According to industry research, a third of US consumers say they are trying to reduce their meat and poultry consumption, but only about 10% are, and many more are actually increasing their meat consumption – a dissonance that underscores shortcomings of an “either or approach” to plant-based vs animal protein and which could open the door for a lesser-known but potentially impactful approach to reduction: balanced proteins.

Balanced proteins that blend at least 30% animal protein with plant proteins or whole cut vegetables or mycelium, or “any sort of beneficial additive, non-meat ingredient” offer “huge” market potential, according to leaders at Food System Innovations, which is a philanthropic impact platform dedicated to a humane and sustainable future of food.

They explained at Future Food-Tech in Chicago earlier this month that balanced proteins could solve many of the stubborn challenges holding back plant-based meat sales and reinforce resiliency against supply chain challenges and an unpredictable economic landscape.

Bridging consumers’ protein expectations

While blending animal protein with plants is a tried-and-true culinary technique used in restaurants and in homes, very few packaged products currently leverage the preparation method – which when applied correctly can address many of the challenges the plant-based and alternative protein segment want to solve, said Tim Dale, category innovation director at Nectar, Food System Innovations.

“The problems that plant-based and the alternative protein sector are trying to solve still exists – if anything, it is accelerating and getting more urgent,” said Dale. But, he added, “the alternative market is still finding its footing” and “struggling to break into the mainstream because of price, taste and perceptions.”

Balanced proteins, however, “can really meet some of those needs,” said Caroline Cotto, director, Nectar, Food System Innovations.

For example, she said, because the first ingredient in balanced protein is often chicken, beef or another animal protein it is familiar and delivers on consumers’ taste expectations.

“Nectar published recently our report on balanced protein. We tested 22 balanced protein products across nine categories, and found that in two categories, burgers and chicken nuggets, the balanced protein products were actually outperforming 100% conventional animal meat in taste and texture,” she said.

“We also found that in six of eight categories, the balanced protein products were outperforming leading plant-based products in taste. So, just some more evidence that this category as a whole is a little bit further along than the plant-based market today,” she added.

The business benefits of balanced proteins

Balanced proteins also offer businesses a winning proposition by offering a hedge against supply chain challenges as well as a way to meet evolving consumer demand.

“From a sustainability standpoint, we often talk about this as a mitigation technique, but it’s also very much an adaptation tool for a changing environment,” explained Dale. “We can look in the history and see when there are moments when there is extreme droughts or extreme weather events, and how that impacted the price of beef, and we see today, the price of beef is as high as it’s ever been. So, by pulling in different ingredients, that is going to diversify your own product portfolio and help keep prices steadier, so that there are less shocks in the market that your product is experiencing.”

For plant-based meat manufacturers, blending animal protein into products could help them earn more premium positioning in stores and can help diversify their consumer base, while still moving towards the companies’ goals of reducing overall meat consumption, Cotto added.

Lessons learned and strategies for success

To fully seize the market potential for blended proteins, manufacturers will need to overcome infrastructure challenges and strategically market the products to address potential consumer misperceptions by highlighting their value-added benefits.

“There is a graveyard of products that launched in this space without the right marketing message,” Cotto acknowledged, explaining many consumers negatively viewed the addition of plants in animal proteins as “fillers” or extenders.

But, she said, companies can change the conversation by being fully transparent about the addition of vegetables and plant-protein and by highlighting the benefits, such as increased fiber, lower saturated fat and a broader range of nutrients.

Balanced protein players also should “romance the language” as much as they can to make their products sound delicious, added Dale.

“So, not only just calling out that shitake-infused beef burger, but if you have a chef on your team that created that mix” then calling the product “chef inspired or your signature shitake blended burger,” he said. “Make it seem like not a different burger, but a better burger.”

Infrastructure is another potential barrier to balanced proteins with many animal protein facilities lacking the equipment to include vegetables and many plant-based facilities unable to add animal-protein for safety reasons, said Cotto.

Another challenge – and opportunity – for balanced protein is a limited competitive landscape. The lack of a robust market means companies have fewer proof points for investing in balanced protein innovation – but it also means there is untapped market potential, Dale sale.

Food System Innovation is helping to bridge this gap by running pilots, consumer surveys and taste tests to showcase where there is potential and where there are challenges that need to be addressed.

Much of Food System Innovation’s market insights are available at balancedprotein.org and Nectar.org.