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From meat to fibre

When you think of meat substitutes, you quickly think of soya or beet burgers. 100% veg, in other words. The problem: consumers are not jubilant about them yet. It is therefore much better to replace meat in products gradually, thinks Inez van Oord, co-founder of Fiber Foods. Therefore, this company makes use of jackfruit fibres. “Step by step, we are taking consumers into the transition.”

With a sense of adventure, Inez van Oord left for Uganda indefinitely in 2015 with husband and three children. Pretty soon, she ran into Ineke Aquarius, a Dutch entrepreneur who, like Inez, was appalled by the disadvantaged position of women in the country. “We decided to set up something together that would benefit those women,” she says. Their eye fell on the jackfruit, a fruit traditionally treated as waste because there is a surplus of it. “The trees grow everywhere.”

Circular superfruit

“Jackfruit has huge potential,” explains Inez. “The fruit is chock-full of strong and healthy fibres. Dried, these resemble chicken or pulled pork. That proved to be in demand in the meat substitute market.” To meet that demand, Fiber Food now harvests 10,000 kilos of jackfruit a week. “A thousand small farmers in East Africa – especially women – have an extra income as a result. In addition, our production process is super-clean and circular. The jackfruit trees grow without additional water and pesticides. Our factory runs on hydropower from the Nile. And there is no waste. We feed the peels to flies, which secrete organic fertilisers that go back to the farmers.”

The first customer of Fiber Foods’ special fibres was immediately a big one: McDonald’s. “They used our fibres in the McKroket. But as part of a big campaign for vegetarian alternatives, they took their croquette with meat off the menu. Many customers became furious when a veggie croquette was ‘forced’ on them. Then I realised: we don’t have to completely replace meat products right away. In composite meat products such as croquettes and hamburgers, you can easily replace part of the meat with jackfruit. You can make that part bigger and bigger. As long as the product remains affordable and at least as tasty, you’ll keep consumers with you.”

More exciting veg food

Products with meat and meat substitute are now called ‘hybrid’. “These kinds of products are the future,” says Inez, who sees opportunities first and foremost among food service companies such as amusement parks and catering establishments. “They don’t sell food products with labels that tell you there is less meat in them. Supermarkets do, which is why there is still a lot of anxiety among them about scaring off consumers.” Yet Inez sees movement in that sector too. “Lidl already has minced meat that contains 40 per cent protein from peas,” she says.

Inez expects the world to embrace plant-based food in 20 years. And that it will therefore no longer be necessary to recreate meat products. “The bulk of people still want sausage now – OK, then we’ll simulate it. But eventually exciting new forms and flavours will take its place. And jackfruit will be ideal for those products too!”