Designer whole food ingredients…
What’s also unique about microalgae-based products is that they can be produced in days, not months (like plants that grow in fields), and effectively ‘made to order’. And unlike other plant-based products, the price is not dependent on the price of other components of the source material.
Take peas, for example. While there is strong demand for pea protein, pea starch is not such a hot ingredient right now, which is a challenge for manufacturers that have to shift both, points out Rakitsky.
“Our product is a whole food ingredient that’s made by design, so we haven’t got a warehouse full of starch to sell.”
And unlike soy, he says, chlorella is not one of the ‘big-eight’ allergens firms must list on food labels, which gives it added appeal.