Consumers who are vegan enthusiasts represent only 1% of the population and vegetarians only 2%. These are niche markets on which some companies are still trying to focus. A much larger niche is the flexitarians, that part of the population (estimated at 40%) that reduces its meat consumption in favour of vegetable alternatives without completely abandoning the meat diet.
In today’s article, we illustrate this trend of vegetarian alternatives with 3 innovations identified at the World Food Show held in October in Paris: SIAL.
Hari & co
This start-up launched after their graduations, by Emmanuel Brehier and Benoit Plisson was already present two years ago at SIAL 2016 under the name “le Boucher Vert” (we had visited their stand). Recently renamed “Hari & Co” after a 2.3 million€ fundraising campaign, the Lyon-based start-up now has 13 employees and offers two product ranges:
- vegetable steaks
- original soups made from legumes
The new range of soups required 6 to 8 months of development and the first production took place 1 week before SIAL. Some adjustments will probably still be necessary to control the consistency of the product, but the idea is interesting and the recipes original and tasty.
Pedon
The Italian company Pedon is ultra-innovative, and we have been following it with great interest for many years. This year it has come to SIAL with new products that support the gluten-free trend. Two products, in particular, caught our attention:
- grains of couscous with chickpeas and corn.
- the “more than rice” range, which offers different recipes for vegetables in the form of rice, it’s quite amazing.
The SIAL Innovation jury awarded the “More than Rice” range the first innovation prize in the “savoury” category. Three recipes are available:
- Lentil, chickpea and pea rice.
- Pea rice and lentils.
- Chickpea rice and lentils.
The Pedon products which won a SIAL Innovation award
Closeup of one of the award winning products
Pedon booth at SIAL Paris 2018
Eat Real
We will finish with a product that we have already dealt with elsewhere in the snacking category, as it concerns the range of the “Veggie bites” range from the English company ‘Eat Real‘. The latter offers vacuum-fried vegetables (this process allows only a minimal amount of oil to be used) to munch. Different recipes are available, all certified vegan and gluten-free. We were particularly enchanted by the beans, which had kept all their good taste and whose crunchiness was irresistible.
Eat Real products are positioned in the easy snacking trend
Posted in Innovation.
