ICL expands capabilities for Rovitaris alternative protein technology

Global speciality minerals and speciality chemicals company ICL is set to expand its manufacturing capacity and R&D support for its Rovitaris alternative protein technology for the meat alternatives market.

As part of this initiative, the company will invest $20m.

ICL Phosphate Solutions president Ofer Lifshitz said: “Responsive adaptability is our key to serving ICL’s customers.

“As a market-leading technology, Rovitaris enables manufacturers to create the products that consumers demand while expanding their product development to include new exciting applications.”

Rovitaris has freeze and thaw stability, which results in reduced costs for food manufacturers.

It has been designed to help food manufacturers create plant-based meat alternatives, which are claimed to be virtually indistinguishable from their traditional meat counterparts.

The company further noted that its technology can be used for the development of meat, poultry and seafood substitutes.

The flexibility of Rovitaris enables the creation of customised applications and flavour profiles.

Furthermore, the technology can offer solutions for burgers, hot dogs, deli meats, nuggets and fish sticks in the form of alternative protein solutions for vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian consumers.

Going further, ICL intends to launch a wide range of products in the market including textured vegetable crumbles, which are expected to supplement its existing offerings of pulse-based proteins.

In January 2015, ICL’s food specialties business unit agreed to acquire the European dairy proteins producer Prolactal and its subsidiary Rovita.

Prolactal offers a range of functional dairy proteins for beverage, dairy and meat industries to stabilise and improve the nutrition of products processed under a variety of conditions.