The Future of Plant-Based Proteins: How Advanced Breeding is Redefining Taste and Nutrition
As the global appetite for plant-based foods and alternatives to animal-based products continues to grow, the quest for improved taste, texture, nutrition, and sustainability in plant-based ingredients, especially protein ingredients, stays pivotal. Improving these aspects is a crucial piece of the puzzle to make plant-based alternative food products attractive to end consumers. seek delicious, nutritious, and ethically sourced alternatives, driving industry innovation. Exploring beyond the end product can lead to new solutions. Here, looking beyond the end product itself can deliver novel levers towards fitting solutions.
Let’s start where protein begins, with plant breeding at the heart of it.
Carefully selecting and cultivating specific plant varieties allow us to enhance the natural qualities of crops, creating ingredients that meet the evolving needs of both consumers and food manufacturers. For example, peas are a popular plant protein source but come with their own challenges. Pea ingredients often have an off-taste, inconsistent texture, and unappealing color. However, breeding can develop pea varieties with superior taste, texture, and visual appeal.
In line with this, KWS applies its state-of-the-art plant breeding capabilities to deliver improved functional ingredients from traditional crops. For instance, we develop yellow pea lines that not only taste better but also offer enhanced and customized protein functionality, such as improved gelling and emulsification properties. These attributes are essential for creating plant-based products that mimic the texture and mouthfeel of their animal-based counterparts. Additionally, we keep improving their agronomic properties like disease resistances and local adaptation. Through this we support that crops can be sustainably grown and sourced, meeting the growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly productions.
As we look to the future, the role of advanced plant breeding in the plant-based protein industry will likely continue to grow. The ability to tailor crops to meet specific functional and nutritional needs opens forward-looking possibilities. Imagine cleaner-label, low-processing plant-based burgers with perfect texture, dairy-free cheeses that melt and stretch like the real thing, and protein-rich snacks that are both satisfying and healthy—all made possible by plant breeding. Because ultimately, creating the next generation of plant-based foods begins with finding that perfect match of the right plant and its fitting food application.
At KWS, we are excited to be at the forefront of this movement. By leveraging our expertise and infrastructure in plant breeding, food analytics, as well as crop production and agriculture we are helping to redefine what is possible in the world of plant-based proteins. We are committed to providing our partners with the innovative, high-quality ingredients they need to meet the demands of today’s market and lead the way into a more sustainable and delicious future. It is all about finding the perfect match starting with the raw material throughout the final product.