Context

Growing consumer interest in health, sustainability and ethics is driving the increase in popularity of plant-based products and ingredients. As a result, in recent years, a large number of alternatives to animal-origin food products have appeared in various formats, mainly in response to meat analogues and more recently, in its early stages, to other products such as cheese and dairy products.
The result of this growing interest is the emergence of new players and new companies entering the food market, positioning themselves as creators of new proteins, supporting or financing new initiatives. Among the producers of new proteins are those that use cell cultures, those that are plant-based (mostly used to obtain products similar to meat, eggs and seafood); those that produce products from mushrooms and fungi; and, those that produce plant-based raw materials for further processing.
The PROVEG project will study several plant-based protein ingredients made by companies in the consortium using mushrooms and nuts, among other sources of plant-based protein from other suppliers.