Cracking the code to plant-based cheese
According to the Nordic Nutrient Recommendations, plant-based diets are the way ahead for human health and climate change. As a result, KMC has provided high-quality ingredients to produce delicious, plant based cheeses.
On June 21st, the New Nordic Nutrient Recommendations 2023 were published, providing a clear list of dietary recommendations for human consumption that promote a healthy lifestyle with low environmental impacts.
The recommendations were mainly plant based, with the exception of fish. Meats, dairy products and other animal-based foods were suggested to be consumed moderately due to their high carbon footprints. As a result, the delicious flavors and consumption habits from animal products must be found elsewhere.
The Secret Ingredient
Producing animal-like products without the use of animal-based ingredients can be a brain twister. However, KMC has now mastered the production of plant-based cheese without the use of milk. The secret ingredient is potato starch.
By using potato starch, KMC has uncovered the recipe for alternative cheeses, without compromising the taste, consistency or mouthfeel
So far, the alternative cheeses can be found in in the form of pizza toppings, cheese spreads and hard cheeses. Depending on the type of cheese, the potato starch is treated differently. However, not all cheeses are equally replicable, and the team at KMC is therefore working hard to produce the greatest products for plant-based consumers.
—When working on plant-based cheese we still experience a few issues. One is to improve our spreadable cheeses while another is to create the right stringy plant-based pizza cheese alternative you know from movies, which causes headaches across the industry, says Ole Primholdt Christensen, Business Development Director at KMC.
At KMC the ambitions are high, and the knowledge and experience is growing every day. Their goal is to provide plant-based alternatives to every types of cheese, to eliminate possible limitations to the plant-based diet, while helping the climate.
