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ADM

December 5, 2019

Bacon in the U.S., Chicken in Europe: ADM’s Dir. of Flexitarian Solutions on Developing Plant-based Meats for Different Regions

The rising popularity of meat alternatives is a worldwide phenomenon. From Brazil to Belgium to Birmingham, Alabama, consumers are embracing flexitarian lifestyles and eating more plant-based meat.

But as culinary tastes vary widely around the world, so do preferences for plant-based meat. That makes things tricky for giant companies that are attempting to simultaneously develop alternative proteins that will appeal to a wide range of geographies. 

That’s one of the biggest hurdles that Kurt Long, the Director of Flexitarian Solutions for global food and commodities giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has to deal with. “Every culture has a different taste or texture that they’re targeting,” he told me in a recent phone interview. “Even something basic like a hot dog will have different taste in Latin America than in Asia.”

To cater to these differences, ADM is developing totally different plant-based offerings meant to appeal specifically to each region. For example, in Europe they’re developing fibrous products to emulate plant-based chicken, which is gaining massive popularity in that area of the world. In North America they’re racing to make meatless bacon (hurry up, please). In Latin America they’re focused on burgers; in Asia, it’s pork analogs.

Of course, it’s no surprise that different parts of the globe have different tastes in plant-based meat. But it’s interesting to hear just how much those differences apply to meat alternatives — and how R&D teams will have to tweak the flavor palate and texture to meet local consumer tastes. For example, Asian consumers like more gelatinous textures, which might not translate to, say, Europe.

This challenge — to create products that appeal across the globe — isn’t one reserved only for major food corporations like ADM. Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are also gearing up to launch in China. Depending on consumer reception there they might have to tweak their formulas to appeal to their palates, especially if they want to compete with local plant-based meat companies like Omnipork.

For now, Long noted that ADM is currently filling the most demand in U.S. and Europe. But that could soon change. Rising global incomes in developing countries are spurring a higher demand for protein, specifically meat. At the same time China, the largest meat consumer in the world, is facing massive pork shortages as the African Swine Flu ravages its pig population.

Plant-based meat options can help fill these protein gaps — that is, as long as they can be agile and adapt to regional flavor and texture preferences. Admittedly, a big if.

November 15, 2018

Perfect Day Partners with ADM to Scale up Production of Cow-Free Dairy

Perfect Day, the startup which makes milk without the animal, today announced that it has entered into a partnership with global food processing company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM).

The two forged a Joint Development Agreement to scale up implementation of Perfect Day‘s tech, which uses fermentation to create dairy proteins without any involvement from a cow. Their initial product will be an animal-free whey protein

By taking advantage of ADM existing fermentation infrastructure, Berkeley-based Perfect Day is expecting to scale up and gain price parity with conventional whey protein relatively quickly. They plan to enter the market within the next few years.

Eager customers might not have to wait that long to try animal-free dairy, however. A statement from the founders revealed that Perfect Day is currently forming relationships with food & bev companies “big and small” to develop new products with their animal-free dairy, some of which might be available as early as next year.

Back in March of this year Perfect Day raised $24.7 million, just a month after it received a patent to use their animal-free dairy tech in food applications. This announcement comes roughly a year after the startup shifted to a technology as a service model, partnering with food and drink companies in order to scale and bring their goods to market more quickly.

And wow, did they start off with a big one. As co-founder Perumal Gandhi told us, he wanted Perfect Day’s products to “be national from Day One.” Now, with this ADM partnership, it looks like those ambitions might come true.

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