The sustainable product
First, the sustainable product: planted.™chicken, pulled, kebab and schnitzel are the names of the meat alternatives made of plant proteins with which the Swiss food tech startup Planted Foods AG has already saved the lives of over 500,000 chickens. The products are available in restaurants and through retailers in various European countries.
To expand their range of products in the future, the company’s scientifically focused team is hard at work advancing new types of process technologies that will allow them develop more textured meat alternatives from plant proteins.
The sustainable ZwickRoell texture analyzer
A sustainable ZwickRoell texture analyzer in the Planted laboratory in Kemptthal, Switzerland supports this objective. Thanks to their robust construction, ZwickRoell materials testing machines have multiple lives and thus save resources. After a modernization, the machine electronics and software are returned to state-of-the-art condition and are in no way inferior to new machines in terms of measurement technology. This concept also convinced Planted: “This is the precise combination of quality and sustainability with which Planted identifies and which makes us stand out”, said laboratory staff member Flavian Storz.
The sustainable taste
And now to the most important part: the sustainable taste. To win over consumers, the meat alternative must have the right texture. If the taste experience comes close to the original, the consumer will be sustainably convinced. The quality characteristics of the texture are quantified in different tests, in very close similarity to the sensory texture profile analysis. Fibrousness and bite strength are the two most important characteristics. The testXpert software program for texture analysis supports testing with predefined results and a clearly presented test sequence.
From the product to the texture analyzer to the first bite: all around sustainability.
