One of the most crucial areas in desperate need of reform is the food industry.
Global ingredient supplier Green Boy reveals its strategy to ensure availability, innovation, and, ultimately, food security for a growing population by supplying high-quality plant proteins, starches, and syrups to established and upcoming food companies and manufacturers.
Our ever-expanding human population is heading towards nine billion people while inhabiting a planet with limited resources. We would need 1.75 planets to sustain our current consumption as humanity.
One of the most crucial areas in desperate need of reform is the food industry: from an inefficient, destructive, and health-threatening system reigned by the Big Dairy and Meat industry, to an optimized, regenerative, and healthy food supply that makes tasty plant-based options accessible to everyone. Luckily, all the research, knowledge, and technologies it takes to transform our food system are already there. What’s needed now is putting them into action!
To bring about this plant-based food reformation, vegan options have to be tastier, more nutritious, and more affordable than their animal-derived counterparts. Inevitably, the industry will experiment, expand, and evolve into supplying a bigger variety of plant-based products built on a flawlessly executed supply chain that guarantees ingredients arrive on time. Similar to a well-tended garden that is planned, timed, and managed seamlessly, in order to supply a community with its produce. Only in this case, this garden is kept by the non-GMO, plant-based and organic ingredient supplier Green Boy.
Planting the seed: sourcing & processing
Every bite we take starts with a plant. More than 35% of plants are used as animal feed and turned into a juicy meat or creamy dairy product along the way.
As we know, this is not the most sustainable way to feed humanity. To secure a global food supply in the future, agricultural land must be used for human food instead of animal feed. To get there we need vegan ‘alternatives’ that are no longer alternatives but the logical first choice in taste, price, and availability. Just like in a healthy garden, diversity is key. In Green Boy’s case, this means offering a variety of plant-based ingredients that create textures, flavors, and nutritional profiles that are better than their animal-based predecessors. Thanks to a global network of dozens of producers Green Boy is able to supply novel ingredients fast and efficiently, while constantly evolving its ingredient list. A dedicated quality team ensures the highest standards of quality and certification requirements are met for each non-GMO, plant-based and organic food ingredient. Additionally, close collaboration with each producer allows for flexibility in product processing and possibilities to adjust ingredient functionalities as needed for each customer.
Tending the garden: warehousing & shipping
Just like the magic of watching a garden grow, the process from plant to plate can seem like a magician’s black box – what’s inside the black box is an immaculate supply chain that ensures a reliable ingredient supply for companies that are feeding the world with their plant-based products. This means sourcing, producing, warehousing, and shipping ingredients in the timeliest manner. Having offices in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Chicago, Singapore and Sydney, enables Green Boy to manage every part of the supply chain meticulously. For the US market alone, the company has twenty warehouses which makes it possible to have a storage facility close to every customer’s manufacturing site, allowing for accurate planning, secured supply, and guaranteed fulfillment on time.
Providing from the garden: expanding supply to the end consumer
In 2019, Green Boy, which focuses on supplying major food manufacturers B2B, expanded into the direct-to-consumer market with their subsidiary Green Boy Products. Via Green Boy Products home chefs can now purchase single-ingredient protein powders that are usually used for texture and nutritional value in plant-based patties, protein bars and other vegan favorites from the grocery store. The products range from Mung Bean to Fava Bean and Chickpea protein with a protein content between 80%-90%.
Since the launch of Green Boy products, customer research has shown that end consumers use these flavour-neutral, clean proteins in gluten-free baking, vegan sauces, and breakfast smoothies and have found ways to enhance virtually any meal with plant-based protein.
“It’s a win-win. We are making the food supply chain more transparent by familiarizing end-consumers with ingredients used in their favorite food products, while being able to share the insights we receive directly from the end-consumer with our B2B customers,” says Peter van Dijken, co-founder of Green Boy.
Evolving the ecosystem: research & partnerships
In any ecosystem of innovation, inspiration and the need for constant change, evolution is inevitable. The plant-based market, which is projected to grow from USD 30 billion in 2020 to USD 162 billion in 2030, calls for ingredients that have a variety of applications. Ingredients are not just ingredients, they can be combined and adjusted to create new textures, flavors, and aromas. Green Boy’s expanding food lab allows for rapid ingredient functionality testing and specific formulation guidance to help customers formulate their next hit in the plant-based food market.
Since no company is an island, the industry needs to share knowledge transparently to evolve more rapidly. That’s why Green Boy has formed a partnership with the Plant Protein Innovation Center (PPIC) of the University of Minnesota to innovate plant-based proteins together with the brightest PhD students and professors of the food industry. Earlier this year Peter van Dijken joined the Plant-Based Food Association (PBFA) as a board member to further connect with plant-based pioneers of the industry.
Your part in the plant-based food reformation
The more collaboration, the faster the food industry can evolve into a more sustainable version of itself. Go to: Greenboy
