The 5 W’s of Arise

As much as we all know the health and environmental benefits of plant-based meat alternatives, that’s not what piques people’s palates. According to a recent survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation, the top reason people try plant-based foods is because they simply like to try new foods. So, they’re not vegans or vegetarians. They’re curious.

Read more about the report here.

As Chief Science Officer and Vice President of R&D, Ody Maningat Ph.D. is a living, breathing food science encyclopedia. But here, we ask him a question he can only answer with one word.

If you could break the laws of physics and create any kind of food product you wanted, what would you make?

Multipurpose. The best possible thing I think I could ever create is a food or ingredient that not only provides nutrition, but also doubles as a medicine or cure for chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, etc.

We’ve taken a stroll through Spotify and put together a playlist that’s made for staying in and cooking up amazing creations. So, turn it on, turn it up and grab your wooden spoon microphone.  

Check out the playlist.

A July 2019 report published by the Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association revealed what we already knew, that plant-based foods were the hottest trend in the food industry. But the report highlighted just how white-hot it was.

In 2019, the U.S. plant-based foods retail market totaled $4.5 billion and demonstrated a growth rate five times faster than total U.S. retail food sales over the same period. The plant-based dairy category alone expanded by 52%. And the plant-based meat category grew by 10% and is now worth more than $800 million.

Read more from the report here.

Our primary job is to help our partners deliver unique solutions by adding value to their products. It’s not often we get to talk about using MGP products for ourselves. So, we asked one of our food scientists about that. 

What is your favorite way to use Arise® in your own kitchen?

Ody Maningat, chief science officer and VP of R&D: “I eat a lot of noodles and spaghetti and with Arise. I can replace egg whites, reduce cooking loss and improve their overall texture. I could also use it in making bread, to improve its quality, but I don’t do that too often.”

Read more about all the possibilities with Arise.

MGP’s Arise^® is a versatile wheat protein isolate that can be used in a huge range of bakery and flour-based products. Here, our food experts explain the most interesting and impressive uses of Arise they’ve ever seen.

Chief Science Officer and VP of R&D, Ody Maningat, Ph.D. recalled a time when a large food production company (to remain unnamed) came to MGP with an idea for refrigerated dough. “It never occurred to me that Arise could even be used in that application. It was pretty inventive.”

MGP Principal Food Scientist, Liming Cai, Ph.D., pointed out how Arise helped the Atkins  craze. “At the time the Atkins diet was popular, people wanted high protein breads, but they didn’t taste great. Arise helped changed that by helping soften the dough and making it more stretchable. That created low carb, high protein bread that had better texture and flavor.”

Learn more about our entire line of MGP Arise products.

Chief Science Officer and Vice President of R&D Ody Maningat Ph.D., has written more than 30 food science journals, authored many industry articles and lectured hundreds of food science classes. But here, he imparts his expertise in just one word.  

In one word, what is your biggest struggle or challenge as a food scientist? Why?

Innovating. Creating a new product that’s totally new to the world is the biggest challenge. And not just creating it, but developing and scaling it quickly to meet a market opportunity, that makes it even more difficult. But once you create something new, then see it in the market, that’s when we know we succeeded.