Yves Potvin first created a true soy-based hot dog analog in the 1980s. From there, Yves’ culinary tinkering expanded into plant-based deli slices and until he founded Garden Protein International—a.k.a. Gardein—in 2003, where he created a line of game-changing analogs of beef, chicken, sausage, crab, and fish. Today, Yves is the founder and CEO of Konscious Foods Canada, Inc., makers of some 10 different offerings of sushi, onigiri, and poke analogs that brought the fresh raw seafood experience to vegans, vegetarians, and to consumers sick of the devastation of marine life that’s happening on a global scale.

The connection between digestive health and immune function is top of mind for consumers at a level never before seen. But the ingredients that confer good digestive health are not always used to their best effect in the fermented foods—especially dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, sour cream, and kefir. Dana McCurdy, PhD, a fermentation scientist and expert on kefir and other dairy food fermentation with special focus on probiotics and the functional components of fermented foods, discusses how to bring probiotics and prebiotic fibers and starches together into formulations to where they are at maximum efficacy.

Prepared Foods talks snack tastes and trends with Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive vice president & practice leader for client insights at Circana. Wyatt delivered a “State of Snacking” address at this year’s Sweets & Snacks Expo and PF Editor Bob Garrison checks in to learn more!

Prepared Foods talks sustainability with Randi Kronthal-Sacco, senior scholar at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business; and Doug Yolen, VP, Food & Beverage, Media Center of Excellence, Circana. The two organizations study consumer attitudes and behaviors and released their 2022 CSB Sustainable Market Share Index.

Which came first, the chicken or the plant-based egg? Advances in fiber, gum, and protein manipulation have advanced hydrocolloid technology so dramatically that it is possible to make a plant-based cooked egg analog—fried, poached, or hard-boiled—that looks, feels, and tastes like the real thing. David Feder, Prepared Foods network’s Executive Editor-Technical sits down with Yo! Foods, Ltd.’s Yosefa BenCohen, research chef and co-founder, and chief product designer, and Eran Groner, CEO makers of the Yo! Egg amazing egg mimics as they explain the how-to tech behind these ovate wonders.