An international conference in Italy led to a chance encounter between three unlikely friends: an automotive engineer, an oral biologist, and a food scientist. And the rest, as they say, is history. That is, part of Motif’s innovative food science and technology history, and the foundation for a bold partnership between Motif FoodWorks, King’s College London, and Imperial College London.
In northern Italy, the fifth World Tribology Congress brought together world-class experts obsessed with tribology, the study of how surfaces in relative motion interact with one another. Most of the researchers and industry heavyweights in attendance are not food scientists, but engineers and physicists furthering the field of mechanical lubrication, friction, and wear and tear.
But that didn’t stop Dr. Stefan Baier, now Motif FoodWorks’ Head of Food Science, from flying halfway around the world to listen to what these experts had to say. As a food scientist, he certainly stuck out. Yet at that conference he began sowing the seeds for an interesting partnership with implications for how we measure and perceive food.
In food, tribology comes into play when attempting to manage and mitigate astringency, a dry, puckering mouthfeel that’s often associated with substances like coffee, tea, wine, and some types of unripened fruit. Astringency has been a particular, long-standing challenge for plant-based food product researchers. Plant-based products are meant to mimic their animal-based counterparts in a myriad of ways, but an astringent sensation – often present in plant-based products – is not part of the oral experience of animal-based products.
“What puzzles me in the food space is that most of the experience that we are trying to sell happens in your mouth,” said Dr. Baier. “But we don’t know how texture develops throughout the full experience of oral processing. So I became focused on the intricate rheology, the science of flow and deformation, and the tribology of these experiences. They’re key to understanding the rules that create these very specific positive and negative effects in the mouth.”
Dr. Baier’s astringency solution was to find the biggest gathering of international researchers who could show him, chemically and mechanically, how to harness the power of tribology to solve this challenge. Sitting at a bar in Torino after the conference, Dr. Baier struck up a conversation with Dr. Thomas Reddyhoff, a senior lecturer within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. Dr. Reddyhoff was surprised to learn Dr. Baier was a conference attendee, and was curious about why a lone food scientist was 4,000 miles away from home just to hear a bunch of mechanical wear and tear experts talk about mostly industrial and automotive solutions.
Naturally, even bar food came into play; “Regarding texture, you don’t say ‘I had a particularly crunchy chip today’ but you can tell when it’s soggy and stale,” said Dr. Baier. The two talked at length about this and other fascinating intersections of their respective fields, and walked away from that conference with a plan to solve plant food science’s most perplexing challenges.
“Our mission in our partnership with Motif has been trying to understand what drives the mouth perception of taste and feel,” said Dr. Reddyhoff. “By exploring the basic science behind what makes eating enjoyable, we’re helping Motif’s customers better formulate their plant-based products to make them more palatable, passing along health benefits and aiding in consumer adoption of more sustainable options.”
One of the food industry’s research blind spots is the impact of saliva lubrication on how we perceive taste and texture, which is also a factor in removing the astringent sensation. To take his collaboration with Imperial’s efforts a step further, Dr. Baier put out a call to his colleagues for an oral biology expert, which led to a three way partnership with Professor Guy Carpenter and his department in the Faculty of Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London.
“So much about the impact of saliva on taste is still unknown, largely because it’s a challenging substance to study in an experimental setting,” said Professor Carpenter. “We realized that to make significant progress in this space we needed to bring people together from different disciplines. This partnership is an exceptional opportunity in that regard, especially because we have the freedom to take an investigative approach.”
Pairing oral biology and dental experts with automotive and mechanical engineers, and a food scientist means that each member group tackles a unique part of the solution: Imperial’s experts focus on the mechanical and lubrication physics of Motif’s ingredients, and the King’s team focuses on the physics of what happens in the mouth during chewing. Between the two, they’ve already developed a new way to measure astringency in the mouth. This has helped Motif’s Food Science team uncover new data-driven insights that are already helping formulate better tasting plant-based food.
The three-way partnership is supported by both a London Interdisciplinary Doctoral program (LIDo) grant and an Imperial SME grant. This effort joins Motif’s growing network of scientific collaborators working together to unleash the promise of plant-based food, and comes on the heels of an exclusive licensing agreement with the University of Guelph and Coasun, Inc. to improve the texture of plant-based meat and cheese alternatives, as well as ongoing research partnerships with University of Illinois, University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Queensland.
An international conference in Italy led to a chance encounter between three unlikely friends: an automotive engineer, an oral biologist, and a food scientist. And the rest, as they say, is history. That is, part of Motif’s innovative food science and technology history, and the foundation for a bold partnership between Motif FoodWorks, King’s College London, and Imperial College London.
In northern Italy, the fifth World Tribology Congress brought together world-class experts obsessed with tribology, the study of how surfaces in relative motion interact with one another. Most of the researchers and industry heavyweights in attendance are not food scientists, but engineers and physicists furthering the field of mechanical lubrication, friction, and wear and tear.
But that didn’t stop Dr. Stefan Baier, now Motif FoodWorks’ Head of Food Science, from flying halfway around the world to listen to what these experts had to say. As a food scientist, he certainly stuck out. Yet at that conference he began sowing the seeds for an interesting partnership with implications for how we measure and perceive food.
In food, tribology comes into play when attempting to manage and mitigate astringency, a dry, puckering mouthfeel that’s often associated with substances like coffee, tea, wine, and some types of unripened fruit. Astringency has been a particular, long-standing challenge for plant-based food product researchers. Plant-based products are meant to mimic their animal-based counterparts in a myriad of ways, but an astringent sensation – often present in plant-based products – is not part of the oral experience of animal-based products.
“What puzzles me in the food space is that most of the experience that we are trying to sell happens in your mouth,” said Dr. Baier. “But we don’t know how texture develops throughout the full experience of oral processing. So I became focused on the intricate rheology, the science of flow and deformation, and the tribology of these experiences. They’re key to understanding the rules that create these very specific positive and negative effects in the mouth.”
Dr. Baier’s astringency solution was to find the biggest gathering of international researchers who could show him, chemically and mechanically, how to harness the power of tribology to solve this challenge. Sitting at a bar in Torino after the conference, Dr. Baier struck up a conversation with Dr. Thomas Reddyhoff, a senior lecturer within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. Dr. Reddyhoff was surprised to learn Dr. Baier was a conference attendee, and was curious about why a lone food scientist was 4,000 miles away from home just to hear a bunch of mechanical wear and tear experts talk about mostly industrial and automotive solutions.
Naturally, even bar food came into play; “Regarding texture, you don’t say ‘I had a particularly crunchy chip today’ but you can tell when it’s soggy and stale,” said Dr. Baier. The two talked at length about this and other fascinating intersections of their respective fields, and walked away from that conference with a plan to solve plant food science’s most perplexing challenges.
“Our mission in our partnership with Motif has been trying to understand what drives the mouth perception of taste and feel,” said Dr. Reddyhoff. “By exploring the basic science behind what makes eating enjoyable, we’re helping Motif’s customers better formulate their plant-based products to make them more palatable, passing along health benefits and aiding in consumer adoption of more sustainable options.”
One of the food industry’s research blind spots is the impact of saliva lubrication on how we perceive taste and texture, which is also a factor in removing the astringent sensation. To take his collaboration with Imperial’s efforts a step further, Dr. Baier put out a call to his colleagues for an oral biology expert, which led to a three way partnership with Professor Guy Carpenter and his department in the Faculty of Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London.
“So much about the impact of saliva on taste is still unknown, largely because it’s a challenging substance to study in an experimental setting,” said Professor Carpenter. “We realized that to make significant progress in this space we needed to bring people together from different disciplines. This partnership is an exceptional opportunity in that regard, especially because we have the freedom to take an investigative approach.”
Pairing oral biology and dental experts with automotive and mechanical engineers, and a food scientist means that each member group tackles a unique part of the solution: Imperial’s experts focus on the mechanical and lubrication physics of Motif’s ingredients, and the King’s team focuses on the physics of what happens in the mouth during chewing. Between the two, they’ve already developed a new way to measure astringency in the mouth. This has helped Motif’s Food Science team uncover new data-driven insights that are already helping formulate better tasting plant-based food.
The three-way partnership is supported by both a London Interdisciplinary Doctoral program (LIDo) grant and an Imperial SME grant. This effort joins Motif’s growing network of scientific collaborators working together to unleash the promise of plant-based food, and comes on the heels of an exclusive licensing agreement with the University of Guelph and Coasun, Inc. to improve the texture of plant-based meat and cheese alternatives, as well as ongoing research partnerships with University of Illinois, University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Queensland.
Check out the highlights from our featured session on the culture, science, art and tech behind the experience of eating
At this year’s South By Southwest Online conference, experts from across the food and science landscapes came together to answer a question that matters to anyone who eats: what is taste?
Led by moderator Ben Pook, cofounder of SoVegan, the panel explored the cultural, scientific and emotional elements that influence our perception of taste, and what they mean for the future of plant-based foods. Here’s a snapshot of what we learned in conversation with Ben, our CEO Jonathan McIntyre, neuroscientist Dr. Rachel Herz and three-Michelin-starred chef Dominique Crenn.
The science behind our perception of taste
In Dr. Herz’s opinion, the biggest misconception about taste is that it all comes from the tongue. “Most of it is coming from your nose,” she said.
While there are many factors that influence our perception of taste, Dr. Herz explained the most basic definition at a neuroscientific level: Taste stems from how the brain knits together salty, sweet, sour and bitter flavor receptors with aromas entering your nose as you eat.
“If you couldn’t smell bacon, it would just taste like salt,” she said. “If you had an apple and potato but couldn’t smell, you wouldn’t know what you’re eating with your eyes closed.”
“If you couldn’t smell bacon, it would just taste like salt.”
-Dr. Rachel Herz
Motif FoodWorks CEO Jonathan McIntyre offered the food science perspective, highlighting the research our company is doing to better understand the science behind how food is both constructed and enjoyed on a physical level. By analyzing how the act of chewing and eating impacts how we perceive taste, scientists can unlock food’s secrets and create new solutions to the biggest problems in food design. This work is crucial to the development of better-tasting plant-based foods that appeal to omnivores and “flexitarians,” in addition to vegans and vegetarians.
“More people eating plant-based food is good for the planet,” McIntyre said. “But the products have to taste better if we want to drive adoption with mainstream consumers who aren’t satisfied with the taste and texture of current plant-based meat and dairy products.”
How geography and culture impact taste
Chef Dominique Crenn, co-owner of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, talked about how a combination of her upbringing in France and exposure to other cultures influenced the flavor journeys that are now the backbone of her ever-evolving menu.
“Traveling and getting new experiences help us tell a new story at Atelier Crenn,” she said. “What I’ve learned is that taste is different for everyone, and when you open yourself up to different cultures, you also welcome diversity into your food.”
Pook noted how the global nature of the SoVegan community influences the recipes he develops with his partner Roxy. “Our community exists solely online, so we take inspiration from all over the world,” he said. “Our perception of taste is constantly changing, and the next generation of foodies being influenced online is not held back by what we can go out and see around us.”
The memory, history, and emotion of taste Dr. Herz highlighted the connection between food and emotion, including why we like and dislike certain foods. “Eating is very emotional, but what we like is fundamentally learned,” she said. “We have a primary attraction to comfort foods and cultural foods, but we can always learn about new food experiences not just from the taste perspective, but also from the emotional and social experience of eating.”
“What I’ve learned is that taste is different for everyone, and when you open yourself up to different cultures, you also welcome diversity into your food.”
-Chef Dominique Crenn
Comfort food in particular can elicit a strong emotional response when tied to a memory, and can feel like a “warm hug from the past,” when you eat a meal that was previously served to you by people you love. The ingredients in comfort food also play a role: salt, carbs and sugar activate the reward and pleasure centers in our brains.
When Chef Crenn first opened her restaurant, she tapped into her own history to create a shared experience with her customers through food. Inspired by childhood nature walks with her father and brother, she developed a dish called A Walk in the Forest, layering in the flavors, visuals and textures of ingredients like wild mushrooms and berries. The goal was to transport the eater to the time and place she had in mind, even if they knew nothing about her childhood. “By creating a dish that connects people to their own childhood experiences, you invite people into your world,” she said.
Emotional barriers can also create an aversion to trying new foods, which is why Motif’s team is developing entirely new plant-based food forms in addition to improving plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. “Our learned experiences with food create a standard that you’ll always use to compare new tastes,” McIntyre said. “If we want to promote plant-based foods with mainstream consumers, we’ll also have to create new food experiences that can’t be compared.”
The delicate balance between taste and nutrition
Many consumers are concerned about eating “healthier” foods, and some have turned to plant-based diets as a solution. McIntyre cautioned against a narrow view of what “healthy” means, and offered a reminder that we eat for more than nutrition alone.
“Just because something is vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthy,” he said. “Fries and beer are vegan. We should not forget that food serves multiple purposes: nutrition, but also, pleasure.”
Dr. Herz commented on indulging in moderation and paying attention to where pleasure ends and something negative takes over. “When you want the indulgent taste of chocolate cake, at first bite you’ll feel amazing,” she said. “But by the fourth or fifth bite, you may no longer feel as good and need to ask yourself if it’s something you want to keep eating.”
“If we want to promote plant-based foods with mainstream consumers, we’ll also have to create new food experiences that can’t be compared.”
–Jonathan McIntyre, CEO, Motif FoodWorks
Creating cravings
According to Dr. Herz, studies have shown that the food we crave is typically the food we eat often. That’s why in order to create a craving for new foods, we have to first create the idea of wanting something new.
For McIntyre, the biggest misconception about taste is that people’s preferences are set in stone. “People do change their preferences, but it’s a learned behavior that takes time,” he said. Visual cues in packaging design and plate presentation coupled with the powerful aroma cue can help drive people toward craving new food experiences. As we’ve seen with soda drinkers finding full-sugar soda too sweet after switching to a new low-calorie formula, “we can get people to adapt to new tastes.”
To scale the environmental benefits of plant-based meat, we need to make it as comforting and satisfying as its animal-derived counterparts
Food isn’t just taste and nutrition. It also appeals to us on an emotional, cultural, and biological level. People connect meals with family and traditions. While many of these traditions have been disrupted in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it did bring people back into their kitchens, where they were theoretically able to make more conscious, healthy decisions about their meals. But in times of stress, people tend to gravitate to comfort foods that are familiar and meet emotional needs — and since last spring, the pandemic has created plenty of unexpected stress and emotions for all of us.
For many homes, this means meals built around meat. It’s a historic part of people’s diets, and it supplies calories and proteins important for building muscle. These benefits are certainly part of the reason so many people gravitate towards meat-centric diets, but there’s another important factor at play here: Meat just tastes good. Meat is satisfying on both a physical and emotional level.
However, during the early stage of the pandemic, consumers had trouble buying meat as food processing facilities shut temporarily to slow the spread of COVID-19. As a result, consumers turned to plant-based alternatives for protein in home-cooked meals. Many were first-time buyers. For a two-week period in March, plant-based meat sales grew 148%. Nielsen also reported that sales of all alternative meat products rose 264% in the nine weeks ending May 2. And year-over-year, plant-based meat grew 25% compared to 9% for animal meat in 2020.
This growth is great news for the plant-based meat industry, which was already finding new customers among people who are interested in the health and sustainability benefits of plant-based food. But we won’t sustain that growth unless more meat eaters become repeat customers at a faster pace. It’s going to take more than appeals to health and conscience — it needs to become part of people’s everyday routines.
The simple truth is that today’s alternatives lack the pleasure associated with eating the real thing. For meat eaters to make plant-based protein options a routine part of their diet, the food has to be as satisfying as meat in every sense. The taste, texture, and smell have to all be right. Most people love eating a burger; there’s almost a romance to it. The smoky aroma, the moist, juicy flavor that fills the mouth, and the feeling of biting through a solid patty. A plant-based burger has to meet these expectations. When I worked at PepsiCo, I saw the diet soda trend come and go and iced coffee and tea steal market share away from soda as new generations of consumers wanted less-artificial and better-tasting alternatives. The message is clear: Taste and health are king, and always win when it comes to choice and loyalty.
At Motif, we’re developing ingredients to create new plant-based foods that not only provide sources of protein and essential nutrients, but also deliver on the taste and experiential aspects consumers crave. For example, we’re working on animal-free ingredients for meat alternatives that not only provide rich satisfying flavors and aromas, but also provide that satisfying chewy texture and mouthfeel you expect when you bite into your favorite burger or sausage.
We’re confident these foods will stand on their own. And they’ll follow a similar trajectory as other foods that are relative newcomers to the U.S. market, like yogurt and hummus, both of which took time for Americans to get comfortable with.
I care deeply about my health and the environment. I’m eating more plant-based meals because of that. It’s great to see other people doing so, too. But for the plant-based food to fulfill its promise of shifting the balance towards a more sustainable food industry, we need to address consumer preferences for better taste and nutrition instead of focusing on the environmental benefits alone. The pandemic created a tipping point for plant-based meat. Now it’s up to us as an industry to step up.
SXSW Online Featured Session ‘What Is Taste?’ will explore the culture, science, art and tech behind the experience of eating
We all know that food is so much more than a source of energy and nutrients. The experience of cooking and eating helps define every culture on earth; taste, texture and other sensations of food are extraordinarily complex. We think about this constantly in our mission to create better plant-based foods, and our CEO Jonathan McIntyre will go deeper on the topic at this year’s South By Southwest Online conference.
Join us on Friday, March 19 at 2 p.m. Central Time for the Featured Session “What Is Taste?” Jon and other food experts will dive into the culture, science, art, technology and magic of taste. Panelists include renowned three Michelin Star chef Dominique Crenn, neuroscientist and leading world expert on the psychological science of smell Rachel Herz, and So Vegan cofounder and author Ben Pook. They’ll talk about one of the most universal and yet intensely personal joys — tasting food — and the many unexpected and interconnected things that influence the experience.
Learn more about SXSW programming and register here.