With the global plant-based food market estimated to reach €40.000 billion by 2027, and growing demand for sustainable diets driven by environmental and health concerns, DELICIOUS plays a key role in accelerating this transition. While the EU highlights dietary changes, including plant-based products, as key to achieving a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, plant-based dairy still represents a small fraction of the dairy market, facing challenges such as matching the taste, texture and nutritional value of traditional dairy products.
DELICIOUS seeks to address these obstacles by developing a New production technology that integrates microbial fermentation with plant raw materialsThe project will focus on creating affordable, safe and tasty plant-based dairy alternatives, such as cheese and kefir, while reducing the environmental impact by up to 30% compared to conventional dairy processes.
Under the leadership of the Swedish RISE Technology Centre, DELICIOUS uses advanced technologies such as high-performance screening and machine learning to improve the sensory properties and nutritional value of plant-based dairy products. “By integrating advanced technology with consumer insights, we aim to accelerate the transition to plant-based diets and set a new standard in the plant-based dairy industry,” he said. Charilaos Xiros, project coordinator.
The project brings together 17 entities from 9 countries, including research centres, universities, SMEs, large companies, clusters and associations, within the framework of the Horizon Europe programme. With a budget of 5 million euros over four years, DELICIOUS will innovate in the plant-based dairy sector by offering nutritious and sustainable alternatives for consumers, while equipping the fermentation industry with advanced bioinformatics tools and sustainable production models that drive efficiency and innovation.
The official launch meeting of the European innovation project DELICIOUS took place on 12 and 13 December at the Fundació Alícia, in Món Sant Benet (Barcelona, Spain).
