DSM debuts clean-label canola-based protein ingredients

Dive Brief:

• Royal DSM has launched two canola-based ingredients under its new Vertis plant protein line: CanolaPro and Textured Pea Canola Protein. The company said the proteins are the first clean-label offering of their kind to include all nine essential amino acids.
• CanolaPro is a protein isolate made with canola seeds while the Textured Pea Canola Protein combines CanolaPro with pea protein. DSM said the ingredients have textural benefits that make them a more realistic meat alternative. They do not contain soy, gluten or dairy.
• Through its new ingredients, DSM is aiming to appeal to “flexitarian” consumers — those who do not fully eschew meat but increasingly embrace plant-based options, and who are drawn to a vegetable-heavy diet for health reasons.

Dive Insight:

While the majority of Americans continue to enjoy meat, an increasing number also are willing to embrace protein options made with just plants. At the same time, the plant-based food segment has faced slowing sales, and new ingredient options providing different textures and flavors similar to meat could help jumpstart sales.

DSM’s Vertis ingredient portfolio will provide a high-quality, sustainably produced ingredient for plant-based foods that will draw in meat lovers, according to a statement from Samah Garringer, the business unit director for its proteins of the future division.

“By providing a complete source of protein that is free from all major allergens, brands can appeal to the modern flexitarian consumer who wants to include a diverse range of proteins in their diet — without compromising on nutritional value,” Garringer said.

DSM’s investment in plant-based innovation follows its $21 billion merger with Swiss ingredients giant Firmenich announced in June.

The newly merged company specified that the focus of its ingredients arm will be on the development of clean-label foods, plant-based ingredients and options that boost the nutritional profile of foods through vitamins and probiotics. The canola-based ingredients further build on that strategy. 

Canola, known as rapeseed in many parts of the world, has grown in prominence as a meat substitute ingredient. Plant-based food formulators have embraced it because of its solubility, which they view as having an improved mouthfeel and being more digestible than other alternatives.

Last year, Cargill invested $350 million to construct a canola processing facility in Saskatchewan, Canada. And in 2021, Merit Functional Foods started building its own canola manufacturing plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba to produce its Puratein ingredient. 

But accessing the crop became more difficult this year. Canola prices reached an all-time high in early 2022 because of supply chain issues and weather woes.