In lieu of the need for more sustainable solutions to the global food crisis, six major players in the food and beverage industry and the academic world have announced the launch of AlinOVeg, a collaborative 5-year project to develop innovative, sustainable and healthier plant-based alternatives to dairy products; this collaborative effort, supported by the French government and operated by Bpifrance, is part of the France 2030 actions, and it is important to note that these plant-based alternatives are to be developed from French plant-based sources, such as pea protein and fava bean protein.

AlinOVeg is a solution and innovation-focused collaborative effort that aims to develop products with functional, nutritional, and organoleptic properties that would appeal to all kinds of consumers, using new valorization processes, large varietal selection, and resilient local sectors in order to develop strong local sectors. Supported by France 2030 and Bpifrance, this project is a key activity in Bpifrance’s “Food Needs of Tomorrow” and “Sustainable and Healthy Food” acceleration strategy.

One of the main objectives of the AlinOVeg project is to develop innovative plant-based ingredients which could be used as an alternative to animal-based products; these alternative ingredients could then be used in a variety of products, such as plant-based desserts, for example. This project is also set to reach key research and development milestones in order to remove any technological hurdles that may be encountered along the value chain.

With an end goal of food independence and the strengthening of local supply chains, the AlinOVeg project is being spearheaded by Roquette, a French company considered a pioneer in the world of plant-based protein. In association with Roquette, the five project collaborators include:

• Eurial, a major player in the French and European dairy industry;
• Greencell, a leader in microbial biotechnologies; and from the academic world
• INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment),
• Université Lumière Lyon 2, a French social science institution and
• Agri Obtentions, all of whom are considered research & development giants in the food and beverage sector.

Interestingly, the project was given the label “AlinOVeg” by the Vitagora, Bioeconomy for Change, and Clubster Nutrition Santé Longévité competitiveness clusters – the project, hailed as one of the largest alternative protein efforts in recent years, aims to release new ingredients into the global market in the next five years.

"AlinOVeg is the largest collaborative innovation project supported by France 2030 in the food sector. It will provide benefits to consumers in terms of new, healthy, and tasty plant-based products, as well as new species, agricultural practices, and protein ingredients to the entire sector," said Ariane Voyatzakis, Head of the agri-food sector at Bpifrance.

The AlinOVeg project is also touted as the answer to a clear “farm to plate” strategy in the food sector, with one of its primary features being direct communication with farmers, enabling them to optimize their pea and fava bean harvests, which can, in the long run, result in sustainable solutions in the alternative protein market.

With the plant-based alternative sector valued at over $12.2 billion ^[1], the AlinOVeg project is the first step towards catering to an increasingly sustainable and ever-changing consumer market and, of course, an important step towards the sustainability and growth of the French food and supply chain industry.

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