Ulrick & Short offers a natural, clean and sustainable meat alternative ingredient
Ulrick & Short has launched a new plant-based alternative ingredient, complex ZERO, as a completely new alternative to meet an evolving plant-based substitute market.
As consumers are increasingly favouring natural alternatives, with 54% of consumers now wanting plant-based products to be authentic standalone products (Innova Trends Survey 2023 – Average answer of UK, France, Germany & Spain) Ulrick & Short’s release is address those moving away from imitations trying to mimic the taste and texture of meat and fish.
The company also notes a growing spotlight on label declarations and overprocessing, consumers attitudes are too shifting to simplified, natural & authentic plant-based alternatives – with many actively avoiding long and unfriendly label declarations.
complex ZERO is positioned as a natural, clean and highly nutritious solution, sourced from Sweden. It is based only on three whole crops and upcycled rapeseed and using natural process methods – ensuring an ultra-clean and consumer friendly back-of-pack declaration.
complex ZERO is locally grown in and produced in Sweden, meaning a minimal environmental footprint, with only 0.81kg of CO2 emissions produced per kg of complex ZERO – for comparison, this is 40 times less CO2 emissions produced than beef per kg (source: CarbonCloud).
complexTM ZERO is also naturally rich in protein and fibres, and contains 70% less fat & 94% less saturated fat when compared with standard 20% fat beef mince, making it appropriate for healthy reformulation and can greatly assist in achieving HFSS compliance.
complexTM ZERO is both easy to use & an incredibly versatile ingredient. It’s texturally similar to mince, and provides a sweet, buttery & nutty flavour profile. It’s appropriate for a broad range of product applications, from savoury bakery fillings – such as pies & pastries, ready meals such as Bolognese a & lasagnes, as well as formed meat substitute products, and even snacking and performance food applications.
Ulrick & Short R&D manager, Danni Schroeter, said: “complex ZERO is a genuine wholefood alternative, not an imitation of meat & fish products. The development of complex ZERO was borne out of a desire to provide a nutritious and clean genuine alternative to enable plant-based NPD to evolve and not require ingredients with un-consumer friendly declarations such as methylcellulose to mimic a specific textural property.”
Schroeter added: “The localised sourcing of complex ZERO make it inherently sustainable, both in terms of future production, but also a vastly reduced carbon footprint when compared not just with meat products, but also other plant-based products and ingredients.”
