A year of incredible innovation and industry events concluded in the historic and picturesque city of Paris, France, at Food Ingredients Europe 2025. Taking place between 2-4 December at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, spread across two pavilions and four floors, FIE celebrated its 30th year of networking and showcasing product innovation from all areas of F&B.

The event brought together over 1,550 exhibitors and thousands of food and beverage professionals to explore the latest cutting-edge ingredient solutions.

As always, the show offered attendees the chance to network with exhibitors, as well as insights from speakers across several designated areas, including a conference area, innovation hub and community hub. Talks covered a range of timely themes, from using AI to solve supply chain challenges, to future food and beverage trends and what the evolving market looks like for snacks, nutrition and more.

Below, we dig into some of the top plant-based innovations highlighted by exhibitors at this year’s buzzing event.

Weight management and the rise of GLP-1s

For many exhibitors, the rise of GLP-1 medications for weight management has become a critical trend influencing their latest innovations as we approach 2026.

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the need to boost protein intake in order to maintain muscle mass when using these medications, further fuelling the protein boom we’ve seen in the last few years.

At Beneo’s stand, the company was eager to showcase how its solutions can help to enhance the nutritional profiles of products by increasing protein and fibre. While protein remains a highly sought-after nutrient, fibre is quickly catching up among consumers’ priorities, with many predicting that it will become the top ingredient claim for 2026.

Both are in high demand amid the GLP-1 boom, as consumers taking these medications for weight management – or consumers simply on a weight management journey, with or without GLP-1 drugs – prioritise muscle support and feeling satiated with smaller, but more nutrient-dense, portions.

Beneo’s recipes highlighted how manufacturers can boost protein and cut sugar to align with the goals of today’s health-conscious consumers.

A ‘high-protein sandwich’ demonstrated the versatility of Beneo’s plant protein portfolio. The ‘protein bread’ was made with the company’s faba bean and rice proteins to ensure a complete amino acid profile. This was paired with hummus made from faba bean concentrate and its Orafti Inulin chicory fibre, enabling high-fibre claims; and a plant-based cold cut, also crafted with faba bean concentrate.

Faba bean concentrate and chicory root fibre also featured in a chocolate meal replacement shake, designed to support satiety and offering a smooth texture with a subtly sweet, nutty flavour; and a mini cheesecake showcasing better-for-you indulgence. The concept also contained Beneo’s low-glycaemic carbohydrate, Palatinose, which offers consumers a reduced blood glucose response and has been shown to trigger the body’s own GLP-1 release naturally, promoting fullness and improved metabolic health.

Reformulation and supply chain challenges

Another key trend addressed at this year’s event was the race to reformulate, following not only changing attitudes towards nutrition, but also continuing supply chain challenges. One thing remains clear: though consumers are more health-conscious than ever, indulgence remains key. Consumers want food that is better for them, but it must taste and feel good.

Due to this, producers are reformulating while using as few ingredients as possible to create products that retain taste quality, without sacrificing on health goals and keeping costs down amid rising global prices.

The ongoing cocoa shortage has posed a significant challenge to the confectionery industry in recent years, due to factors such as economic challenges for cocoa farmers, climate-related impacts and crop disease.

Alternatives to cocoa and coffee could be found all over the show, with companies like Soufflet Malt – which typically works within the beverage industry in malt distilling – using its ingredients in a new way. At Soufflet Malt’s stand, the company offered chocolate cookies made with malt rather than cocoa, and hot coffee-style drinks made with malt as an alternative to coffee beans. These products not only help to tackle supply chain issues, but also offer functionality claims – malt is high in fibre and can be used to create gut-friendly snacks and functional beverages.

During the event, HBTA explained how manufacturers can innovate and improve formulas with the company’s Optitaste solutions, which are divided into three areas: sweetness, balance and masking. Sweetness can be optimised by reducing sugar with natural solutions such as stevia; balance can be achieved by improving mouthfeel, bitterness, flavour profiles and salt reduction; meanwhile, the masking solutions can improve bitterness in plant-based proteins, reduce off-notes and suppress astringency.

Faravelli showcased reduced-sugar options made using its monkfruit solution. Monkfruit is a natural sweetener which can aid with sugar reduction and enables the development of cleaner label products with no E numbers, offering producers a more consumer-friendly alternative to artificial sweeteners.

Roquette also offered sugar-free cakes, alongside a number of other ingredient alternatives, including egg replacements. The egg supply chain continues to provide challenges for producers, particularly in the US. Avian flu outbreaks in the States and the EU have led to egg shortages in recent years, resulting in fluctuating egg prices and rising costs for manufacturers, as well as food safety concerns for consumers.

Egg-free, plant-powered and planet-friendly

Egg-free and ‘free from’ innovation – including plant-based/vegan options and allergen-free innovations – remained a strong theme present at this year’s event.

Italian functional ingredient specialist MartinoRossi presented a variety of concepts showcasing its range of clean label, allergen-free and plant-based solutions in bakery, dessert and breakfast food formats.

One stand-out innovation was its Raiser Pro functional chickpea protein, which can provide a plant-based alternative to egg whites across numerous applications – whether bringing a light and airy texture to pastries, or foaming capabilities to barista beverages. The company presented plant-based macarons and mini meringues, both made using the Raiser Pro solution and demonstrating its functionality in the patisserie space.

Also on display was its plant-based mix for egg alternatives, a yellow lentil-based mix that can replace whole eggs in both sweet and savoury recipes, served up scrambled egg-style with protein-boosted bread. The mix can be simply combined with cold water and vegetable oil before cooking, providing a convenient and shelf-stable solution for the food industry.

MartinoRossi also presented its new line of BakePro ready-to-use protein mixes, created in collaboration with Italian milling specialist Molini Bongiovanni. They feature a blend of legume-based proteins with cereal flours, designed to support industrial and artisanal bakers in meeting rising demand for nutrition-boosted options amid the protein boom.

Products from across MartinoRossi’s brand portfolio, including Goodly, Beamy and Mr. Beans, highlighted the versatility of legume-based ingredients in responding to the preferences of today’s consumers, who are increasingly seeking options that are more natural, non-GMO and free from common allergens like soya. One particular favourite we enjoyed was the Mr. Beans Chickpea and Cocoa spread, which offered a silky-smooth texture and impressively hazelnut-like flavour – despite being made entirely nut-free, thanks to the power of roasted chickpeas!

Meala FoodTech, a start-up based in Israel, was also showcasing an innovative egg replacement solution across a range of bakery applications at this year’s event. The company’s flagship innovation is a single-ingredient pea protein with texturising properties, designed to replicate the performance of eggs in bakery applications.

It addresses several key themes for the food industry currently: supply chain challenges, clean labelling, and demand for both plant-based and egg allergen-free options.

Meala demonstrated how its solution offers versatility in applications such as light, airy and golden mini muffins, and rich, fudgy and moist chocolate brownies.

The company has announced notable collaborations with major players in the ingredients industry this year. DSM-Firmenich has teamed up with the company to commercialise the ingredient as Vertis PB Pea, for use in plant-based meat alternatives, while Spanish bakery specialist Lasenor has this week debuted Lasenor VP-100, optimised specifically to enhance aeration and extend shelf life in bakery applications.

Elsewhere in plant-based innovation, Jungbunzlauer displayed a gelatin alternative suitable for vegan applications, as well as kosher and halal products. And Ajinomoto demonstrated its expertise in creating plant-based cheese alternatives that can stretch and melt like the real deal – among its concepts showcased were a semi-hard plant-based cheese crafted using its Activa DA texture solution, a combination of three enzymes designed to improve stretchability and meltability of plant-based cheese after heating, alongside shreddability in industrial processing methods like cheese grating.

Additionally, ADM’s expertise in plant-based nutrition was demonstrated with a range of its textured soy protein ingredients on display at its stand, showcased in different formats such as mince and chunks, capable of providing a juicy and meat-like texture in a range of plant-based meat alternative applications.

The team served up its ‘Drumstick on a Shake’ concept for us, featuring a light and refreshing mango-flavoured shake, made with ADM’s soy protein isolate, served alongside a chicken-style drumstick, made with its Soprotex Slices and Tradcon T functional soy protein concentrate solutions. Both the drumstick and the beverage highlighted the versatility of the company’s soy protein portfolio, responding to rising demand for plant-forward nutrition across different product categories.

Sustainability is also still a hot topic for many. One key trend at this year’s show was the use of upcycling and reducing waste by making use of byproducts. Soufflet Malt highlighted several examples of this, as did OFI, which showcased their ethos of transparency and traceability.

Novonesis also spoke about its work with scientists and chefs to create innovative and tasty food products using upcycled byproducts, to offer health benefits while also expanding its plant-based portfolio.

Milestones for 2025

As Fi Europe wrapped up its 30th edition, the event’s brand director, Yannick Verry, commented: “This year’s event demonstrated remarkable growth, underscoring Paris as a pivotal destination for both visitors and exhibitors. The 2025 edition not only attracted a higher number of attendees (up 5% compared to 2024) but also showcased an exceptional level of international participation, with around 80% of visitors coming from outside France, according to our initial analysis.”

He added: “From the innovative event app to dynamic networking fringe events or experiential approaches such as the Tasting Bar, these features elevated Fi Europe to new heights. Notably, areas such as Food Technology & Solutions and Pet Food experienced significant growth, setting the stage for continued expansion in 2026.”

The event also saw several exhibitors celebrate some big milestones. Nexira commemorated 130 years with a private party after the show at the Musee d’Art Moderne, offering glorious views of the Eiffel Tower and surrounded by some of the best modern art in existence. Faravelli is also gearing up to mark its 100th anniversary, and Roquette hosted a breakfast event nearby to celebrate the launch of its new Horizons programme, which utilises AI to predict the sector’s future and help businesses plan accordingly.

The FoodBev Media team thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many of you at this year’s Food Ingredients Europe, with special thanks to: ADM; Agrana; Ajinomoto; AKA Foods; Alland and Robert; Arla Foods Ingredients; Azelis; Beneo; Biorgin; Brenntag; Bunge; Cargill; Edlong; Emsland; EPI Ingredients; Faravelli; Givaudan; Gold Coast Ingredients; Green Boy Group; HTBA; Ingredia; Jungbunzlauer; Kensing; Lantmannen; LBG Sicilia; Le Saffre; Limagrain; Loryma; Marigot; MartinoRossi; Meurens; Meala FoodTech; Nexira; Novonesis; Nutriearth; OFI; Prova; Raisio; Rousselot; Soufflet Malt; Sweegen; Tereos; Threotech and Valio.