Inside BENEO’s new pulse plant: pioneering sustainable protein from faba beans
To meet demand for plant-based meats in India
Mumbai based AAK, India’s leading manufacturer of specialty oils and fats, has announced a new partnership with Vista Processed Foods, part of US based OSI group, to meet the country’s growing demand for plant-based meat alternatives.
Last year AAK partnered with the Good Food Institute India to help advance India’s promising plant-based meat and dairy alternative market.
After Vista Processed Foods participated in an AAK ACADEMY™ session, the two companies agreed to partner.
Vista Foods is a major supplier to the largest food service companies in India, including McDonald’s, and is part of the global OSI Group which struck a manufacturing partnership with Impossible Foods – one of the leading global plant-based meats brands – in 2019.
The two will now collaborate to create products from a variety of different plant proteins that meet the taste and texture needs of Indian markets.
Working on a co-development basis, Vista will manufacture plant-based products for customers, with AAK providing its expertise in areas such as new product development.
The partnership is a major development for a sector which seeks to provide the sensory and cultural experience of animal-sourced meat products, but with far lower climate and public health risks.
Entrepreneurs and food corporations interested in entering the sector can work with AAK & Vista Foods to develop and manufacture these products at a scale which was earlier unavailable, enabling far greater momentum for the growing industry.
Varun Deshpande, MD, Good Food Institute India, said: “The Indian plant-based meat sector has taken significant strides, but requires support from expert partners across the value chain to fulfill its goals of a more secure, sustainable, and just food system. AAK’s partnership with Vista is the kind of pivotal development which will bring trusted innovation and scale-up capabilities to a nascent industry, enabling it to fulfill skyrocketing local and international demand for delicious, nutritious plant-based meats which are better for human and planetary health.”