Diviande is one of the five nominees for the Regio Foodvalley Innovation Award. Utilising residual meat from sustainable Kipster roosters and laying hens and turning it into healthy, tasty ‘hybrid’ stir-fry strips secured them the nomination. The innovation contributes to the protein transition, a good use for laying poultry after the end of their productive lives and the circularity of residual flows within production processes.
Product development
The product developers at Diviande have knowledge and experience in developing meat products, plant-based meat and fish substitutes and hybrid in-between products. Over the past year and a half, the team has also tested and produced many different products using a 3D extrusion technology, which means they know exactly how the machine reacts to different protein structures. This enabled the development team to come up with a sample product for Kipster in approximately three months, a relatively short development time.
The challenge for the product developers centred on the protein composition of the Kipster residual meat. This is different from regular meat and contains high levels of collagen. The option of an entirely meat-based product was quickly rejected in favour of a hybrid product.
The final product consists of 25% animal protein from Kipster residual meat and 75% plant-based proteins such as wheat, pea and soy. The plant-based part of the product also has a high level of sustainability. The vegetable ingredients come from sustainable European growers, such as soya from Austria for which 85% of the energy used in the processes is renewable.
The hybrid strips are not only sustainable, the product is healthy too. It has excellent nutritional characteristics: high in protein but low in salt and fat. This makes the hybrid product healthier than 100% meat. The strips are pre-cooked and therefore ready-to-eat, and they are suitable for all kinds of stir-fry dishes.
What is the Regio Foodvalley Innovation Award?
Companies in the Regio Foodvalley are busy working to build the future. With smart ideas, unexpected collaborations, and a healthy dose of pragmatism, firms there are coming up with great innovations. The Regio Foodvalley Innovation Award showcases these innovations – and the entrepreneurs who develop them. The independent expert jury pared down the original 29 submissions to a shortlist of five nominees. The jury considered originality, impact, sustainability, circularity and cross-sector collaboration.
The five nominees are:
- Fabriek Fris: giving a new lease of life to old textiles
- Rival Foods: the next generation of meat substitutes
- Circulair staal: reusable welded structures
- Diviande: combining chicken and plant-based
- Vink: cleaner and more recyclable concrete granulate
The nomination for the Regio Foodvalley Innovation Award is an honour for Diviande and a fantastic recognition for the product developers. The winner will be announced and the award presented on Wednesday 29 September.