We were thrilled to attend the IFT FIRST annual exposition in July. A few of our team members traveled to Chicago, Illinois, to join the action. They dove deep into the world of regulatory codex, plant protein functionality and the fermentation revolution.
A regulatory codex
Janet Collins, head of Regulatory Government and Industry Affairs with Motif, has attended IFT events since 1976, so it holds a very special place in her heart. She has served in numerous leadership positions with IFT, including serving as President from 2013-2014.
This year, she moderated the Codex Alimentarius Panel Discussion, which discussed setting global food standards for safety, nutrition, health and trade.
Codex Alimentarius has developed global regulatory standards, procedures and guidance to enable the implementation of common regulations for food safety and global trade for 60 years, 30 of which IFT has been involved in.
“The first time IFT brought a panel together to discuss Codex topics was not successful. We forgot how boring it seems to the audience,” Janet said. “But this one wasn’t, it was highly successful because people are finally recognizing the importance of Codex.”
There are a million different standards that would fuel great conversation, but Janet and her co-moderator, Martin Slayne, vice president of Global Regulatory Affairs for Ingredion Incorporated, focused on what they believed were the most difficult issues, such as safety and true risk assessment, biotech labeling and nutrition.
Plant protein functionality
Dilek Uzunalioglu, director of Food Applications with Motif, has also attended IFT events for quite some time. She serves as the IFT protein division leader and is responsible for developing content and nominating speakers for the event.
“It was amazing seeing people after so many years apart due to COVID,” said Dilek. I cannot tell you how often I stopped walking on the expo floor to say ‘hi’ to someone and catch up.”
Motif had a great presence at the panel on plant protein functionality, which was hosted by Dilek and joined by Philippe Prochasson, Motif’s vice president of Bioscience and Analytics. The audience packed into the room and quickly filled the seats, leaving other attendees standing.
During the panel, there was a great emphasis on the challenges of coloration within plant-based foods.
“The panelists were also enthralled by the discussion regarding the means of gaining FDA approval for plant-based products,” said Philippe. “All panelists were on similar pages with similar mindsets, allowing a seamless conversation.”
The fermentation revolution
Proceeding the panel, Philippe Prochasson hosted a poster session, “A 21st Century Revolution: Cell-based Production of Alternative Proteins Through Precision Fermentation.”
He talked the audience through the journey of producing Motif’s first commercial alternative protein, HEMAMI™, from microbial design to scale-up fermentation.
“Using precision fermentation, we can produce an animal protein without the animal and still be able to capture the functionality of said protein,” Philippe explained. “With the help of Ginkgo Bioworks vast database, we identified bovine myoglobin through sequencing through databases of desired animal protein genomes and mimicked it without the animal.”
Motif moves past mimicry by creating new food experiences by improving bovine myoglobin’s productivity and production. Motif made a three-fold improvement from generation one to generation four in bovine myoglobin relative expression.
“While right now we are focused animal replacement protein,” Philippe said, “we can dream of finding a novel protein that will further enhance the functionality of plant-based foods.”
We were thrilled to attend the IFT FIRST annual exposition in July. A few of our team members traveled to Chicago, Illinois, to join the action. They dove deep into the world of regulatory codex, plant protein functionality and the fermentation revolution.
A regulatory codex
Janet Collins, head of Regulatory Government and Industry Affairs with Motif, has attended IFT events since 1976, so it holds a very special place in her heart. She has served in numerous leadership positions with IFT, including serving as President from 2013-2014.
This year, she moderated the Codex Alimentarius Panel Discussion, which discussed setting global food standards for safety, nutrition, health and trade.
Codex Alimentarius has developed global regulatory standards, procedures and guidance to enable the implementation of common regulations for food safety and global trade for 60 years, 30 of which IFT has been involved in.
“The first time IFT brought a panel together to discuss Codex topics was not successful. We forgot how boring it seems to the audience,” Janet said. “But this one wasn’t, it was highly successful because people are finally recognizing the importance of Codex.”
There are a million different standards that would fuel great conversation, but Janet and her co-moderator, Martin Slayne, vice president of Global Regulatory Affairs for Ingredion Incorporated, focused on what they believed were the most difficult issues, such as safety and true risk assessment, biotech labeling and nutrition.
Plant protein functionality
Dilek Uzunalioglu, director of Food Applications with Motif, has also attended IFT events for quite some time. She serves as the IFT protein division leader and is responsible for developing content and nominating speakers for the event.
“It was amazing seeing people after so many years apart due to COVID,” said Dilek. I cannot tell you how often I stopped walking on the expo floor to say ‘hi’ to someone and catch up.”
Motif had a great presence at the panel on plant protein functionality, which was hosted by Dilek and joined by Philippe Prochasson, Motif’s vice president of Bioscience and Analytics. The audience packed into the room and quickly filled the seats, leaving other attendees standing.
During the panel, there was a great emphasis on the challenges of coloration within plant-based foods.
“The panelists were also enthralled by the discussion regarding the means of gaining FDA approval for plant-based products,” said Philippe. “All panelists were on similar pages with similar mindsets, allowing a seamless conversation.”
The fermentation revolution
Proceeding the panel, Philippe Prochasson hosted a poster session, “A 21st Century Revolution: Cell-based Production of Alternative Proteins Through Precision Fermentation.”
He talked the audience through the journey of producing Motif’s first commercial alternative protein, HEMAMI™, from microbial design to scale-up fermentation.
“Using precision fermentation, we can produce an animal protein without the animal and still be able to capture the functionality of said protein,” Philippe explained. “With the help of Ginkgo Bioworks vast database, we identified bovine myoglobin through sequencing through databases of desired animal protein genomes and mimicked it without the animal.”
Motif moves past mimicry by creating new food experiences by improving bovine myoglobin’s productivity and production. Motif made a three-fold improvement from generation one to generation four in bovine myoglobin relative expression.
“While right now we are focused animal replacement protein,” Philippe said, “we can dream of finding a novel protein that will further enhance the functionality of plant-based foods.”
More than 1,700 exhibitors and 51,000 registered attendees were on hand at the National Restaurant Association Show this past May in Chicago.
The feeling in the air was electric, as people were thrilled to return to the foodservice industry’s event after it was rain-checked the past three years due to COVID-19. The exhibitors, guest speakers, chefs and mixologists collaborated with one another to drive the conversation and innovation around foodservice.
This year, we took to the floor as a first-time exhibitor. We showcased our new finished format products Motif BeefWorks™ Plant-Based Burger Patty and Motif BeefWorks™ Plant-Based Grounds.
We demonstrated the versatility of our plant-based beef with three different samples – as burger build with caramelized onion, aioli, and swiss cheese; a deconstructed burger made with pickles, and aioli and a campfire chili created by vegan author and Chef Chloe Coscarelli, made with, beans, onions, peppers, and a range of spices.
Chef Chloe, always an amazing presence, hosted a demo at the booth where guests looked on as she prepared her campfire chili. For some behind-the-scenes content, check out @ChefChloe on Instagram.
We served more than 2,000 samples over the course of the show, and we received some great responses to our product:
“This is the best plant-based product I’ve tried during the whole show!”
“I’m normally a meat eater, but I really like this!”
“I am bringing my friends to try to burger, and I’ll be here for it tomorrow too.”
“The texture on this is really unique, much better than the competitors.”
“I stopped by the Motif booth because word is going around that it’s the best plant-based burger at the show.”
In addition to our presence at NRA, we participated in the 23rd Annual Championship BBQ and Cookoff put on by Flavor Forays and the National Restaurant Association. Guests enjoyed 400 samples of Chef Chloe’s Campfire Chili.
The event also benefited the ongoing efforts of Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen. We were honored to contribute a $5,000 donation to support World Central Kitchen’s mission to provide meals in response to humanitarian, climate and community crises around the world.
We had a fantastic time showing everyone what’s been cooking at Motif. Check out our social feeds for more highlights of the event.
SXSW brings industries together to showcase breakthroughs and cutting-edge ideas through exhibitions, panel discussions, keynote speakers and workshops. The city of Austin becomes grounds for the best and brightest to converge, share and learn from each other.
For our second appearance, but first IRL SXSW experience, Motif FoodWorks hosted a panel, “A Plant Protein Showdown” on SXSW’s Next Stage.
To share how science and culinary design can come together to propel plant-based foods, Motif’s engaging panel included a competitive twist that highlighted its food-tech in a craveworthy, gotta-have-it-now way.
Hosted by Motif’s CEO Jon McIntyre, food content creators Owen Han and H Woo Lee and vegan chef and author Chloe Coscarelli each produced their own recipe highlighting Motif’s plant-based burger. Their ASMR-style cooking videos were shared with the audience, helping demonstrate science is a key ingredient for making plant-based foods that taste great, are accessible and work seamlessly in everyday cooking.
The pay-off for attendees was a chance to sample one of those delicious plant-based recipes, Chef Chloe’s vegan sloppy Joes.
We had so much fun seeing SXSW festival goers and giving them a taste of what’s happening at Motif. Check out the video above for highlights of SXSW 2022 and explore our content from last year’s SXSW discussion “What is Taste?” here.
