Shiru unveils plant protein-based fat ingredient to enhance alt-meat

Shiru has launched its first ingredient, OleoPro, which was developed using the company’s AI-powered discovery platform.

OleoPro is a plant protein-based fat ingredient designed to enhance the technical performance of meat alternatives. 

The novel solution combines proteins and unsaturated plant-based oil and is said to provide a sustainable alternative to commonly used, “environmentally taxing” structured fats. 

“At Shiru, we think consumers shouldn’t have to compromise on taste or texture to make sustainable, nutritious food choices, and we know novel ingredients are crucial to unlocking the next generation of plant-based foods,” said Jasmin Hume, Shiru’s founder and CEO.

“Oils commonly used in plant-based meats today, like palm and coconut, are disastrous for the environment and aren’t great from a health perspective either.” 

According to Shiru, its debut ingredient browns when cooked and delivers a juicy, fatty mouthfeel in alt-meat applications. It also enables a 90% reduction in saturated fat when compared with common alternatives.

Shiru’s AI-enabled technology platform, Flourish, can identify proteins in plants with strong performance across specific, desirable functional parameters. 

In order to create OleoPro, these “highly functional” proteins were combined with oils through a novel process to produce an ingredient that looks and behaves like animal fat.