Nicole Astra:
Welcome to Talking Plant Protein, I'm Nicole Astra.

Joey Thurman:
And I'm Joey Thurman. Nicole, how come you have coffee and I don't?

Nicole Astra:
Well, you probably just didn't bring it to set. You probably had a cup or two today.

Joey Thurman:
I did.

Nicole Astra:
Sometimes it's water in here, I mean to be honest, but no for me it's the hot cup. I like to keep my hands warm.

Joey Thurman:
Okay. You like a hot cup?

Nicole Astra:
I like a hot cup.

Joey Thurman:
All right, here we go.

Nicole Astra:
Evergrain is a company based in Missouri, that seeks to unleash the full potential of barley, pulling protein and fiber from spent are what they like to say saved grains, to create nutrient rich ingredients. Now they're making headlines as one of the first global plant-based protein suppliers to receive the Upcycled Food Association's certification. This allows any manufacturers using their ingredients to display that UFA logo on their packaging, making big moves for sustainability. UFA founder and CEO, Turner Wyatt said this of the certification. "The products and ingredients that have gone through this certification thus far span food, cosmetics, personal care and pet food and are created by both small startups and global legacy brands. This represents a major shift in our consumer product and retail environments because for the first time consumers can help prevent food waste every time they walk into the grocery store." I love that. We report on food waste a lot and again, those certification labels really help consumers make informed choices. We're going in the right direction.

Joey Thurman:
I like being informed.

Nicole Astra:
That's right.

Joey Thurman:
There are a lot of key players in the whole cut race. We have featured several through interviews on our website, a whole cut that mimics the muscle and fat structure of an animal based steak is something consumers are asking for. Well Slovenian food tech company, Juicy Marbles claims to not only have created that plant-based substitute but also made it better than the actual by improving features such as flavor longevity, juiciness retention. That's fun to say. And last week their product became the first commercially sold plant-based filet mignon as they launched on their website last week. Filet mignon, plant based filet mignon.

Nicole Astra:
It's a little crazy.

Joey Thurman:
It's a little crazy. We asked Juicy Marbles co-founder and CBO, Vladimir Mickovic how he was feeling about their launch. His response was, and I quote, "Here goes nothing."

Nicole Astra:
I love that. I love that when the producer came back with that was his quote. But that's just it, everybody's going after that center of the plate and as technology advances they can make whole cut products.

Joey Thurman:
Juicy, juiciness retention factor.

Nicole Astra:
And I don't want to alienate anyone in our audience. We are not snooty vegans here. You can eat what you want. We just want you to eat less meat. You've heard me say that a lot but I don't know how I would feel cutting into what looks like a juicy filet. I haven't had a piece of steak in...

Joey Thurman:
I would feel great about it and just, I want a t-shirt that says, juiciness retention factor. On with the show.

Nicole Astra:
Yes. TPP March coming soon. Calling all breakfast lovers. According to recent headlines, it looks like plant-based bacon may be getting ready for a glow up. In an interview with a food institute, Bloomberg Intelligence, senior analyst, Jennifer Bartashus claimed that this might just have something to do with innovations in plant-based burgers and sausages, where fat integration plays a huge part in taste and mouth feel. Another major factor in plant-based bacon's increasing popularity is health based concerns. The average consumer nowadays is becoming more and more concerned with clean labels and most plant based bacon products offer benefits like lower sodium and low fat.

Joey Thurman:
Bacon.

Nicole Astra:
Everybody who gives up meat says they miss bacon the most.

Joey Thurman:
I'll eat bacon whether it's plant based or animal based.

Nicole Astra:
I do some plant based bacon. I do.

Joey Thurman:
Yeah.

Nicole Astra:
I actually just asked my kids if they were willing to try the plant based. Well, it's a banana peel and different spices things are supposed to really mimic bacon. And they were like, ma when you picture garbage, you picture banana peels.

Joey Thurman:
Really.

Nicole Astra:
Like, hey.

Joey Thurman:
Interesting.

Nicole Astra:
Up-cycling.

Joey Thurman:
Okay.

Nicole Astra:
Less food waste.

Joey Thurman:
I picture banana peels on the ground and somebody stepping out on them.

Nicole Astra:
Yes.

Joey Thurman:
Actually that's slippery.

Nicole Astra:
Hey. Stay tuned. Post a recipe if it works.

Joey Thurman:
Here we go. Well, speaking of alternative proteins, a Australian company, Eighth Days Foods just finished raising $1 million in seed funding for its lupin based protein, LUPREME, hitting their goal in just two days. LUPREME has already gained recognition from celebrity chef, Scott Findlay and won the best plant-based protein category at the World Plant-Based Awards in New York last year.

Nicole Astra:
It was first in introduced to the lupin bean when [Jazi Lupini 00:04:29] was on. She makes a pasta out of the lupin bean.

Joey Thurman:
My mother-in-law makes some delicious lupini beans and a red sauce. I also got this packet of, they like a yellow lupini beans and they're garlic and different flavors. I throw them in a skillet and I put them in my belly.

Nicole Astra:
That's right, in the belly they go. But major health benefits.

Joey Thurman:
Yes.

Nicole Astra:
From lupin bean, for sure. PURIS CEO, Nicole Atchison was recently on the show to talk about the changing landscape of the plant-based industry and their work with seeds. A lot happens at the seed level of crops to yield better characteristics. We asked her to shed some light on this process that often leaves consumers with questions. Let's take a look.

Nicole Atchison:
One of the foundational elements of PURIS has been our roots in the development of seeds and in today's environment there's a lot of public questions and concerns around, well, what does it mean to... What kind of seeds and agriculture is plant based food using. There's people on one side that say all plant based food is GMO and it's destructive and it's destroying the soil and the animal agriculture is the only way. Then there's another group that says that the plant base is perfect in every way. In actuality, neither is true. But for PURIS, our philosophy has been that people deserve a choice in the food that they eat and they should be able to choose how that food was made. For the last 30 years we have been developing seeds using conventional breeding techniques. This means really taking two different varieties and mating them together, so traditional breeding. Through time and testing, we're able to find varieties that have special characteristics and this could be protein content.

Nicole Atchison:
It could be color or flavor and in plant-based food, flavor means very little flavor. It could also be the adaptability of these plants to different geographies, enabling these climate friendly crops to be grown in different areas. But all of these things converge into plants that have better characteristics than if the varieties had just been left to adapt by themselves over time. So this has been our methodology and we developed these proprietary seeds in pea, soybeans and corn, all non GMO but focused on a lot of the same outcomes that you hear from some of the more technology driven or GMO industry crops. There's also a lot of talk about gene editing and GMO and molecular breeding. I think all of these have a different method and a lot of the same outcomes. It comes down to the consumer and what they are or are not comfortable with.

Nicole Atchison:
In general, the adaptation of crops to be able to withstand chemical and chemical treatment has led to some different practices on farm but ultimately has led to increasing the amount of chemicals applied to our crops. And for PURIS, we think that there's a better way. Nature is incredibly resilient, incredibly smart and able to create things that we can only imagine. If we can harness the power of nature in ways to enable the outcomes that we're looking for, we think that, that's the best way to do it. So that's why we've leaned into traditional breeding and are excited that we've had some breakthroughs and crops that really have enabled our system of creating world class ingredients that are the foundation of some of the best plant-based food products on the market. So we continue to double down and invest and find ways to help both our farmer partners, as well as our food manufacturers.

Joey Thurman:
I think it's great that all these companies are taking what consumers want. They want to know what's in their foods and whether it's GMO or not or anything that's in there.

Nicole Astra:
Yeah and being very transparent about it and making those changes right down at the seed level. So the crop is that ingredient that could be the most nutritious product that it can be.

Joey Thurman:
Most nutritious and delicious. Thanks for joining us. We're talking plant protein. I'm Joey Thurman

Nicole Astra:
And I'm Nicole Astra. Thanks for watching.