Proeon and the Next Generation of Plant Based Protein
International companies pioneering the protein transition in the greater Rotterdam-The Hague area.
There is an increasing demand for meat and dairy products around the world as global wealth rises. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that global consumption of meat proteins will grow by 14% by 2030, on top of the fact that global meat consumption has more than doubled over the past three decades. The environmental impact of animal derived proteins are well documented and movements to find alternative protein sources are accelerating. How can we as a society meet the demand of billions while drastically reducing the environmental impact? The greater Rotterdam-The Hague area has become a hub of innovation for sustainable protein alternatives and is looking to lead the way in the newly termed ‘protein transition’.
Many international companies have recently relocated or set up subsidiaries in the region in order to benefit from the thriving ecosystem. We sat down with Ashish Korde and Kevin Parekh, both founders of Proeon who recently made the move to the region and are developing innovations in plant based proteins and sustainable foods.
Proeon was originally established in India and has recently started both an office and a lab in the Netherlands under the name Proeon Foods B.V. within Planet B.io at the Biotech Campus in Delft. Their innovation is the next generation of plant based protein ingredients that are the building blocks and core ingredients of vegan products such as vegan eggs and plant based dairy products. Proeon’s R&D begins with developing pure proteins, in other words the extraction of proteins. They assess different raw materials on criteria such as nutrition content, functionalities (like solubility, gelation, emulsification) and sensory profiles (taste, odor, color,mouthfeel) to see if they will be suitable for a new pure protein.
Once a source has been identified and extracted, it may not be perfect and will require changes to function as needed. Enzymes and other methods are then used to modify the proteins to achieve the desired results. One innovative ingredient is a protein isolate from mung bean that is supplied to manufacturers for plant based egg products. By taking the raw material, in this case mung bean, Proeon is able to “create a highly purified protein” Kevin shared with us. The manufacturers will then add spices and other ingredients to the protein isolate in order to create a product for end consumers.
Opportunities in plant based protein
After decades in the ingredients industry, Ashish and Kevin saw the coming trends and grew to understand “that there’s a huge shift that is coming in global consumer preferences, where people want to eat plant based foods.” Kevin added that they don’t want to compromise on the traditional experience of eating non-plant based products but “they want to eat something that’s healthier, more sustainable, and more animal friendly.”
Their motivating factors moving into the plant based protein field were the enormous market opportunities, the chance to do truly innovative work, and the massive environmental impact that they could accomplish. There are first generation products already on the market such as soy, wheat, and pea proteins. Proeon is focused on providing next generation proteins that are optimized for functionality for new products coming to the market that taste even better. They are using their experience and knowledge to add value to the protein transition as a whole.
“The mission, the purpose, why we started was very clear. We want to make food more sustainable.”
– Ashish Korde, Co-Founder at Proeon Foods
R&D and commercial hub
In order to achieve real breakthrough results in the protein transition, Proeon is in collaboration with Wageningen University. This has been a great opportunity to also begin the search to expand their team with top scientists who have worked in plant based protein modification. Proeon expects to grow their R&D team in the Netherlands greatly over the next couple of years, from junior to senior scientists. As they are targeting the European and North American markets, they expect to grow their talent base here in the Netherlands in order to create the best formulations possible. The Netherlands is becoming Proeon’s R&D hub but in their three year plan, the Netherlands will also be the main commercial hub for Europe. Their commercial focus will be centered on the European market and Ashish expects many commercial positions in sales and marketing to be based in the Netherlands in the next three years. This is after an extensive search and evaluation of many countries and locations around the world, after which Ashish saw that:
“the Netherlands stood out from all of these countries because of the solid scientific talent that’s available…and all of the work that has been done and that continues to happen here.”
Excellent ecosystem
The Netherlands is a prime location for companies looking to do cutting edge research and Ashish pointed out that “if you want to really do deep tech science, and do that quickly, the Netherlands makes a lot of sense.”
He added that although North America is a large market that they are focused on, Europe is where the transition is happening and where there is a real focus on environmental sustainability.
“The Netherlands offers an excellent ecosystem, which is not only academically or scientifically strong, but also commercially strong.”
The concentration of associations, companies, protein clusters, and facilitates make this country and specifically the Greater Rotterdam-The Hague area stand out. Proeon established at Planet B.io because of its excellent pilot scale manufacturing facility and is allowing their company to ramp up their R&D processes to a commercial scale.
Ease of setting up a business
Companies across Europe are reaching out to Proeon and the business is developing quickly. Proeon is already shipping to customers in Southeast Asia from their manufacturing facilities in India and their scientific activities in the Netherlands will be quickly ramped up in order to go to market.
As one of the top two agricultural exporters in the world, the Netherlands is uniquely positioned when it comes to supply chain sourcing and logistics.
Ashish mentioned the ease of business and “the kind of support we get from the government and other agencies, it makes it really easy for a company like us to come and set up our business in the Netherlands.”
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