bound together – behaving in the gut like a structured whole food, not a dissolved powder,” according to the company’s website.
Pear Foods does this by preserving 100% of the protein and 100% of the fiber in the legumes it uses but removing undesirable components that negatively impact digestion.
For example, the company removes from the legumes 94% of the naturally occurring trypsin inhibitors. These are enzymes that the body uses to breakdown and digest dietary proteins but which, when consumed raw, can limit nutrient absorption. Likewise, Pear Foods reduced by 75% raffinose, which can cause bloating and discomfort, Keshavaraj said.
The end result is an ingredient with a high PDCASS digestibility score of 87% and a structure that mechanically slows digestion and increase satiety, said Keshavaraj. He explained that most protein isolates are absorbed in the proximal jejunum, or middle section of the small intestine, which can cause an amino acid or insulin spike. But Pear Foods’ ingredient is absorbed later – in the ileum, or final section of the small intestine, which is where Keshavaraj said GLP-1 hormones are generated.
“We are really focused on satiety,” he added.
Having de-risked the technology to create an ingredient that the company says is “compositionally near-identical to the whole raw legume” but “with the antinutritional barriers removed,” Pear Foods is now ready to conduct human clinical trials, said Keshavaraj.
Because clinical trials are expensive, he said, the company is seeking strategic partners who can offer more than capital.
The long-term plan is to license the technology for creating the finished ingredient so that Pear Foods can have global reach more quickly, he added.
Leprino highlights proteins’ functionality in formulation
Pear Foods represents one side of the functional conversation – how the protein behaves in the body – but, many manufacturers also rely on protein to enhance the performance of their products before they are consumed.
For example, in the race to boost protein grams, some manufacturers are faced with off-notes, texture challenges or processing limitations that might cause proteins to denature. But functional proteins, like those made by Leprino Nutrition, can support nutrition and product performance, said Angela Queneau, senior director of R&D nutrition at Leprino Nutrition.
“Not all proteins are created equally. It isn’t just grams anymore, and I think consumers are starting to understand that, but I think it still needs more education,” she said.
Leprino is well positioned to help fill in the gaps for both fortification and function, she argued, explaining that it is a 75-year-old dairy company that six years ago separated its business with one side focused on cheese and the other on nutrition.
“We are trying to educate the food science community about functional proteins that are nutritional but also allow products to be delicious and have good texture and which didn’t exist widely a few years ago,” she said.
For example, she argued, Leprino’s Micellar Casein Isolate is an “unsung hero.”
According to the company, its casein to native whey protein ratio of 95:5 allows it to deliver “superior emulsification, heat stability and low foam capability,” and it has “excellent wetting properties, making it ideal for dairy products like cheese and yogurt.” It is also a slow-digesting protein, which makes it ideal for sports and adult nutrition, the company notes.
Queneau adds that it also delivers a clean flavor and label.
She also called out Leprino’s MC Pro C80, which his a microparticulate ingredient that can deliver fat perception and can be used in a fat replacement system to deliver a rich, creamy mouthfeel and texture. The uniform particle size also offers “good suspendability” and low to no foaming, according to the company. Its high temperature stability also allows companies to boost protein content in high-moisture food without impacting texture or viscosity, the company notes.
For Leprino, the future of protein is not simply increasing the amount of protein in a product, but selecting ingredients that help manufacturers solve technical challenges while delivering consumer-facing benefits.
Viobin offers an affordable, overlooked option
But functionality does not always require a new protein or advanced processing technology. As brands move beyond protein grams, some suppliers are revisiting ingredients that were overlooked during the industry’s long focus on isolation and concentration.
One example is Viobin, a 90-year-old company that is betting that wheat germ, a traditional milling ingredient, has a role to play in the next generation of protein-rich foods.
“We are an older company with an older product, but because of the focus on protein and fiber, we are really relevant again. This is an example of something that is really old is new again,” said CEO Peter Bisaccia.
He explained that wheat germ is the “most nutritious part of the wheat kernel,” that is typically removed from refined flour to extend shelf life and palatability.
From the wheat germ, Viobin makes two simple, but extremely versatile and increasingly trendy, products: defatted wheat germ and wheat germ oil.
“Defatted wheat germ has a lot of on trend benefits, mainly it is 30% protein and 16% fiber. But it also has B vitamins, zinc and magnesium. And then on oil side, it has the highest concentration of natural vitamin E of any type of oil along with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids,” he said.
The defatted wheat germ is “nothing like the protein isolates out there,” he added.
He explained that unlike some protein isolates that can have off-notes or alter finished products’ texture or appearance, de-fatted wheat germ can have a “benign flavor” if it isn’t toasted and because it has the same particle size as flour it easily incorporates into baked goods, cereals, pastas and crackers without altering the taste, texture and appearance. If it is toasted, it takes on a slightly more nutty flavor and a more golden brown color.
In addition to a clean label and minimal sensory impact, defatted wheat germ costs “a lot less” than some other protein isolates, Bisaccia said.
“Typically defatted wheat germ goes anywhere from $1.20 to $3 a barrel depending on the granulation and toasting levels,” he said.
Takeaway
As illustrated by these examples, protein is entering a more nuanced era.
While concentration and purity remain important, suppliers are increasingly competing on what protein can do inside the body, within a formulation and across a product’s broader nutritional profile.
As such, the next chapter of protein innovation may be defined by creating ingredients that deliver more value from every ingredient decision.