IFFI member Ruitenberg wins award with Rudin®ProVega Faba Bean Nuggets

A growing number of consumers is adopting a flexitarian or vegetarian diet. Reasons for choosing such a diet range from health to sustainability to animal welfare. Ruitenberg responds to these consumer needs by presenting her Rudin®ProVega line. Rudin®ProVega Faba Bean Nuggets is one of the products which recently won an award in the category ´New Ingredient of the Year´ at Food Matters Live 2021

Ruitenberg is a family business that has existed since 1938. ¨We have approximately 85 employees, 17 of whom are in R&D. That’s relatively quite a large number. But it shows how important innovation is to us. We work closely together with the customer in our innovation process. That often gives very creative ideas¨, says Marian Verbruggen, R&D Manager at Ruitenberg.

Unique structure, juicy and with a bite

And those creative ideas lead to good results. At the Food Matter Live 2021, Ruitenberg recently won the ‘New Ingredient of the Year’ award with the Rudin®ProVega Faba Bean Nuggets, belonging to the Rudin®ProVega line. A protein structure that can be used as a substitute for meat. Natasja Huisman, Account Manager International at Ruitenberg: ¨Thanks to an innovative process, we succeeded in creating a protein structure base with a unique texture; a long fibre structure.¨ Colleague Verbruggen adds: ¨A thread-like structure as in real meat, you can really see it. That makes it unique in the market.¨ Besides the unique texture, the jury was also pleased with the juiciness, bite and taste of the product. 

The development process

It cost some time to develop a new product. Marian Verbruggen continues: ¨We started the entire project four years ago; looking for a different way of protein structuring, to develop it and then scale it up. It worked. We started with animal proteins because they are easier to work with and generally have a better taste. This is how we entered the market. At a certain point we also started working with vegetable proteins: faba beans. Normally this is a fairly bitter tasting bean, but we were able to give it a surprising taste. The bean flavor is no longer to be found.¨

The future

The ladies are very happy with the award. It provides an extra incentive for further development. Huisman: ¨The great thing about our technology is that we are not limited by protein source. We have now used faba beans, but with other raw materials we can develop the same structure. Think of pea and lentils. We will continue bringing new structures to the market.¨

For everyone’s information, Rudin®ProVega will enable the development of meat substitutes for products like nuggets, patties, snacks, kebab and pulled pork. Or, alternatively, to make vegetarian fillings for sausage rolls or other snacks.

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WHY IS RUITENBERG MEMBER OF IFFI?

¨Innovation! IFFI highlights themes that are important to us in this industry. How should we deal with certain matters? What does the client and customer want? IFFI is a great platform to discuss various topics. That certainly helps us in our developments.¨