The arrival of plant-based alternatives such as hamburgers, steaks, cheeses, sausages and other analogues has meant a paradigm shift in the food industry, with the creation of plant-based product lines that meet the needs of veggie consumers, with a 34% growth in the last two years in Spain, already representing 10% of the population.
For this reason, CTIC CITA has been working non-stop on the development of 100% plant-based alternatives and solutions for the industry, in view of the imminent demand to supply a new sector within the market. The Centre works through a business model that integrates from the birth of the idea, the raw material, and the prototype, to the final product and format and validation by the consumer, always with a focus on innovation.
For its part, within the agreement, the Spanish Vegetarian Union offers support and advice. The collaboration between both entities will promote individual or collaborative R&D&I projects and the development of new vegan and vegetarian products, either through market research, consumer studies, research, services and promotions.
In addition, the UVE will form part of an advisory committee for innovative projects with a European scope to guide innovation by bringing out the needs of its community.
With all these actions, the UVE is committed to an agri-food industry concerned with meeting the needs of veggie consumers, seeking protein alternatives for important factors such as health, wellbeing and the environment.
New technologies, new textures
- TOGETHER | Use of vegetable by-products in wet extrusion to obtain new textures similar to muscle fibres of animal origin according to consumer needs. In the TOGETHER project, the Centre is studying the use of vegetable by-products in wet extrusion, with special interest in the use of by-products derived from rapeseed, with the aim of obtaining new textures that imitate the muscle fibres of meat or fish, adapting the characteristics of the products to the needs of consumers, who will validate the results obtained with these in the final stage of the project.
- CEREXTRU | Valorisation of legumes and cereals from La Rioja through dry extrusion. The CEREXTRU project is studying the feasibility of the texturisation of cereals and legumes grown in La Rioja in order to promote their use as raw material for extruded products. Also, in a later phase, its applicability will be studied in different high-demand products made using dry extrusion technology (TPV).
ABOUT THE SPANISH VEGETARIAN UNION (UVE)
The Spanish Vegetarian Union is a non-profit organisation that since 2003 has been dedicated to the dissemination of the plant-based diet and its health benefits as well as its ethical background for animal welfare and environmental impact.
More information: https://unionvegetariana.org/
