Apetit is a Finnish food corporation and an established expert on rapeseed as a raw material for the food industry. In collaboration between Apetit Food Solutions and Apetit Oilseed Products, a dedicated team set out to create a tasty and protein-rich burger patty using the innovative rapeseed ingredient BlackGrain textured vegetable protein (TVP).
The challenge: how to create the meatiest plant-based burger patty on the market
“Our goal was to create the best vegan burger patty on the market: we wanted a meat-like texture and appearance and, of course, delicious taste,” says Hanna Pere, Apetit’s Product Development and Portfolio Manager.
The product development process revolved around reaching the desired protein and fibre content, as well as balancing the amount of fat and salt. “This burger patty needed to be tasty and juicy – and healthy and nutritious at the same time,” Pere says with a smile.
It was clear from the start that the new burger patty should be both gluten-free and vegan. “This was a prerequisite, as the burger patty became part of our gluten-free production line,” Pere relates.
The solution: authentic meaty mouthfeel and versatile mild umami flavour
“The patty’s texture is a real success story from the product development process,” says Juha-Pekka Järvinen, Research and Product Development Manager at Apetit. Customer feedback from professional kitchens include “authentic meaty mouthfeel”, “mincemeat-like”, and “I feel like I am eating meat”.
Chefs have also complimented the burger patty on its taste: the flavour of pea protein doesn’t come through too much and the resulting pleasantly mild taste lends itself to a wide range of flavour profiles and applications.
On the nutrition and dietary side, Apetit’s new Vegan Burger Patty ticks the boxes for “protein-rich”, “contains fibre”, “vegan”, and “gluten-free”. The patty has also been granted the Finnish Heart Symbol as a healthier choice in its own product category – an important asset on the Finnish market.
The benefits of BlackGrain TVP: juicy texture, umami taste, natural dark colour, and enhanced nutritional value
BlackGrain TVP is a high-performing textured vegetable protein that consists of 20% BlackGrain rapeseed powder and 80% pea protein isolate. It has great water holding capacity and works well in extrusion.
“In this recipe, BlackGrain TVP provided great structure, juiciness, chewiness, and bite,” Pere says. “The presence of BlackGrain rapeseed powder in the TVP effectively masks the typically dominant flavour of pea protein and brings its own versatile mild umami flavour to our plant-based burger patty.”
BlackGrain TVP helped Apetit’s team to achieve their nutritional goals in terms of protein, fibre, and beneficial fats, as well as carbohydrates. “BlackGrain TVP boasts a modest carbohydrate content at only 0,6 g per 100 g. Many other textured vegetable proteins contain over 10 g of carbohydrates per 100 g,” Pere explains.
“We also owe the wonderful, naturally dark colour of our new patty to BlackGrain TVP – it suits the desired meat-like appearance perfectly. Pea protein itself is usually light in colour,” Pere shares.
The results: Vegan Burger Patty by Apetit
- Flavour: mild umami, designed to suit a variety of flavour profiles
- Texture: mincemeat-like, meaty mouthfeel and bite, juicy thanks to BlackGrain TVP’s excellent water holding capacity
- Nutrition labels: “protein-rich”, “contains fibre”, and Finnish Heart Symbol
- Dietary claims: vegan, gluten-free
- The burger patty contains 63% of hydrated BlackGrain TVP
Nutritional content per 100 g
| Energy | 890,00 kJ / 213,00 kcal |
| Total fat | 15 g |
| saturated fat | 1,3 g |
| Total carbohydrates | 5,2 g |
| sugars | 1,1 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Salt | 1 g |
| Fibre | 3,9 g |