![]() "In the seventies, our potato juice was still boiled to coagulate the proteins an energy-guzzling process. Just look at the vegetable meat shelf, vegetable mayonnaise or sweets with a 'veggie' claim." What are you doing to become more sustainable? In fact, whenever potato protein is mentioned as an ingredient in a product on the supermarket shelf, the protein comes from Avebe. "Yes, several customers are already using it. This gives low-fat dairy products, for example, the same creamy mouthfeel as a full-fat yoghurt." Are there already examples on the supermarket shelf where this is being applied? Using enzymes, we can change the properties of starch to provide unique textural solutions. Our potato proteins also have these properties. This makes the ingredients stick together when heated, just like egg white. "Methyl cellulose (E461) is often used in the plant-based alternatives to meat. It is still difficult to achieve the same functionalities with mild processes as with chemical modification of starch. Because we do not chemically modify potato starch, they are good substitutes for E1412, for example, and for E1414 and E1442 in some products. Many chemically modified starches have an E-number we try to offer a clean label alternative. We are also strongly committed to clean label for both the protein and the starch branch. We are also researching how we can better apply the nutritional value of protein in its coagulated form. "The challenge for the extraction of potato protein mainly lies in increasing the capacity. And they give end products a lower CO2 footprint because you replace animal proteins with vegetable ones." What is the focus of your innovation? They also help to reduce the list of ingredients and can replace E-numbers. They are good for making products that are suitable for replacing fat. That gives them unique properties they gel, foam and emulsify very well, for example, and they provide nutritional value. In potatoes, they have a fully soluble form. "Proteins in starch products such as corn, maize and peas are semi-soluble. With this knowledge, Avebe decided to use these proteins in human nutrition." As a result, a lot was known about the amino acid composition, nutritional value and digestibility of potato protein. A great deal of research is being done into converting feed into meat as efficiently as possible. We started adding value to the proteins obtained from this process, initially for the animal feed industry. The solution was to boil the juice first, which would cause the proteins to coagulate this is the process that heats them up to give them a solid form. It led to the formation of foam and to unpleasant odours. In the past, this was simply discharged into the canals in East Groningen. If you know that they are 80 per cent water, you understand that grating releases a lot of moisture. To get the starch out of potatoes, they are grated. "We have been extracting protein from potatoes since the 1970s. When did it also become an important protein supplier? We know the potato primarily as a source of starch. Renewal, innovation, making products more sustainable for customers and making its own production greener are the important themes he deals with on a daily basis. So we cannot sit back and relax."Īs Innovation Technology Officer, he currently maintains contacts with knowledge institutions such as TNO, NIZO and various universities. A good number of changes are in store for the next hundred years: a growing world population, the world food issue, climate change and the energy transition. All this time, we have had to move with the social, economic and technological changes. The nice thing is that this is now a value proposition in the market. So we have been plant-based for a century. "In 2019, we celebrated our 100th anniversary. "Vegetable alternatives to meat were not popular at the time we were, so to speak, 'hippy corner' of the food industry." That is different now. "We were way ahead of our time," he says. In 2007, they opened the first factory for this purpose. The aim was to use the mildest possible processes to maintain the functionality of potato proteins and to use them in human food. Marc joined Avebe in 2005, on what was then known as the 'protein project'. 'In the innovation centre we make maximum use of each other's expertise' Sweets in which the gelatine has been replaced by potato protein. "Otherwise, I could have let you taste all kinds of products. Like so many meetings nowadays, the interview takes place via Teams. Marc Laus can tell you all about it until recently R&D manager at Royal Avebe, but as of 1 January Innovation Technology Officer for product and applications. Known as a starch product, basic ingredient for Dutch stews, raw material for chips and crisps, source of inspiration for a world-famous painting by Vincent van Gogh.
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