What is interesting about such a technology such as food extrusion? The food technology market has accelerated and changed markedly in recent decades. Previously, products and technologies could live for up to 50 years, and it could take a decade to develop new ones. There were few factories, they were often large, and the products were often of the same type. Now new products live on average for five years, and the cycle of bringing a new product to market has been reduced to six months. In part, extrusion helps food producers keep up with the market. This is well known in CPET – the resident center for food startups ‘Mabius,’ the only plant in Russia for extrusion food technologies which, after an initial testing period, opened in the spring of 2020 on the territory of the Kristall plant in Moscow. The project is managed by my partner and FMCG entrepreneur Denis Semykin.
Production is fully digital, meaning the plant was has not been put on standby nor production slowed down as a result of the quarantine period. Artificial intelligence has helped to remotely manage the quality of the products and allow for the setting of clear parameters for the caloric content of the product and its balance in protein/fat and carbohydrates.
Extrusion is now used to produce a third of the products that are on supermarket shelves — snacks, chips, sauces, ready-made breakfasts, as well as drinks with a long shelf life. Additionally, extrusion allows you to make the product’s production more environmentally friendly, – it neutralizes digestive enzyme inhibitors, toxic lectins, anti-nutritional oligosaccharides, and reduces mycotoxins in the contents. Furthermore, the process removes pathogens and enzymes that can cause premature damage to the product, meaning the finished product can be stored for longer – all of which works for the consumer’s benefit.
The uniqueness of the center is also that IT makes it possible to produce products in small batches — very convenient for small and medium-sized businesses (up to 20 tons of products are produced per day). As of now the plant has more than 20 clients. This is additionally a creative training ground for Mabius residents — during production they solve issues with the technologies and formulas of their products and make trial batches ready for test markets. For each and every product refines technology —for plant-based meats not only have we invented the technology and the recipe, but we have also created unique equipment for its production. Artificial meat is a big and separate topic that we staunchly believe in and which I will tell you more about in the next post on my blog.
