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Turning plant potential into food solutions

Today, plant-based and free-from ingredients must do more than replace. MartinoRossi combines nutrition, functionality, and processing performance to address new formulation challenges.

Plant-based and free-from ingredient innovation is entering a new phase.

For food manufacturers, adding plant protein or replacing an animal-derived or allergen-containing ingredient is no longer enough. Today’s formulations must deliver on nutrition while meeting increasingly demanding requirements for texture, processing performance, sensory quality, and sustainability.

These needs rarely exist in isolation. Improving nutritional value can affect texture, while changing a raw material can alter processing behaviour. Developing a free-from or more sustainable formulation still requires consistent performance at industrial scale.

For manufacturers, this means looking beyond individual ingredients towards solutions that can address several formulation challenges at once.

From raw material to application

With decades of experience in cereals and pulses, MartinoRossi has developed extensive expertise in gluten-free and allergen-free ingredients for the food industry, combining knowledge of agricultural raw materials with a controlled supply chain, processing technologies, and both R&D and application expertise.

Its capabilities span flours and semi-finished products, functional ingredients, plant proteins, texturised solutions, and customised blends. This broad portfolio allows MartinoRossi to support different applications and formulation needs, considering both nutritional targets and performance during processing and in the final product.

In recent years, the company has further strengthened its technological capabilities by bringing plant protein extraction and texturisation in-house. Combined with its expertise in cereals and pulses, this enables MartinoRossi to explore new ingredient concepts and develop tailored solutions for emerging food industry needs.

When one ingredient addresses multiple challenges

SmarTex shows how this approach can translate into a new ingredient solution.

Developed for extruded products, SmarTex is an innovative yellow-pea-based functional ingredient designed to combine enhanced nutrition with technological performance. Rich in protein, gluten-free and soy-free, it supports excellent expansion and a light, desirable texture, making it a versatile solution for next-generation protein snacks.

Its development also incorporates an upcycling approach, combining a high-starch pea flour with pea protein to create a functional blend designed for extrusion.

Experimental trials have demonstrated its potential to improve key characteristics relevant to snack development, particularly structure and expansion, while significantly increasing protein content. When SmarTex is incorporated into the formulation, protein content can reach up to six times that of the reference formulation. Recent analyses have also demonstrated a 29% reduction in glycaemic index, further strengthening its nutritional profile.

These characteristics open opportunities across applications including puffed cakes, extruded snacks, chips, and protein bars, where manufacturers increasingly need to combine nutritional value, technological performance, and an appealing eating experience.

SmarTex shows how nutritional value, technological performance, and versatility can come together in an ingredient designed for the evolving needs of the food industry.

From ingredients to solutions

MartinoRossi’s growing expertise across different food segments, combined with experience gained in diverse markets and applications, enables the company to approach product development from multiple perspectives.

As expectations around plant-based and free-from foods evolve, successful formulation increasingly depends on addressing nutritional, technological, and sensory requirements together.

Supported by a dedicated team of R&D specialists and technical sales professionals, MartinoRossi works alongside food manufacturers to combine raw material knowledge, nutrition, functionality, and processing expertise, developing solutions tailored to specific application and market needs.

Looking for the right ingredient solution for your next project? Contact our team at [email protected] – or meet us at Fi Europe 2026, booth 3.1 B20, to discover our ingredients and discuss how MartinoRossi can support your next product development.

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