Casey Laughman, Food Engineering (CL): The base of the market is kind of expanding more. Would it be accurate to say that you're seeing a lot of different combinations?

William R. Aimutis (WA): Yeah, I think that's fair to say. I think everybody is still trying to find the best alternative for gluten, especially because gluten has some very unique structural forming properties that we don't see with a lot of these plant-based proteins, outside of the wheat-based proteins, of course. But I think as people start opening up, and getting a more secure supply chain, on a lot of these alternative ingredients, that just encourages food formulators to work more with things other than gluten or pea protein.

CL: Right. That's one of the big challenges right now for everybody is finding out where your supply chain is strong, and where it wasn't because as the pandemic hit, and people were like, "Wait a minute, we thought this part of the supply chain was in good shape, but now all of a sudden we're scrambling." So, how has that affected the startup market? Has there been a lot of challenges there with supply chain issues and things like that?

WA: I think the biggest supply chain issues we've seen during COVID have really been more on the packaging side, and even on the supply side. And probably within the protein side. A few people were having some problems that were trying to use rice protein concentrates and isolates. There were some spot shortages, so to speak, there where I think stuff that was coming probably out of China just wasn't getting across the ocean. And then when it gets to the ocean, getting unloaded was a little bit of a problem for all of us.

So, sometimes we would run into some of that problem. It would take a little longer to get those proteins. But really the packaging in spices have probably been the bigger challenge we've seen. Packaging wasn't just flexible packages. It was glass. It was plastic. It was aluminum. Everything was getting hit on the packaging side it seemed like.

William R. Aimutis, Ph.D., is executive director of the NC Food Innovation Lab, which works extensively with alternative protein producers and start-ups.

William R. Aimutis, NC Food Innovation Lab

"I think the next big milestone, frankly, would be just a greater variety of proteins in a sufficient quantity to be able to formulate into the mainline foods."

CL: You kind of had this two-pronged challenge of everything overseas was shutting down making it harder to get materials. And you also had this huge surge in retail demand. Everybody was trying to keep stuff on the grocery shelves. So yeah, I would imagine there was probably a big surge in demand for all kinds of packaging like you said?

WA: Yeah. And then when it would hit the shores at the docks, getting it off the docks, moving on either trucks or even rail, getting the longshoremen to unload the boats, to begin with, and then getting on the trucks, and on the rail was also a challenge there for a few months during the height of the pandemic. I think it's probably gotten a little better even though we're kind of seeing a little surge right now. It seems like it's not quite got the hiccups we had earlier.

CL: And then when we look at where the market is going, what's the next big evolution of alternative protein?

WA: I think the next big milestone, frankly, would be just a greater variety of proteins in a sufficient quantity to be able to formulate into the mainline foods. //

FOODENGINEERINGMAG.COM I FEBRUARY 2021

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