The functional beverage category is growing, as is consumer demand for plant-based beverages. Plant-based proteins can help producers in various product categories, including dairy, make the most of these two trends, potentially leading to opportunities with entirely new audiences. The challenge is finding the ingredient with the right balance between taste, texture, nutrition and flexibility. Sunflower protein, flexible and suitable for use in anything from functional beverages to hybrid products, could be the answer.
With many plant-based ingredients, producers often need to compromise in at least one area of the final product, whether that’s the colour, the additional ingredients needed to find the right texture, the equipment required for production or the flavour profile that doesn’t quite meet consumer expectations.
Sunflower protein can help address these concerns and barriers while offering a host of additional benefits. Discover why you should be considering this innovative ingredient.
Many producers will probably already have most, if not all, of the equipment required to implement sunflower protein, meaning any investment in additional equipment should be minimal. Possible differences could be, for example, adding enzyme treatment to a mixing process, or raising the pressure in homogenization, but these are relatively small changes that can result in an expanded product range and, ultimately, the potential to boost profitability.
“There’s room for the beverage industry to offer plant-based protein products with benefits that can appeal to a wider market than at present,” says Ronnie Kragh Enggaard, Product Development Leader for EMEA at Tetra Pak. “Many plant-based beverages now contain relatively low amounts of protein and fibre, so there’s an opportunity with sunflower protein to make something that contains more protein and fibre, offering something different and appealing, and the process to get started can be simple.”
Sunflower protein has a neutral, slightly nutty taste, and an off-white colouring. These attributes mean it can be used to create anything from iced coffee to yoghurt, and in addition, the dosing range is equally flexible, allowing for anything from 2% to 7%1, so recipes can be tailored to the specific needs of the products.
There’s also flexibility more generally – it can be used as a base ingredient for a plant-based functional beverage, or as an addition to a dairy product to make a hybrid offering with unique properties.
“The flexibility of sunflower protein means the products made can appeal to a variety of consumers,” explains Enggaard. “For example, plant-based products are sometimes seen as more premium in Europe, so this ingredient could be used for a premium functional plant-based beverage. On the other hand, it’s a more affordable protein than dairy alternatives like whey and casein, so it could be used to make a hybrid product that offers less expensive nutrition.”
The smooth texture and somewhat neutral taste mean that sunflower protein is also optimal for a range of products, as it’s easy to add flavouring like vanilla, strawberry or chocolate, without the flavour of the protein itself overpowering anything.
With up to 50% protein2 in addition to fibre and a variety of vitamins and antioxidants, sunflower protein has a nutritional profile that can be used to offer real functional benefits. This is especially appealing when 74% of people actively look for products with health claims3, and 88% are willing to pay more for healthy foods4.
This means it’s an ingredient that’s not only ideal for functional beverages but can be added to other products to offer functional benefits. These include the relatively high amounts of fibre found in sunflower protein.
“Being able to offer naturally occurring fibres and high levels of protein in plant-based products can be attractive for health-conscious consumers,” says Enggaard, “and it allows producers to offer something new. With fibre, you need to achieve a certain dosage for it to perform its desired function, and that’s straightforward with sunflower protein.”
Some proteins require chemical processes to produce the powder, or at least wetting, heating and drying processes which can be energy intensive. The process to make sunflower protein powder is the opposite – it’s entirely mechanical, with no need for additional chemicals. This simple production process, as well as the fact that sunflowers are easy to grow and maintain, mean that it’s cost-efficient too.5
It’s time to innovate with ingredients
With growing demand, and consumers more willing than ever to try new kinds of plant-based and hybrid products, there couldn’t be a better time to develop innovative products using sunflower protein. Best of all, getting started is easy, and we can help you every step of the way
1. This is a recommendation based on internal tests carried out by Tetra Pak, mostly due to viscosity and taste. As a result of their own R&D processes, customers could potentially use higher or lower dosage levels.
2. https://auri.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/AURI-18-Sunflower-One-Pager.pdf
3. Ipsos for Tetra Pak Quantitative Survey on Health & Nutrition 2023 (Brazil, US, China, India, South Korea, Kenya, South Africa, Germany, Spain, UK)
4. Nielsen’s 2015 Global Health & Wellness Survey - CleanEating WGSN 2016
5. https://www.rhs.org.uk/education-learning/children-young-people/family-activities/grow-it/sunflower