Entrepreneurs from all over the world descended on Syracuse this week for the Grow-NY Food and Agriculture innovation competition that will help fund one company to grow their startup in Central New York.
The winner of the competition will receive a $1 -million prize to invest locally. There are 20 finalists, and many of them have come with new technology or products in the plant-based food market, which has seen growth in popularity in recent years.
Kathleen Hefferon is the CEO and co-founder of Ithaca-based Forte Protein, which creates animal proteins using plants that can be used to add extra nutrients and proteins to various foods.
Her product is considered a vegan product because they don’t use DNA from animals. Instead, Forte produces the same proteins using the gene sequence in a lab.
Hefferon says many people have moved to a plant-based diet because of concerns over the environment and their health, but also out of interest in new technology.
“We're at a stage where we have these new technologies that are coming along, and people are curious, they want to try these new food products,” Hefferon said. “So, they're willing to try things out, they're willing to spend a few extra dollars to try something out that they think might be healthier for them and more sustainable for the planet.”
According to research from the Plant Based Food Assocation, 29% of Americans are now a flexitarian, or person who eats meat and animal products but try to eat less of it.
Impossible Foods, the maker of the plant-based Impossible Burger, reported plant-based meat sales across the market increased 45% in 2020 alone.
Another finalist in the Grow-NY competition, Unnico, based out of Westchester County, makes vegan yogurt, gelato, and cream cheese with probiotics and no added sugar. Nico Riggio, founder of the company, also figured out a way to sell their products in clay containers rather than plastic to cut down on waste.
Riggio says that the plant-based food market continues to grow over time.
“The consumer is much younger, and they are very keen to see products that are good for their health, good for the planet and good for animals,” Riggio said. “Another reason it is growing is because these products didn’t used to be available before, you didn’t really have a lot of these options.”
Jenn Smith, program director for Grow-NY, said plant-based products aren’t new, but increasingly they have seen growth in new technology used to develop these products.
“I think that is especially exciting,” Smith said. “It's nice to see the diversity of products on the market, too, but when you're getting into technologies that are going to change the way these foods are produced, it's so important because price sensitivity and taste are a big factor to the resistance to those products in the market.”