Over the past decade, American eating habits have been shifting toward plant-based foods in ways that would have seemed unlikely in an earlier era. Today there are nearly 72 million households that consider themselves flexitarian, which is a term that describes the practice of regularly incorporating plant-based alternatives into one’s diet without completely eliminating animal products. The change has come about for a number of reasons, including concerns about health, environmental impact, and animal welfare. Food manufacturers are adjusting to these new norms by developing products that satisfy the desire for familiar flavors and textures but using plant-based ingredients.1
Why Plant-Based Alternatives Are Becoming More Popular
There are many reasons why plant-based alternatives have become more appealing to consumers, and health considerations are one of the key factors. Ongoing research has linked the high consumption of processed meats with increased risks of heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Many consumers see plant-based options as a way to reduce meat intake while still getting familiar flavors and textures; this allows people to diversify their protein sources without making dramatic changes to their eating habits.
Concerns about the impact of animal products on the environment is another driving factor, especially for younger consumers who view their food choices as having broader consequences. Animal agriculture requires substantially more water, land, and energy than plant-based food production at the same time as generating significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions. For flexitarian households, occasionally choosing plant-based alternatives is a practical way to reduce their environmental footprint without completely changing how they eat.
The quality improvements in these products have been crucial to their broader acceptance. Early plant-based meat substitutes often had obvious texture and flavor differences that marked them clearly as substitutes rather than satisfying alternatives. Newer formulations achieve much closer approximations of traditional animal products, making them acceptable to consumers who might have dismissed earlier versions. This improvement in quality has expanded the market well beyond dedicated vegetarians and vegans to include the much larger group of people who simply want more options in their diet.2
Dehydrated Ingredients in Plant-Based Foods
Creating plant-based alternatives that can compete with traditional animal products is a unique manufacturing challenge that air-dried ingredients are particularly well-suited to address. Unlike fresh vegetables that can vary significantly in flavor intensity, moisture content, and nutritional density, dehydrated ingredients provide consistent performance across production runs. This reliability becomes essential when manufacturers need to achieve the same taste profile and texture in every batch of plant-based burgers, dairy alternatives, or protein products.
Another benefit of air-dried ingredients is that they concentrate the compounds that make plant-based foods satisfying and flavorful. Dehydrated mushrooms, for example, contain significantly higher levels of glutamate compounds that provide the umami depth consumers associate with meat products. Similarly, dried tomatoes provide a kind of concentrated flavor that can’t be found in fresh produce. For herbs and spices, dehydration offers overall flavor control since the drying process can either concentrate or dilute the flavor depending on the desired final flavor profile.
The processing advantages extend beyond flavor consistency. Air-dried ingredients withstand the high-temperature manufacturing processes required to create meat-like textures without breaking down or losing their functional properties. They also eliminate many of the storage and handling complications that come with fresh ingredients, reducing waste and allowing manufacturers to source materials from optimal growing regions around the world regardless of local seasons. For plant-based food companies operating at scale, these practical benefits can mean the difference between a viable product and one that struggles with consistency and cost issues.3
Silva’s Role in Plant-Based Innovation
Silva’s portfolio of dehydrated vegetables, herbs, and spices aligns naturally with the needs of plant-based food manufacturers looking to create products with authentic flavors and reliable performance. The company’s global sourcing capabilities help address one of the biggest challenges facing alternative food producers: securing consistent supplies of high-quality ingredients year-round. By sourcing from over 25 countries, Silva can follow optimal growing seasons worldwide and maintain steady availability of peak-harvest ingredients regardless of regional weather patterns or crop variations.
Silva’s processing methods support the technical requirements that make plant-based products successful. Our standardized drying and milling processes minimize batch-to-batch variation while preserving the functional compounds that contribute to flavor and nutrition. We can also provide custom cut sizes and blends tailored to specific manufacturing needs, whether that’s creating herb blends for seasoning applications or producing vegetable powders with particular particle sizes for optimal dissolution and texture. Several ingredients from Silva’s catalog have proven particularly valuable for plant-based food development:
- Mushroom powders: Mushroom powders maintain their functional properties during high-temperature processing, making them ideal for extruded plant-based meat products that require heat stability.
- Beet powder: Beet powder provides natural nitrates that create color-changing effects during cooking, helping plant-based products mimic the visual cues consumers expect from meat.
- Tomato powder: Tomato powder delivers concentrated acidity and natural sugars that help balance flavors in plant-based formulations while supporting clean-label requirements.
- Herb blends: Custom herb blends allow manufacturers to create signature flavor profiles that differentiate their products while masking any off-notes from plant proteins.
- Spinach and kale powders: Spinach and kale powder serve dual functions as natural colorants and protein boosters, increasing nutritional density without requiring synthetic additives.
- Carrot powder: Carrot powder provides natural beta-carotene for coloring applications while adding subtle sweetness that enhances overall flavor balance.
Partner With Silva for Premium Plant-Based Solutions
As the plant-based food market continues expanding, manufacturers need reliable ingredient partners who understand the unique challenges of creating satisfying alternatives to traditional animal products. Silva’s extensive portfolio of dehydrated vegetables, herbs, and spices provides the consistent quality, concentrated flavors, and functional properties that plant-based manufacturers require to develop competitive products. Contact us today to learn more about how our air-dried ingredients can support your alternative food development goals.
1https://foodindustryexecutive.com/2024/12/trends-and-opportunities-for-plant-based-ingredients/
2https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8210981/
3https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/industry-reports/dried-herbs-market