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Explore the journey from ingredients to plant-based meat alternatives

July 2, 2025

Find out more about some of the key ingredients in plant-based meat alternatives and discover how we turn them into delicious products in six steps.

What is in the mix?

4 key ingredients which can be found in plant-based products

Plant-based protein

In our products we mainly use soy or wheat protein. In some specific products we also use lentils or chickpeas as our protein sources. These different proteins contribute to the products’ texture and mouthfeel.

Water

Water is added to rehydrate the plant-based proteins and other dry ingredients, to provide texture and juiciness.

Vegetable oils

Sunflower and rapeseed are our preferred vegetable oils, as they are mostly composed of unsaturated fats. Choosing the right oil doesn’t only contribute to flavour and texture but also helps in the cooking process.

Herbs, Spices & Flavourings

With herbs, spices and flavourings we can provide a distinct taste to a product. Depending on the product, we use spices such as black pepper, garlic, onion or paprika and herbs such as rosemary or coriander.

How we make our products

The production of plant-based meat alternative products can be explained in 6 main steps. In order to better understand these 6 steps, certain parallels can be drawn with the production of bread or pasta dough. This comparison is well outlined in the illustration below. The processes and equipment used are like those from a professional kitchen, however on a much larger scale.

Step 1: All ingredients, such as plant-based protein, water, salt, vegetable oils and other smaller ingredients are combined and mixed.

Step 2: This mixture is then kneaded until a smooth dough is formed.

Step 3: The dough is cooked under pressure.

Step 4: After cooking, the dough is cooled and then stretched. This process creates structures in the dough that are similar to the fibrous structures of meat.

Step 5: The dough is rolled out to make it ready for the final step.

Step 6: Depending on the desired shape of the end product, different techniques are used:

For nuggets, large pieces are cut from the dough and coated afterwards.
To make burger patties, the dough is coarsely grinded and then formed into a patty.
To make sausage-shaped products, the dough will be shaped into a cylinder with the appropriate shape.

Finally, once the product has the right shape and size, it is frozen and packed, ready to be shipped.