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After years of working on the development of new products for different types of companies, a strong demand has been detected by these companies for the development of new plant-based products. Spain currently has more than 5 million veggies, people who recognise themselves as vegans, vegetarians or flexitarians. This has risen from 8% of the Spanish population in 2017 to 13% in 2021, meaning that in the last four years 2.1 million people have changed their diet towards a mainly plant-based diet.¹

In response to this trend, and with the aim of continuing to be at the forefront of gastronomy, BCC Innovation aims with the GastroBegan project to deepen the knowledge of development of new plant-based products.
During the course of the project, several specific lines of research have been developed, which respond to the demands identified by different interactions with companies and restaurants in BCC Innovation’s network.

Parallel to the research and development of new food products, an active search has been carried out for new ingredients of various types that may be suitable, either for their technological functionality, gastronomic quality and/or nutritional quality.
En exploration of various methods of obtaining raw materials for current and future products has also been conducted. From more traditional raw materials such as ingredients extracted from plants, to more novel approaches such as the production of mycelia and biomass of microorganisms for the generation of innovative ingredients in the laboratory.

The project is funded by the Department of Economic Development and Infrastructures of the Vice-Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry of the Basque Government.

¹ Lantern (2021) The Green Revolution.