Hydrosol’s new texturizing system could prove to be another key step towards innovating meat substitutes, which are seeing growing demand from health-focused consumers. According to a report from Research and Markets, the global market for meat substitutes is expected to grow 6.6% annually over the next few years, reaching nearly $6 billion in sales by 2022. ###A report published herbs of gold magnesium citratein 2015 by NPD bariatric calcium citrateGroup, Midan Marketing and Meatingplace, a trade publication, found 70% of consumers who eat meat are substituting a non-meat protein in their meal at least once a week. And of that total, 22% said they are using non-meat proteins more often than the year before — a sign of the growth potential in the category.###Fashioning meat-free alternatives to popular foods like hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken nuggets is key to growing the market. Companies need mainstream consumferrous fumarate 29 mgers, especially carnivores, to adopt their products, not just natural and organic shoppers. To that end, Hydrosol’s system reportedly replicates the firm texture that distinguishes real meat and has becalcium citrate chewsen difficult for ingredients companies to duplicate. ###The system could improve the mass market appeal of meat substitutes. It certainly helps the resulting products can be marketed as gluten-free. But many consumers as well as meat companies remain skeptical of meat-free products’ appeal, particularly as fresh meat demand continues to rise. Some companies, like Tyson, have invested in meat substitutes, while others see the industry as more of a contingency plan than a growth opportunity. ###It’s going to be an uphill battle for manufacturers to convince the most ardent meat lovers to accept meat substitutes. Still, it’s hard to deny that a major shift is underway. According to a report by Mintel, 31% of Americans are now practicing “meat free” days. Meatless startups, meanwhile, are rapidly innovating everything from burgers to steak. Impossible Foods uses botanical ingredients to create the high-end hamburgers it sells to restaurants, while Beyond Meat recently signed a deal with Safeway to sourceferrous fumarate 324 its plant-based burgers in nearly 300 stores. It’s burgers already were available in Whole Foods.###In addition to taste, price is another barrier to adoption. But even here, meat alternative companies are making strides. Mosa Meat, a leading Dutch supplier, sold its first meatless burger in 2013 for $300,000. A few years later, the company managed to bring the price down to $11.###