Plant-based drinks

Next-generation plant-based drinks – Novonesis and Innova Market Insights

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen (moderator)

Hello, and a warm welcome to this webinar on next-generation plant-based drinks. The webinar is hosted by Novonesis together with Innova Market Insights. My name is Peter Ravn-Jorgensen. I work as a global marketing manager at Novonesis, and I’ll be your moderator for this webinar. I’m delighted to be joined by three speakers today. From Innova Market Insights, we have Alisa Selezneva, Senior Market Analyst. From Novonesis, we have Martin Prause, Business Development Manager for Plant-Based Ingredients, and Iannis Samakidis, Senior Industry Technology Specialist for Plant-Based Foods.

Alisa, Martin and Iannis, a warm welcome to you, and thank you for joining us. To get us started, and for those who have not met you before, could you tell us a little more about yourself and what you do? Starting with you, Alisa.

Alisa Selezneva

Of course. Thank you, Peter. I’m Alisa. I work at Innova Market Insights on the consultancy team. I have been in the market research industry for the past eight years, specializing in beverage categories, and I have a real passion for beverages and drinks. I’m very delighted to be here today.

Martin Prause

My name is Martin Prause. I’m Global Business Development Manager for Plant-Based Ingredients. Part of what I do is drive innovation in plant-based foods and ingredients. I’m very excited about that, because I’m a keen consumer of plant-based foods and beverages, and I’m excited about what we do and what’s happening in the industry.

Iannis Samakidis

I’m Iannis Samakidis. I’m a Senior Technology Specialist for Plant-Based Drinks at Novonesis. I’m dedicated to supporting our customers in overcoming the technical challenges they face and producing great-tasting, nutritious drinks.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Thank you. Before we begin, just a few housekeeping items for our audience. At the bottom of your screen, you’ll find a couple of options for interacting with us and the content we present today. You can ask questions at any time via the Q&A interface. This won’t interrupt the speakers – we will compile your questions for a Q&A session at the end of the webinar. We also have a poll prepared for later in the session, and we’d love your participation.

Finally, we are recording this webinar, and it will be available on demand on novonesis.com. We will add the link to the chat so you can watch it again.

Moving on to the agenda: today’s webinar on plant-based drinks has two parts. In the first part, Alisa will present market insights fresh from Innova’s market research. Following these insights, Martin and Iannis will present product assessments and improvements for plant-based beverages in part two. So, without further ado, I’ll hand over to our first speaker, Alisa. Over to you.

Alisa Selezneva

Thank you very much, Peter. I’m delighted to start this session and give our audience an introduction to plant-based drinks: a market overview of what’s happening in the industry now, and how it could look in the future.

A few brief words about Innova Market Insights, for those of you who might not know us yet. We are a market research company specializing in tracking innovation across the globe. We have been in the industry for over 30 years, and we are an innovation partner for our clients, also specializing in consumer insights, AI and tracking trends in different categories.

Today, of course, we will be talking about trends in plant-based drinks. On today’s agenda, we have a plant-based drinks market overview. We also have interesting consumer insights: what drives consumers to prefer and select different products in the category, and what their preferences are. And we will touch on the barista trend, which is quite a hot trend in the category.

So why are we talking about plant-based overall? Let me set the context a little first. First of all, plant-based momentum is still there.

Over 50% of consumers globally agree that plant-based products will become a standard choice, not just a niche trend. So consumers expect to see more and more plant-based drinks, both in retail and out of home. Millennials in particular over-index on this, with 59% of millennials globally saying the same. So this is really becoming not just a niche trend, but a standard choice for consumers.

This is supported by the market-size dynamics of dairy alternative drinks, which have grown year on year over the past five years.

We’re also seeing big players investing in plant-based alternatives. For example, Carlsberg Britvic-owned Plenish has introduced a sugar-free oat milk with no oils or additives, which is a very recent innovation. So, in a nutshell, the momentum is there, companies are investing, the market is growing, and consumers really embrace the trend.

Now let’s dive a little deeper into innovation dynamics in plant-based drinks. Innovation in plant-based drinks is intensifying globally. The number of new product launches has grown year on year over the past five years.

Looking at the global landscape and who leads innovation in plant-based drinks, Europe is the main player. But in every single region – Europe, APAC, LATAM, North America, and the Middle East and Africa – the number of new plant-based drink launches is growing every year.

Here is a great example from one of the industry leaders, Alpro, which continues to innovate across its plant-based range. They’re not just introducing new flavors, but also tapping into trends that interest consumers, such as protein – for example, a very recent launch in Europe of a plant-protein-based drink.

So we’ve looked at the overall market dynamics and the intensity of innovation. Let’s go a bit further and decode plant-based drink innovation: what exactly are these drinks, and what bases are they made from?

When we look at the top bases used in plant-based drink launches globally, oat leads innovation. Then come almond and soy, but we’re also seeing more niche bases, such as pea.

While pea is still only a 4% share of total plant-based drink launches, the number of new pea-based products is increasing every year. So innovation there is intensifying, with different companies and brands introducing more pea-based products.

Of course, it’s always interesting to look at consumer dynamics as well. We’ve looked at how the market is performing, but what are the key consumer preferences? We asked consumers which ingredients they usually choose in their plant-based milk. The top three bases preferred by consumers globally are also almond, oat and soy. So oat leads innovation, and almond leads consumer preference.

This is a very interesting product example: Plant Strong, launched in the USA, which combines oat and almond bases. It also taps into the naturalness and clean label trend, while trying to offer consumers something bright and strong on the shelf.

Now, we touched on the consumer, but let’s dig deeper into the key consumer drivers for this category. We asked consumers about their key health-related reasons for consuming dairy substitutes.

Number one is naturalness. It will come as no surprise, but naturalness is the key health-related reason for consuming dairy substitutes for people across the globe. Here is a product example: a rice and pea protein-based drink that communicates that it is 100% natural, made with rice, pea, cashews and gluten-free oat protein. So brands and companies are innovating on the naturalness platform to appeal to consumers.

The number two health-related reason for consuming dairy substitutes is digestive health. Digestive health is one of the biggest trends in the food and beverage industry overall.

Consumers are becoming very aware of how their food and drinks affect their digestive health. And again, we’re seeing brands in plant-based drinks introducing digestive health claims and communication on pack. This drink, launched in Spain, contributes to the normal functioning of the immune system with seeds and nuts that provide zinc, and it also contains probiotics.

The number three health-related reason – and again, when we talk about trends, protein is very high on consumers’ agenda overall – is protein. Our category is also playing into that.

Consumers choose dairy substitutes for their protein intake, and products are innovating to make sure they communicate protein content on pack. For example, this drink from France, with 40% protein, made from 100% French organic soy, explicitly communicates on pack that it is enriched with fava bean protein. So health-related reasons really drive consumption of plant-based drinks, and we can see new product launches reflecting those consumer needs.

We’ve spoken about what drives consumers, but it’s also important to understand what improvements consumers are looking for when selecting plant-based drinks.

We asked consumers which improvements they would most like to see in dairy substitutes. They could select as many as they wanted. If we look at the top five improvements, number one is improved taste and flavor. Consumers expect better products with better taste, flavor and texture – more on the indulgent side – and they expect companies to innovate on these without compromising on the actual texture and content.

Other improvements include less sugar, more protein, fewer artificial ingredients and less fat. Protein content is especially important for consumers in APAC.

Overall, companies across the globe are working on product communication to make sure consumers understand the quality. For example, this Dream Horchata traditional rice drink communicates that it hasn’t compromised on flavor or texture, and that it’s still delicious, sweet and traditional – the perfect plant milk. So companies are trying to make sure consumers understand the quality of their products.

And when we talk about taste and flavor, it’s an easy jump to barista range products. Brands are innovating in dairy alternatives with barista ranges. Barista-range beverages currently account for around 13% of total plant-based drinks, and that share has been increasing over the past five years. The number of new barista-range products within plant-based drinks is rising.

Looking at which regions innovate most in barista ranges, the share of barista-range launches is highest in the Middle East and Africa and Europe.

A couple of interesting product examples again. This product launched in Denmark, Oat Barista, plays on better texture and foamability. It says “foamidable” – I apologize for my accent – but it’s clearly a play on words, combining “formidable” and “foamable” to communicate the foam it can bring for people making coffee art with it. I would be delighted to try some of these products.

Then we have something more classic: an almond plant-based drink from Spain with very straightforward barista communication.

To understand what qualities barista ranges need, we need to understand consumers’ milk preferences in coffee. We asked consumers of both hot and iced coffee what type of milk they prefer in their beverage, and compared the answers. The key insight is that, while dairy milk is still the main preference, iced coffee consumers are more open to plant-based options like almond, oat and coconut. 27% of iced coffee consumers said they would prefer almond milk in their coffee, followed by oat milk and coconut milk. Gen Z and millennials especially over-index on accepting and trying a plant-based alternative in their coffee instead of standard dairy milk.

And the market is reflecting that need, with brands introducing products that appeal to these consumers – for example, this almond milk from the USA for both hot and cold beverages, highlighting that the quality and product properties stay the same in both hot and iced coffee.

And since we saw that taste, flavor and the overall indulgent experience are among the key consumer drivers –

and consumers want them improved in the plant-based drinks they choose – companies, especially in barista ranges, are exploring different ways to communicate improvements in taste, flavor and overall experience. Around 19% of barista-range launches carry claims about creamy, smooth texture, and 11% carry claims about foaming properties.

Here are some really interesting and, I would imagine, flavorsome examples. We have Alpro Barista Cinnamon Roll flavor, which is smooth and creamy with a warming cinnamon roll flavor for a moment of indulgence – very indulgent on-pack communication. Then we have the creamy, rich Farm Boy Oat Barista milk, which highlights the quality of the oats and ingredients it uses to ensure exceptional quality and texture.

And then we have a Barista Natrue launch, which highlights that the foam will be fabulous. I think the brand launched a new range very recently, highlighting that it can be used in matcha, with an oat base as well. So companies are experimenting with different product lines and flavors, while also trying to communicate the characteristics of their plant-based drinks to consumers, especially in barista ranges.

So what can we expect next in plant-based? Again, driven by consumers: consumers in Europe and North America are willing to try new and innovative types of dairy substitutes – new flavors and new bases. They’re open to that.

Younger generations especially: 54% of Gen Z in Europe and North America are willing to try new and innovative types of dairy substitutes, and so are 59% of millennials. So there is space for innovation. Consumers are very open to new flavors and new alternatives.

And as mentioned, pea-based drinks are, for now, only 4% of total new product launches. But companies across the globe are experimenting with pea protein drinks, pea-based vanilla drinks and barista ranges. So there’s a lot of room for experimentation, consumers are willing to try new products, and there is a bright future for plant-based drinks overall.

Thank you very much. I will hand over to Martin.

Martin Prause

Thank you, Alisa, for these valuable insights.

We will now look more closely at the different plant-based drink types and compare them in more detail. First, we’ll look at the consumer’s view – again, with the nuances between the different drink types. This is based on our consumer insight study and shows consumers’ views and preferences.

We will then share an assessment of how these different drink types really perform, as well as solutions to improve them. This analysis has guided our innovation, so we’re sharing it with you – maybe it can guide or inspire your innovation in plant-based drinks.

But briefly, who we are. Novonesis is the world’s leader in biosolutions, driving innovation in food and beverages. Novonesis is the result of the merger between Novozymes and Chr. Hansen. So let’s get started, and take a close look at consumer needs across the different plant-based drink types.

First of all, what we found in our proprietary consumer insight study is that, across plant-based drink types, two things are really important to consumers: they all need to work well in coffee, and they all need to deliver on protein nutrition.

What does it mean to work well in coffee? Foaming is one aspect: 57% of consumers say foaming is important to them. The second is stability in coffee: 70% of consumers say this is really important. Next, health and nutrition – primarily driven by protein – is also very important. And the good news is that 68% of consumers are willing to pay more for a front-of-pack protein claim. So consumer expectations are high across plant-based drinks, especially for coffee and protein.

We also found that versatility is critical. This is an overview of different consumption occasions – in coffee, with cereal, for cooking and so on – and which plant-based drink is preferred for each. So we’re answering: how are the drinks consumed, and are there differences between drink types? The answer is that they all need to be versatile; they’re all consumed across occasions.

There are also differences in preference between drink types, which is clear because the splits are not equal.

Consumers tend to have a preferred drink type for a particular occasion. For example, oat drinks are most preferred in coffee and with cereal. For barista drinks specifically, as well as smoothies, almond drinks are the drink of choice.

Soy drinks are most often chosen for cooking and for drinking on their own from a glass. We also covered some of the more niche products. Pea protein drinks, for example, have a higher protein content, so they tend to be chosen more often for protein shakes – but also for barista drinks.

This data is global, but we also conducted the study by region, so there are regional nuances in preference. Those detailed nuances can guide very targeted innovation. When we collaborate with you on plant-based drink innovation, we can bring in those detailed insights. But to conclude here: the ambition is that drinks need to be truly versatile.

Consumers expect them to be versatile. And with a more versatile drink, consumers will find it easier to use in different occasions, and so consume more plant-based drinks.

Of course, taste is important. But we wanted to look more closely at the nuances between plant-based drink types. So we asked consumers why they choose a particular drink type. The answers included: I like the taste, I like the texture, I like it in coffee, I like the protein, and so on. What we show here are the responses for liking the taste.

Interestingly – and maybe not surprisingly – we found that liking the taste is similarly important across all plant-based drink types, at around 40–50% of consumers saying this is why they chose it. That’s also true for more niche drinks like pea protein drinks. Consumers buy them because they like them.

Pea protein drinks have actually come a long way. They may still have a bit of a reputation, but many pea protein drinks today taste very good.

As consumers are more exposed to them, they will become more familiar, which will increase the potential for those drinks. But generally, a more neutral flavor is the goal across plant-based drink types.

To summarize what is important: taste, of course, but also stability in coffee, foaming, protein nutrition and versatility.

So let’s compare how the drinks perform on those key priorities. This is a scorecard of the various plant-based drinks and how they perform on what is important to consumers: taste, stability in coffee, foaming and nutrition.

At this point, I’d also like to point out a white paper we recently published that gives a more comprehensive view, covering more aspects of the different drink types. We invite you to sign up on our website to receive it. But what can we learn here? Highlighted are the areas for improvement for each drink type. Again, it’s clear that plant-based drinks are not all alike: there are differences in how they perform and what can be improved.

Oat drinks are very popular, but barista foam and protein nutrition are still areas for improvement. Almond drinks are also very popular around the world; here, stability in coffee and protein nutrition should be improved.

Soy drinks are also consumed in high volumes, and pea protein drinks and blends are up and coming. All of these can have issues with stability in coffee.

One observation is that foaming performance is often linked to the protein. More protein, and more functional protein, will typically achieve better foam. That points towards a solution: fortifying and functionalizing the protein is a strategy to kill two birds with one stone – great foam and more protein at the same time. So this is an overview of the key aspects that need to be improved to achieve a truly versatile drink and win with consumers.

At this point, we’d like to invite you to take part in a poll. We’d like to know which plant-based drinks you think have the biggest potential when improved. Please select one or more of these drink types.

We will discuss the results at the end, during the Q&A. Your answers will be interesting to see where you think innovation can really help, and where there’s market and consumer potential.

Thank you for your answers. Now that we’ve pinpointed what needs to be improved, Iannis will present evidence of how the drinks actually perform and how to improve them. Over to you, Iannis.

Iannis Samakidis

Thank you, Martin. Let’s first look at foaming performance. Typically, oat and almond drinks don’t foam well due to their relatively low protein content, while pea protein drinks and blends of pea protein and oat foam pretty well.

The drinks you see here are all prototypes we made in our facilities from different raw materials: oat, almond, pea protein, and a pea protein–oat blend. The pea protein and blend prototypes perform pretty well, explained by their higher protein content. But let’s zoom in on the drinks that don’t foam so well, oat and almond, and see how an enzymatic solution can help. As you can see, adding Vertera®^® Velvet during the production of oat and almond drinks significantly increases both foam quantity and quality.

The next big topic for plant-based drinks in coffee is, of course, coffee stability.

Coffee stability can be influenced by several factors, including the type of coffee or tea, the volume of liquid used, the mineral content of the water, brewing and mixing methods, and the amount of pH stabilizers. Across all consumers, there will be many different situations and combinations of these factors that can cause stability issues. So maximizing robustness against them is crucial. Vertera^® Velvet improves coffee stability across all plant-based beverages, in particular almond drinks, pea protein drinks and blends.

Let’s zoom in on the coffee stability improvement in pea protein drinks with Vertera® Velvet. In our facilities, we made a pea protein drink with and without Vertera® Velvet. As you can see, the one without it is very unstable, with a lot of coffee curdling, as we call it. Adding Vertera® Velvet clearly improves that: no curdling and no instability.

And this isn’t only observed in this type of coffee, but also in others, like instant coffee and espresso. So it works across all kinds of coffee.

Moving on, let’s look at latte art. Latte art is very important to consumers these days – like us. You can see here that we can make coffee with really great latte art across different substrates like oat, pea protein and blends. So, regardless of the plant-based source, it can be achieved with Vertera® Velvet.

We also have a video. We invited a barista to our facilities in Denmark to evaluate drinks made with Vertera® Velvet.

She was really impressed, first by how easy the drinks were to froth, and then by the smoothness of the foam. And she was able to make some great latte art, as you can see here.

She also wanted to evaluate the texture of the foam, so she did what’s called a spoon test, dropping a spoon into the coffee cup. As you can see, the shape remained almost intact, highlighting a very good texture. But you don’t need to be a barista to make great latte art with these oat drinks – you can also do it at home with your own frothing equipment.

We have also looked into pea protein drinks which, as mentioned, are still a small part of the market. But we expect them to grow with the necessary quality improvements.

We tested Vertera® Velvet with different raw materials and saw that it improves coffee stability in all cases.

Here is just one example: there is clear separation without Vertera® Velvet. At a low dosage, stability improves, and at a moderate dosage, full stability is achieved. In all drinks, dipotassium phosphate was added at doses commonly used in commercial drinks. But as you can see, that isn’t enough to stabilize the drink in coffee. So pea protein drinks can be made more robustly stable in coffee with Vertera® Velvet.

To summarize, Vertera® Velvet enhances protein stability in hot, acidic beverages, increases protein solubility both with and without phosphate salts, and improves protein emulsification capacity. If you have any questions about application and dosages, feel free to contact us. Now let’s look at the technology behind Vertera® Velvet.

Vertera® Velvet is a protein deamidase, also called protein glutaminase, that enhances protein functionality without affecting taste. It works by converting protein-bound glutamine into glutamic acid within the intact protein structure, without cleaving the peptide chain. It is often confused with glutaminase, a different enzyme that acts on free glutamine. The action of Vertera® Velvet increases the protein’s net negative charge, leading to improved solubility and enhanced functional properties in beverages, without any risk of off-notes. That’s very important. Back to you, Martin.

Martin Prause

Thank you, Iannis. So the conclusion is that the tools are there, as Iannis presented. You can create fantastic plant-based drinks with Vertera® Velvet, and elevate each type of plant-based drink on its specific key gaps. The good news is that these improvements can typically be promoted on the front of the pack. Alisa gave some examples of front-of-pack claims earlier – so you can make the claim and deliver on it, such as great foaming or higher protein – subject, of course, to local regulations.

So: creating oat drinks that are great for barista foam; pea protein or almond drinks that are more robustly stable in coffee and have more protein; or blends that take the best of the available ingredients while still ensuring stability in coffee and versatility. The tools are there. Let’s reimagine plant-based drinks together.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Thank you for sharing your insights with us today. I really enjoyed the presentation, and I hope our audience did too.

In just a moment, we’ll open the floor for your questions. Please keep typing your questions into the chat. We’ve received a lot already, but you still have the opportunity, and we’ll address as many as we can.

But before we move on to the Q&A, let’s look at your responses to the poll Martin posed earlier. Martin, will you walk us through the results?

Martin Prause

Absolutely, thank you. I was very much looking forward to seeing your responses. The question was: which plant-based drinks have the biggest potential when improved? You could select multiple answers.

So, the incumbents – oat, almond and soy, the biggest in the market – still see a lot of activity, and you pointed that out as well. It’s maybe skewed towards oat; there’s a lot of momentum there.

Oat is also more fragmented, with more players, so there’s a lot of activity, which your answers probably reflect. Pea protein has a lot of potential – we agree. This solution with Vertera® Velvet improves that a lot and really overcomes the coffee issue, enabling pea protein on its own. But you also see pea protein in a lot of blends, which brings us to blends: we see a lot of potential there too.

So no surprises, but we very much appreciate your answers.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Thanks, Martin. Let’s turn our attention to the good questions coming through the chat.

We’ll start the Q&A with a question that I think suits you well, Alisa: what are the reasons the barista segment is growing so fast?

Alisa Selezneva

I would say the reason is really usage-driven. Consumers expect plant-based drinks to perform like dairy in coffee – especially when it comes to foaming, texture and mouthfeel. So if a plant-based drink can replace dairy in the daily coffee ritual, it works really well and reinforces repeat purchase and loyalty to that drink.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Thank you. Another good question is a bit more on the technical side, so that’s probably you, Iannis: does the solution work for any plant-based drink, such as blends and raw materials like rice or cashew?

Iannis, you seem to be muted – at least I can’t hear you.

Iannis Samakidis

Sorry for that. Thanks for the question – it’s a good one. We have tested across many types of plant-based raw materials, and we have seen excellent results with Vertera® Velvet, including drinks made from rice or cashew. It’s definitely worth testing with these raw materials as well.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Good. And now one for you, Martin, I think. We have a question on which product categories are growing fastest beyond plant-based milk – it could be yogurt or cheese alternatives, coffee creamers; there are a lot of options. Do we have any insights into which categories outside plant-based milk are growing fast?

Martin Prause

Yes, absolutely. Some of these are closely adjacent to plant-based drinks, and there’s a spillover effect. We see a lot of interest in coffee creamers.

Again, going back to familiar raw materials like soy protein – so soy, or whole soy, coffee creamers, as well as oat and almond.

So coffee creamers for sure. We also see a lot of momentum in the fermented space, with cultures, such as yogurts.

Then there are other beverage types, like clear pea or other clear plant protein beverages – there’s a lot of momentum there as well. There’s a trend of clear dairy-based protein beverages that’s spilling over into plant-based. A little further away are things like protein bars, which also have momentum. And generally, higher protein fortification – that trend continues.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Interesting, thank you. A technical question here, I think for you, Iannis: are additives needed when formulating with Vertera® Velvet?

Iannis Samakidis

Additives are commonly used in plant-based drinks, but we believe that with Vertera® Velvet, under certain conditions, we can remove them. So if anybody is interested in this topic, please reach out to us and we can discuss the specifics in more detail.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Building on that, we’re getting a lot of specific questions, and for some of them we’d encourage you to reach out – you’ll have the option after this session. Moving on, I think this one is more on insights and trends, Alisa: what factors drove consumers globally to rank almond, oat and soy as the top three preferred non-dairy milk bases? Do we have any insight into whether it’s taste, price, nutrition, availability or something else?

Alisa Selezneva

Considering that these same bases are growing in new product launches, the very straightforward – and maybe not so interesting – answer is availability. Consumers see more product offerings in these bases, and they try different brands and products. So in my opinion, that is clearly a huge factor for consumers. But of course, when it comes to repeat choice, it’s also about taste preference.

There could also be interesting differences between regions in whether one ingredient or another is preferred, because consumers are more familiar with certain bases in different regions. So regional differences would be another answer. And if a big brand already offers a wide range and consumers are used to a straightforward product from that brand – let’s say almond –

and it launches something interesting, like a blend of bases or a new base, consumers will be interested in trying that too. So I’d say it could be a combination of factors.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Thank you. Another question is about where the focus is – I’m not sure if that’s Iannis or Martin, so you can decide. Is the focus only on protein, or is fiber also an important factor for consumers in this category?

Martin Prause

I’m happy to take it, and Iannis, please add. Today we’re mostly talking about making sure the protein works well in plant-based beverages. But one trend we see is nutrition, and it keeps going further. Nutrition stays top of mind for consumers – protein, but increasingly fiber too. We see more fiber claims next to protein on the front of the pack, and also special fibers like beta-glucans, increasingly.

Alisa Selezneva

I can jump in to support Martin’s answer. We see digestive and gut health as one of the huge trends in food and beverage overall. Categories influence each other, and consumers increasingly expect digestive and gut health benefits from this category too. So we’re definitely seeing that alongside protein launches, as part of consumers’ overall expectations of the nutritional profile.

Iannis Samakidis

I was just going to say that, of course, today’s presentation is about Vertera® Velvet, but we also recently launched another novel enzymatic solution that can help maintain beta-glucans in plant-based drinks, especially oat drinks, which can play well in this segment.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

And speaking of digestibility, there’s a question here: is protein digestibility an opportunity or a challenge for recent launches in this category? Martin, maybe you can chip in on that.

Martin Prause

From what we’ve seen, it’s not top of mind. It doesn’t appear to be a challenge that limits growth – there’s plenty of growth. There are some enzymatic solutions that help with digestibility; those are different ones. But digestibility doesn’t seem to be the main issue. There is increased attention to digestibility, also with the growing GLP-1 patient population, so there’s definitely attention on it.

But it hasn’t been a limiting factor from what we see. Alisa, maybe you have a comment as well.

Alisa Selezneva

I would agree. In this category, protein digestibility isn’t a key reason people consume it. If we go all the way to protein bars, consumers might start paying attention, because someone choosing a protein bar is already quite conscious of digestibility.

But this category is still chosen for flavor, texture and different occasions, and protein digestibility isn’t yet high on the consumer agenda here. So for now, it’s not a big, upfront issue for consumers.

Peter Ravn-Jorgensen

Thank you, Alisa. I can see so many great questions popping up – some more specific than others, and a lot of interesting discussion.

Unfortunately, we don’t have time for more questions in this webinar; we have to round off. But there will be an opportunity to reach out to us, which I’ll explain in just a second. So if you feel you haven’t had a good answer yet, please reach out and we can continue the dialogue after the webinar.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us today. We truly appreciate you taking the time. If the solutions you’ve seen today align with your innovation goals, we’d love to continue the conversation. You can scan the QR code and share your specific needs, and our team will get back to you.

You can follow Novonesis Food & Beverages on LinkedIn to stay up to date with the latest developments and industry news. We also have a community newsletter on novonesis.com that you can join to keep up to date on what’s happening in the plant-based space.

It’s something we’re following closely. So thank you again, and all the best from all of us at Innova Market Insights and Novonesis. Thank you.