Can meat products ever be sustainable?

Can meat products ever be sustainable?

Approx 40% of animals are so called by-products and edible co-products. The edible co-products are utilized to produce food grade proteins. These proteins can be used in meat products, making them more sustainable and circular. And by keeping them available for human consumption, making them contribute to feeding the world. Just like the authentic butcher does: utilizing all parts of his animals like blood for blood sausage, the bones for soup, the skin in the sausage, the liver for pâté intestines for sausage casings, etc. At Sonac we do so on a professional scale and keep these food grade proteins available for you!

It’s time to use 100% raw materials

Approximately 40% of animals consist of edible co-products. By using more of these valuable raw materials in your meat products, you can lower your cost price at the same time as making your ingredients more sustainable.

Making the most of meat-based resources

We carefully select and process edible co-products from the meat industry to produce food-grade proteins. These can be used in meat products, thereby keeping them available for human consumption. This way, they – and you – can contribute to feeding the world in a sustainable way.

Back to basics

Our “nose to tail” approach is similar to that of traditional butchers, who utilize all parts of their animals. For instance, they use the blood for blood sausage, the bones for soup, the skin for sausages, the liver for pâté, the intestines for sausage casings, etc. At Sonac, we practice this principle on a professional scale and make the resulting nutritious food-grade proteins available to you.

Sonac is part of Darling Ingredients, which processes 15% of the world’s meat co-products. An amazing quantity that significantly contributes to a circular economy.

Stay on top of food use

We prevent food waste while also creating highly desirable food-grade products that enhance our clients’ sustainability too.

Environmental footprint meat products is reduced by using animal proteins

• 1/3 of greenhouse gases are a result of food production.
• At the same time, 1/3 of food is not consumed (and is wasted).
• Using the (currently under-utilized) edible co-products, reduces food waste, and therewith greenhouse gasses, and the impact on our planet.

• Moreover, thanks to economic allocation, the CO2 footprint of meat production is allocated to its main component (the meat). The edible co-products produce are assigned much lower CO2 footprint.
• As a result, the CO2 footprint of meat products (such as pork ham or beefburgers) is reduced almost 1-to-1 with the amount of meat replaced by animal proteins from edible co-products. For example, when replacing 10% pork meat with 2% plasma powder and 8% water, the CO2 reduction is approximate 9%. A significant reduction.

• What’s more, the use of these co-products also reduces the impact on land use, water and scarce fossil fuels.

Contact our sales managers to explore the opportunities of these sustainable animal proteins for your meat and savoury products.