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Cheese Analogs - Patent and Technology Research Report - Key players, innovators and industry analysis
Dolcera, Jan 2012, Pages: 38
Cheese is a highly versatile dairy ingredient, which is used directly or indirectly in the form of cheese ingredients, by the industrial sector for the commercial manufacture of a vast array of assembled foods (e.g., pizza pie, sandwiches) or formulated foods (e.g., gratins, prepared meals, processed cheese products (PCPs), co-extruded products, cheese cake, dairy desserts). Moreover, cheese is also used by the industrial sector for the production cheese ingredients, including ready-to-use grated cheeses, shredded cheeses, cheese blends, dried grated cheeses, freeze-dried cheese pieces, cheese powders (CPs) and enzyme-modified cheeses (EMCs). The rheological, flavor and cooking properties are functional attributes, which have a major impact on the preparation and quality of these products.
When cheese is used as an ingredient in other foods or in the preparation of cheese ingredients, cheese is subjected to an array of treatments such as comminution (e.g., portioning, shredding, grating, grinding), cooling, freezing, thawing, heating and/or re-heating. In the home and the food service sector, the cheese-containing dish, once prepared, is generally cooked and consumed immediately. Size reduction (comminution) and heating are the most common processes to which cheese is exposed when used as an ingredient. Hence, the behavior of the cheese during these processes is a major determinant of its functionality and its suitability as an ingredient.
However, high costs associated with natural cheese production and storage has prompted industry to search for alternatives. Attempts to reduce cheese cost have led to the development of cheese substitute called cheese analogues [Mounsey & Oriordan, 2001]. Cheese analogues are usually defined as products made by blending individual constituents, to produce a cheese-like product to meet specific requirements. In cheese analogues, milk protein and milk fats are partially or wholly replaced with vegetable proteins and vegetable fats and oils.
Cheese analogue are formulated and produced with desired nutritional, functional and storage properties as per the market and consumer needs. Cheese substitutes offer diverse functionality range (e.g. flowability, melt resistance, shredability, etc), which is made possible by tailor-made formulations and they exhibit high functional stability during storage.
Sales of cheese analogues are closely linked to developments in the convenience food sector [H.P. Bachmann, 2001]. Cheese analogs are being used increasingly due to:
- Cost effectiveness (due to low cost of vegetable oils compared with butter fat)
- Simplicity of their manufacture (no maturation)
- Can be tailor made
- Offer diverse functionality range (e.g. flowability, melt resistance, shredability, etc)
- Improved shelf life and exhibits high functional stability during storage
- Consistent in quality without seasonal variations
Dolcera report focuses on finding the relevant patents encompassing the formulation, ingredients used in the preparation of cheese analog or process of cheese analog from dairy and non- dairy sources and their application in variety of food products. The relevant keywords used in the search were obtained after an extensive study of relevant scientific articles and patents. The relevant class codes for the search were obtained from the control patents and keyword based searches coupled with manual search of classification index. Dolcera has retrieved over 150 relevant patents related to cheese analog, covering over 47 worldwide patenting authorities. The report highlights year-wise patent activity (trend line) along with the key industrial players in the field. Patents were categorized on the basis of patent focus- whether formulation of cheese analog or modification of process for improving functionality of cheese analog for various food applications. The categorized patents were further analyzed to determine the key players under each category. A comprehensible result in the form of Dolcera dashboard is given. Dashboard links the companies in each category to their patents, hence making an interactive platform for analysis. Furthermore, patents have been mapped to commercially available products produced by the respective assignees and other licensees.
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