European project investigates microbial fermentation to enhance plant-based dairy
The official kick-off meeting of the project at the Fundació Alícia in Mont Sant Benet, Barcelona, Spain.
A new European project called Delicious has started with the goal of helping more people switch to plant-based dairy products.
Delicious proposes a novel production technology to create affordable, tasty and safe plant-based dairy analogues (cheese and kefir) with high nutritional value, by combining microbial products with plant-based raw materials.
The project has the ambition to accelerate the dietary shift, as well as contribute to better nutrition by developing products with high protein content, rich in vitamins, fibres and probiotics. The project aims also to decrease the environmental footprint of food industry not only by replacing conventional dairy products in peoples’ diets but also by introducing microbial products which acquire less fresh water, less land use and inexpensive residual raw materials.
Using culinary experts (chefs), the project will improve the sensory characteristics of the current, commercial plant-based products in order to improve their placement in the market.
Delicious says it will use tailor-made microbial fat, produced via precision fermentation, yeast biomass and fibre-producing microbial strains to achieve the desired organoleptic properties without additives, artificial flavours and avoiding ultra-processing methodologies.
The European innovation project will bring together 17 entities from nine countries, including research centres, universities, SMEs, large companies, clusters, and associations, under the Horizon Europe programme.
The four-year project has a budget of €5 million and will use cutting-edge technologies such as high-throughput screening and machine learning under the leadership of RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. Its work will enhance the sensory properties and nutritional value of plant-based dairy, while creating a production process with a carbon footprint 30% lower than conventional dairy processes.
With the global market for plant-based foods expected to reach €40 billion by 2027 and increasing demand for sustainable diets, Delicious aims to accelerate the transition by developing technology that combines microbial fermentation with plant-based raw materials.
“By integrating advanced technology with consumer insights, we aim to accelerate the shift toward plant-based diets and set a new standard for the plant-based dairy industry,” said Harilaos Xiros, project coordinator.
