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Low-hanging fruit for the blended meat industry? Jackfruit’s potential as a high-fibre, clean-label ‘hybrid’ ingredient

As consumer demand for more sustainable, clean-label meat alternatives and hybrid meat ingredients grows, Fiber Foods is positioning jackfruit as a key solution to solve taste, nutritional, and processing issues faced by other blended meat products.

Ingredients Network spoke to Inez van Oord, co-founder of the Netherlands- and Uganda-based start-up, about jackfruit’s growing potential in blended meat – and beyond.

Blended meat gaining ground

Although it had a slow start and some marketing and nomenclature challenges, hybrid meat products – defined by the Good Food Institute (GFI) as the outcome of “combining animal proteins with plant-based ingredients that combine plant protein or mycoprotein (and sometimes vegetables) with conventional meat components to form an end product” – has seen some promising developments this year.

In September, retailer Lidl launched a ground beef product on the shelves of its Dutch supermarkets that combined meat content with 40% pea protein. The launch followed the announcement earlier in the year that mycoprotein brand Quorn was developing blended meat-mycoprotein products via its B2B division.

However, neither of these products have so far proven to be knock-out hits, and in some markets, consumer interest and enthusiasm seems to have waned due to poorly executed formulations and marketing. In mid-2024, Tyson Foods’ hybrid burger offering ‘The Blend’, which was available in the US as part of its Raised & Rooted brand, was discontinued after just one year in the market.

Flavour over sustainability

“Meat eaters are not particularly interested in beef meat mixed with fruit. It’s not appealing to them. And I don’t blame them for that,” said van Oord. Some hybrid products struggle to meet taste expectations, and other brands have made the mistake of focusing more on sustainability claims than delivering on flavour.

Another concern is that many consumers view blended products as a way for producers to cut costs, diluting the meat content without delivering equivalent value. Van Oord suggests a straightforward approach: “Be honest. You need to be crystal clear on what’s actually in the product, and accept that the consumer is not as excited by the sustainability upside.

“Nonetheless, there is a huge demand from the retail side, starting with the Netherlands. And I’m quite sure more will come from other countries where we actively need to reduce meat consumption based on EU regulations,” she said. “In order to achieve that, you need to come with products that are equally tasty or better than the 100% meat variety. And it needs to be cheaper.”

Jackfruit as a minimally processed, versatile solution

Fiber Foods sees jackfruit as a promising ingredient to enhance the appeal of blended meat products. The company’s patented process involves only dehydrating the fruit, preserving its natural qualities. “The beauty of jackfruit is that it’s 100% fruit. We’ve just taken the water out. It has zero allergens, which makes it suitable for all sorts of applications,” van Oord explained.

Many plant-based ingredients require additional additives to mask off-tastes, leading to complex ingredient lists. But with jackfruit, Fiber Foods claims you can replace 20 to 30% of any meat product without changing the taste.

Beyond its use in blended meat products, Fiber Foods is exploring additional applications of jackfruit.

Upcycling jackfruit peel into animal feed as part of a circular economy practice is one obvious avenue. The company is also investigating the potential of the fruit’s seeds, which are high in protein. “The ripe jackfruit contains big seeds, and they have a very high protein content. Being able to mix young jackfruit powder or fibres with the powder from ripe seeds something to further explore,” van Oord said.

This approach is especially promising as fibre is gaining more attention in functional foods, similar to the rise of protein-enriched products. “You can say that fibre is the new protein … Especially as gut health is becoming more prominent, even if it’s not yet fully recognised as essential by all consumers.”

Selling jackfruit sausages across East Africa: Listings in Carrefour

Fiber Foods sources its jackfruit in Uganda and Tanzania, and the company is already selling the ingredient to retailers in the region.

“I always wanted to ensure that what we source locally, we also sell locally … our biggest client currently is in Uganda and is making sausages with our jackfruit and sells them in Carrefour in East Africa.

“And we think that in terms of fortified foods, so many products are imported from Europe to Africa that our jackfruit could actually easily replace. You can think of the fibres that are in our jackfruit for all sorts of bread applications that have less allergens, but also as a meat replacer,” said van Oord.

Outside Africa, Fiber Foods is primarily focusing on the European market, where regulatory pressure and consumer interest in meat reduction are strong. The company is also considering a step-by-step approach to entering the US market. “We can only grow as fast as we can. And I think that Europe for now is a very interesting market. When we achieve certain milestones, we are aiming to go to USA,” said van Oord.

The long-term potential of the US lies in the growing market for fibre-rich food supplements. “In the US, one out of ten people is taking Ozempic. With their changing dietary patterns, many of these consumers need more food supplements with fibre,” van Oord explained.

To support its growth, Fiber Foods is seeking strategic partnerships and investment. Van Oord believes that collaborations with established meat companies could help shift consumer perceptions and scale production. The company aims to highlight its low carbon footprint, verified through a life cycle assessment (LCA), as part of its strategy to appeal to both industry partners and consumers.