As part of our 100th birthday celebrations we’re looking at the future trends that will shape the way we live through the next decade. This month we’re focused on plant-based eating…
While many of us aren’t yet ready to become vegan, there’s certainly a shift towards consuming less meat by adopting a flexitarian approach to eating. The great news is that there are plenty of exciting ingredients and innovations to keep meal times interesting.
Koji
Koji has long been popular with chefs, but it’s making its way into domestic kitchens. It started appearing in plant-based meats and brings to food the much-talked-about fifth taste – umami. It is used to make popular foods like soy sauce, miso, mirin and sake. Koji isn’t a single ingredient, but is, in fact, rice or barley inoculated with the Aspergillus oryzae mould. As it grows, it produces enzymes which break down proteins, fats and sugars. Koji adds flavour and depth to foods and many people argue health benefits too.
Potato innovation
Beans, peas and soy have largely been the main proteins used in plant-based meat production, but it’s all about to get a whole lot more interesting as companies work towards extracting proteins from different vegetables. Potato company Branston has announced it is building a £6 million plant to extract protein from potatoes. It’s the first facility of its kind in the UK and the proteins will be used in vegetarian products. It’s not the first time the potato has made its mark in innovative food applications. Swedish company Dug launched a potato-based plant milk here last year.
Kelp 
A lot has been said about seaweed lately and kelp is lauded as a bit of a hero food. It’s fast-growing, versatile, has a great nutritional profile, and is good for the planet. It’s beginning to appear in all manner of foods, such as popcorn, snacks, burgers and even baby food. According to trends forecasting company WGSN kelp is the top ingredient associated with regenerative agriculture.
Plant-based fish
Plant-based seafood and fish has a long way to go to catch up with its meat equivalent, but it’s on its way. Many food companies, including Meatless and Good Catch, are launching fish alternatives. Nestlé recently announced the launch of Garden Gourmet Vrimp – a shrimp alternative made from seaweed, peas and konjac root – and Next Meat has said it’s launching a vegan tuna.
Egg substitutes
Not an entirely new thing, but vegan eggs are going to become way more popular. Egg replacements, such as Crack’d, have been available for a while to use in recipes but the world’s first plant-based boiled egg launched in the UK this year and we’re set to see a lot more egg-related innovations over the coming years.
Plant-based confectionary
Vegan chocolate isn’t new either, but it’s mainly been seen as a speciality food. But with the likes of Cadbury and Lindt launching vegan alternatives it’s about to become a whole lot more mainstream. Plus, restaurants are catering to the national sweet tooth by ensuring there are vegan pudding alternatives on the menu too.
Vegan 5:2
It may just be a smart new name for flexitarian eating, but the veggie 5:2 diet makes a lot of sense to those of us looking to cut down on meat eating. It’s a super-simple concept too. You simply follow a vegan or vegetarian diet five days a week and eat meat on the other two.
Vegan fast food
The big fast food chains, such as McDonalds, KFC and Burger King, have all launched plant-based alternatives to their original offering and it’s hugely likely we’ll see vegan-only fast food outlets popping up where plant-based eating is the main event rather than an add-on.
Mycoprotein
Mycoprotein might sound a little sci-fi, but the chances are you’ve already tried it. It’s simply a naturally occurring fungus that is fermented and turned into a mixture with a meat-like texture. Quorn is probably the best-known example. According to Business Insider, we’re likely to see way more microprotein-based foods launching over the coming years, thanks to its nutritional content and low impact on the environment.
Cellular agriculture
While not plant-based as such, the move towards growing meat from cells in a way that does no harm to animals is something that is going to become huge over the coming decades. Scores of start-ups will launch beef, chicken, pork and seafood products. It again sounds like something from a sci-fi movie and it’s difficult for most of us to fully understand it, but those in the know argue it will be good for both animal welfare and the environment. We should expect to see a lot of plant-meat hybrids coming through where cell-based and plant-based ingredients are blended to create more affordable ‘meats’.
