How Food Startups Can Leverage Local Ingredients for Global Appeal? Ranging from jackfruit used as vegan meat, turmeric as a colouring agent, millet as a healthy alternative, and moringa used in supplements. Over the past decade, worldwide consumers have redirected their attention towards healthier, authentic, and environmentally sustainable foods. This has enabled food companies from culturally rich nations such as India to emerge prominently, not by emulating Western trends, but by providing native ingredients with profound heritage, functional advantages, and sustainable sourcing. Global Trends That Create This Opportunity:  Health & Functional Foods Are Booming The global functional food market is expected to reach approximately US$268 billion by 2027 , up from around US$186 billion in 2023 . Clean Labels and Transparency Today's consumers want traceability and transparency. Locally obtained ingredients from traditional farming systems are more appealing when the na...

  Peels to Power: Food Tech’s Role in Unlocking Value from Fruit Waste. Keywords: Fruit peels, value-added products, fruit peel valorization . From tomato paste, sauces, jams, jellies, or any value-added products made from fruits or vegetables, peels are always left as waste.  Roughly  1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally each year—around 45% is fruits and vegetables (FAO, 2021). Peels, pomace, and seeds are the most common wastes. Now let’s see how food tech is transforming fruit peels into super ingredients. Peels Peels are the outer protective layer of fruits and vegetables. Peels are removed or eaten with fruits, depending on the thickness of the peels. Fruit peels are rich in phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and other various substances. Fruit peels are rich sources of bioactive compounds, many of which are being tapped by food tech innovators for diverse applications.  Pectin , a natural polysaccharide primarily extracted ...

Plant-Based 2.0: Beyond Tofu and Soy Plant-based diets or vegan diets are in the spotlight in recent times. The reason may be to protect animals and the environment, or it may be a personal choice. In this blog, the focus will be on plant-based and vegan proteins. Plant-based or vegan proteins refer to those proteins that are formulated to mimic the taste, color, and texture of original animal-based proteins. They are only sourced from plant sources. Meat replacements contain around 50-80% water, 4-20% non-textured protein, 10-25% vegetable textured protein, 3-10% flavor improvement additives, 0-15% fat, 0-5% coloring agents, and 1-15% binding agents. There are various plant-based protein sources available, but most people are aware of only tofu and soy. Other examples include tempeh, edamame, seitan, pea protein, and lentil protein.  Some of the Plant-Based and Vegan Proteins Tempeh Tempeh is typically made from fermented soybeans. Unlike tofu, it’s minimally processed , has a nu...

Traditional Vs Modern Ways of Preservation The process of increasing the shelf life of food items by preserving them through various methods is known as food preservation . Food preservation techniques have been used since ancient times. These ancient techniques not only preserved food but also safeguarded narratives, seasons, and collective heritage over generations. In the household, pickles made by grandparents are not just fermented piece of fruit or vegetable, but they also give a sense of love and warmth. Traditional Ways Of Food Preservation   Fermentation, salting, drying, and pickling are some of the traditional ways of food preservation. Fermentation Food fermentation is a process in which selected microorganisms can be utilized to provide delicate flavors and fragrances that improve the quality and value of raw materials, change the texture of food, or preserve food by producing acids or alcohol. Reduce the amount of contaminated microorganisms to stop them from gro...