Anuga, one of the world’s largest food and drink trade shows, is launching an event exclusively for alternative proteins. It’s already lured nearly 100 exhibitors, including industry giants Beyond and Oatly.
Two months ahead of its first trade show dedicated to alternative proteins, Anuga is attracting strong interest from companies across the world.
Anuga Alternatives, first announced last summer, will take place in Cologne from October 4-8, and aims to support the more than 1,400 companies working with plant-based, fermentation-derived and cell-cultivated proteins globally.
The inaugural event ties in with Anuga’s top theme, Sustainable Growth, focusing on ensuring the global supply of protein in a health-forward and technologically feasible manner. So far, 90 exhibitors from across the world have confirmed their participation, including from the Netherlands, Denmark, Slovenia, Turkey and Luxembourg.
Who will exhibit at Anuga Alternatives?
Two of the headline exhibitors are also among the only publicly traded plant-based alternative companies. Fresh off a rebrand that scraps ‘Meat’ from its name to spotlight traditional plant proteins, Beyond will descend onto the floor of exhibitors at Anuga Alternatives.
Fellow industry giant Oatly, meanwhile, has promised to debut a product the show describes as a “special highlight”.
Local tofu makers will showcase their innovations at the show aswell, led by The New Originals Company (behind the Omami brand of tofu) and Tofutown (now owned by the UK’s Vegan Food Group).
Meanwhile, Pacifico Biolabs will present Viando Chicken, a mycelium-based alternative that the company claims offers the same sensory, nutritional and functional attributes as conventional chicken. Another meat analogue comes from SunflowerFamily, which will introduce a sunflower protein mince.
Danish seaweed specialist Jens Møller Products will present its algae-based vegan caviar under the Cavi-Art label, and plant-based shrimps called Zhrimps.
In addition to meat and seafood alternatives, attendees at Anuga Alternatives will be able to try Neggst Foods’s plant-based egg patty, which is made from fava bean and pea protein.
Anuga bets on ‘firmly established’ alternative protein market
The premiere of Anuga Alternatives comes a year after Anuga added an alternative protein category to its main show. This year, over 1,300 exhibitors are presenting plant-based product solutions across the 10 trade events it hosts, which it said was a “clear indication” of how this sector is well-entrenched in the food industry.
“Alternative proteins are certainly no longer a future theme – they are firmly established on the market. Numerous market analyses confirm this development,” Anuga said in a press release.
It cited research by Innova Market Insights, which points to a 10% annual growth in the number of new microbial protein products. Yeast-derived proteins are experiencing a particularly dynamic rise (+60%), as are animal-free whey proteins (+24%), which are increasingly being incorporated into dairy and bakery goods.
Algae-based product launches are also up by 17%, with kelp and red algae standing out. In fact, algae joins cultivated proteins, nuts, oats and soy in the list of proteins garnering increased global interest from consumers.
Anuga Alternatives will be complemented by a specialised programme on the show’s Horizon Stage, which bundles future themes of the food industry in keynotes, panels and interactive formats. It will demonstrate how food, technology and sustainability can be rethought, and examine the current developments in the areas of research and technology of alternative proteins.
“The market for alternative proteins is not only being pushed by the demand of the consumers, but equally by trailblazing, technological innovations. The progress made in processing plant-based sources of protein and finding new sources of protein [is]an of central importance here,” Anuga director Jan Philipp Hartmann said after the show’s announcement last year.
It isn’t the only food and beverage event spotlighting alternative proteins this year. Informa Markets’ trade show, Fi India, will host producers of plant proteins, soy products, functional ingredients, and more in Greater Noida next month.
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